MORE DIVE TRAINING...

Now that I have completed all my training for teaching recreational SCUBA diving, it is time to continue my education with the fun stuff that I enjoy. I am continuing my technical training and will wrap up the following courses this week:
DSAT Tec DEEP
TDI Advanced Nitrox
TDI Decompression Procedures

If you were wondering what technical diving is, let me give you a brief description. Recreational diving (what most people do when they get certified) allows you to dive up to 130ft (with proper training) and not stay at depths long enough that would require decompression stops. It is all "no stop diving." You can always ascend from where you are to the surface.
Technical diving you may get certified to dive to depths of up to 335ft (with proper training) on open circuit scuba using different gases other than air or Enriched Air and involves decompression training (yes you may have to hang at 20ft for 3 hours some times if you went deep or long enough).
Why do I want to tec dive? Simple. Wrecks. That is what I love. Many of them are in deeper water than 130 ft, and the ones that are not you can spend more time and do some deep penetration on them (that's what she said).
Tec diving includes a lot of time, training, and expensive equipment. As you see from the picture, some times you may have to wear an entire dive shop.

SCUBA CLASS

10% OFF SCUBA CLASS for father's day gifts.
Classroom Jun 16-18 6-9pm
Pool Sessions June 21 9am-12pm, June 22 1:30-4pm
Ocean Dives June 28-29 in Monterey

Get more information HERE

Aging Wine...

You may have noticed you haven't seen any wine reviews in awhile. Well with the wife being pregnant, I really haven't opened anything at home. I just can't open a really good wine by myself, it just doesn't seem right. I have no one else really to enjoy wine with (if you are my friend and enjoy wine, come over, I have been dying to try some things). Well the good news is my cellar is well stocked. Here are a few things I have obtained over the past couple months I am anxiously awaiting exploding in my palate:

2 bottles of 2004 Scarecrow, 312 cases made, current trading price $899 per bottle (I paid no where near this price, thanks to Trelio for tracking it down for me at retail!!!)

1 case Keever, Cabernet Sauvignon, 2005 (850 cases made), Trading Price $135/btl

1 bottle Barbour, Cabernet Sauvignon, 2005 (182 cases made), trading price $150/btl

2 bottles Core, Elevation Sensation, 2005 (300 cases made) trading price $50/btl

2 bottles Corra, Cabernet Sauvignon, 2004 (290 cases made) trading price $345/btl

Now I have put about 60 bottles in my cellar since I last took one out, but these are the prized possessions I am anxiously awaiting to consume. I would have had to sell my kidney to be able to afford these wines at current trading prices. I am glad I have connections that can hook them up even less than their retail prices.

Any takers?

Aqua Sports

I have signed a contract with Aqua Sports in Fresno (the only PADI dive center in Fresno) to be their main instructor. I will start in full force the first of June and will have several classes over the summer with trips to Catalina, Monterey, and San Diego (Wreck Alley) all on the schedule. During Jun-Aug I currently have the following classes scheduled with flexible hours (tell all your friends):
Open Water Diver (Beginning Scuba): 5 classes
Advanced Diver: 4 classes
Rescue Diver: 2 classes
Specialties: 4 classes

Check out the class schedules and calendar here.

Help, my puppy became a dog!!!

My little puppy turns 7 months old on Tuesday. Miles has grown up a lot and reminded me that I haven't posted any pictures of him in a long time. Here are a few shots of this growing boy.

Two Months Old

Three Months Old

Five Months Old

Six Months Old

Where do you Worship?

So this Sunday I had all of the kids (and I mean all of them, not just the ones who signed up for the choir) sing in "big church" for mothers day. I was still feeling exhausted from my trip so I did what I promise myself never to do. I loaded up on coffee on an empty stomach to create the energy to get through the morning.

The kids did a great job and everyone, especially the moms, loved them. That is the great part about my job, everyone loves cute kids singing on stage, so I am always a hero.

After the kids were done singing in first service, I took a trip to the men's room. I always go in the handicaped stall (I like a spacious room to do my business ok). There I listened to an amazing sermon by Pat. It was actually quite nice. I was comfortable (and relaxed if that isn't TMI). It is church so there is no grafiti on the stalls, and I was able to sit and listen to the message free of distractions. It was amazing. I know many people stay home and watch church on TV, many people have their specific seats in the sanctuary they always sit in. If you haven't tried the pot for your worship experience, give it a try.

DISCLAIMER: This is not a pic of our actual toilets at New Cov. Ours are much cleaner.

Who's your instructor daddy?

All done!!! Out of 11 candidates in my IE, 9 passed and will become instructors (as soon as PADI completes the paperwork this week). I will be egotistical and tell you all that I had the highest score out of every candidate on every single portion of the IE (who's your instructor daddy)? My Instructor, Tom Witmer at Horizon is amazing and had me more prepared than any of the other instructors (we call them Course Directors).

Anybody want to learn to Scuba Dive?

I am now qualified to teach the following:

• Discover Scuba Diving
• Bubble Maker (8-10 years old)
• Skin diver
• Discover Snorkeling
• Scuba Diver
• Open Water Diver
• Adventure Diver
• Advanced Open Water diver
• Rescue Diver
• Divemaster
• Emergency First Response (CPR, First Aid, Care for Children, AED)
• Oxygen Administration

As well as the other 13 advanced specialties I mentioned a couple posts ago.

IE Day 1

75% done with the IE. Went well today. I aced the morning confined water sessions (perfect scores on all my skills, only one out of the 11 instructor candidates who did so). Then I had the written exams. There were 6 exams (1 Standards and Procedures, and 5 Dive Theory). My scores were 98% (standards and procdures), and the 5 theory exams were (2 100%, 2 92%, and 1 83%). I was dissappointed with the 83%, but 75% is passing. And after 2 of the 11 failed out by not passing the exams, I didn't feel so bad.
The Knowledge Development Section I was so close to a perfect score. I scored 4.8 on a 5.0 scale. I think it was a 5.0, but the examiner was being picky. It was once again the highest score of everybody so I was happy.
I was reassured to see where I stood against other Instructor candidates and overall was pleased with my performances. Tomorrow morning I have the Opne Water Skills, and the Rescue Assessment then I am DONE!!!

Spiegel Grove

This, the Spiegel Grove, is the dive site that catapulted my interest in diving. I got to go into come cool compartments in the hull today. It was my 6th dive on it. Today the seas were rough (6 ft), but the current was very mild.

Here is a pic (in not great visibility) of me at the flag last year:

Today I learned how to instruct the PADI Wreck diver and Deep Diver specialties on the Spiegel. Then we had some fun on the wreck.

MSDT UPDATE

Now that I have finished the IDC (Instructor Development Course) I have moved on to the MSDT program (Master Scuba Diver Trainer). This involves getting certified to teach at least 5 specialties. I am actually going to complete 13 specialty instructor programs that will include:

• Deep Diver
• Underwater Navigation
• Enriched Air (Nitrox)
• Night Diver
• Wreck Diver
• U/W Digital Photography
• Dry Suit Diver
• Diver Propulsion Vehicle (DPV)
• Fish Identification
• U/W Videographer
• U/W Naturalist
• Search and Recovery Diver
• Boat Diver

Today I am excited. I am going to do the DPV class (Underwater Scooter). That is going to be fun.

IDC IS HISTORY!!!

I completed the 8-10 day course in just 4 days. I am sitting, with a beer looking at the water relaxing for the first time in the 12 days I have been here. I am not taking any books to my room, or reading or studying anything tonight!!! It will be my first full nights sleep in awhile. The IE (Instructor Examination) with the PADI Rep isn' until the weekend, so I am going to start the MSDT (Master Scuba Diver Trainer) program tomorrow. The good news, although it is a lot of learning, it is a lot more relaxed and fun and includes a lot of diving. For the Deep and Wreck Specialty Trainer certification I am going to dive the DUANE tomorrow.This is a pic of the Duane before she ended up on the sea floor. Many people say it is their favorite site in the keys so I am looking forward to it.

Shout out to myself:
My Instructor is a Platinum Course Director with PADI (highest it gets). He was taken over 300 instructors through this program. Today he told me:
"You are one of the better candidates I have ever seen, if not the best I have ever had."

That made me feel good. Adult beverage and relaxation time!!! (at least until 8am when the next course starts).

IDC Update

Well I finished my divemaster on Friday. Completed all the skills, staminia, practical exercises, real course audits, projects, and took the exams. The exams were 8 tests totalling 160 questions (I scored 97%) that are difficult.
So Saturday I started the IDC (Instructor Development Course). Tom Witmer is my instructor, and I can not imagine a better one. We have flown through the course since I am the only student. We complted 4 days worth of the course in the past 2 days. My brain is full and I am still exhausted. We start 7:30am and finish about 6:30pm. I have some dinner, then do homework til about 12:30 or 1am. It is tiring, but very fun and rewarding at the same time. The PADI rep flies out on Friday-Sunday May 4-6) for the Examiniation (3 days worth) so wish me luck.

Long day

Yesterday was an exhauting day!!! I don't remember the last time I was that exhausted at the end of the day. We stayed the night at Sea on a mooring ball of the Benwood (see post below). I woke up at 7am and started my stamina skills. There is a 400 meter swim (bathing suit only), 800m (mask, fins, snorkel), 15 min tread (hands out of water), and a 100m tow (towing a diver, both in full gear). While most Divemaster students go to the pool to do these, I was at sea in 3-4 foot waves. I was swimming in between 2 mooring balls 100m apart, but dive boats kept coming and made me swim around them. So I bet my 400m was over 500m. You need 12 out of 20 points to pass (based on time), and I received 13. Just squeaked by. I am sure I could have gotten a 17 or 18 in the pool or canal.
After those skills, I ate a sandwich, then did 2 more dives on the Benwood to finish the mapping project. Then a dry suit dive. At the end of the dry suit dive I was told that we were to do the rescue assessment before we got out of the water (dry suit has very little mobility, and I was carrying 8 pounds of extra weight). Wore me out!!! I got my victim (dad) to the boat, and fireman carriend him up the ladder.
Then we did our 20 demonstration skills, followed by my favorie exercise the course. We had to go down, and completely switch all gear (SCUBA unit, Maks, fins, weights). The catch is we had to do it while sharing one air source (buddy breathing). So we are exchaning all of our gear while passing back and forth the regulator. Needless to say, I didn't breathe much. It was a great high stress exercise (the whole not breathing thing takes a toll too).

So I am all done with the course. I am studying today, and will take my exams. Tomorrow I start the Instructor Development Course.

Divemaster Update 2

Well as I type right now, I am about 7 miles off shore on the Atlantic Ocean. We are tied up to the dive site in which I am doing my mapping project for my Divemaster class. I did two dives on it this afternoon, and will get started on it again first thing in the morning. The mapping project will take at least 6 hours (underwater). I have to take every measurement of the wreck and do a complete report. I will post it here when I am done (next week some time). The wreck is the Benwood. It was running lights out back in 1942 to avoid Uboats and colided with another ship. Over the past 66 years it has become an amazing artificial reef and has more fish life on it than any other site in the Keys. Unfortunately all the time spent on it I am ignoring the life to complete my map.
With the rocking of the boat, I am going to sleep like a baby tonight!!!

Quote of the day

Although I am staying on a yacht that costs more than most make in a lifetime, it is still a boat and the shower probably puts out about .0000003 gallons per minute. So I go use the marina shower (which is located at the Ramada Inn Pool).

Today after we got back, I was on my way. I hear a little girl, no more than 6 or 7 ask her mom:

"Mom, when is happy hour?"

HAHAHAHA

Divemaster Class Update

Well this update is why I am not updating. I have been soo busy everyday and have been exhausted at the end of every day. The last two days I was working on the dive boat from 8am-6pm. Had some students from hell I was working with Monday, and had some dream students I was working with today. So it all balanced out. In addition to working with the students I was loading tanks and equipment for the boat (anywhere from 12-25 divers (that is 24-50 tanks each trip, two trips a day) and my back and some muscles I didn't even know I had are sore.
Haven't even got my camera out and have been studying every night. So no real time for updates, and I don't see that chaning anytime soon. Maybe, but not likely.
Enjoying every minute of it

Confused!!!

I have got jet lagged pretty bad before. Crossing the atlantic, things like that. Never before just traveling in the US. However, the weeks preceeding my departure my averge bed time was approx 4am (PST). Now here in Key Largo, my wake up time is 7am (EST). Yes for all you math geniuses tha is the same time. So I have been waking up when I am used to going to bed. First couple nights have been rough and have been sluggish the first few days. Hopefully I will adjust soon and be reenergized (like a frickin bunny with a drum).
Today is off to the pool to simulate demonstrating skills for students. All of the skills you master and become second nature have to be slowed down and exaggerated so the student knows what the heck they are supposed to be doing. And most of the time you are underwater, so no talking....communication through hand motions (Jessica would be good at it). Guesstures or charades anyone???

I'm off

I am headed off to Key Largo for 23 days. I will keep you posted. Looking forward to the IDC.

Gonna miss baptisms this Sunday of two very special people. Check out their video's this POST at patamo.

Claire sings on my kids worship team at church and I love her to death. Gianni has become a good friend over the past few months since we moved back. Way to go guys!!! I am proud of you and sorry I will miss it.

So....

Motto of the Week

"Your procrastination and laziness does not equal my emergency!"

I do not know how many times I have thought this in the past few days, and really wanted to say it to clients. But I always go for "Oh no problem, I will take care of you."