My first full weekend of Jr DITz (Divemaster in Training). Saturday, I helped get students suited up, watched them put their gear together (this being much easier since dive night the Thursday prior, see the Dive Nite! entry) and helped them in the water. My divemaster (and dive buddy) had a refresher student, so they were one on one in another part of the pool. I helped adjust weights and even switched out a tank and refilled it. Then, off to the lake for the afternoon.
My new dive buddy, Logan, came out, too. He's trying to rack up some open water dives for advanced class. Another ride in the Scubabros truck (Excite!) It's the little things that really make me happy. Even though I would have been perfectly fine driving, I feel like we keep Mike company while he drives out to the training site.
The lake has flooded. The water is about 5' higher than normal, according to Mike. The buoys are absent and there is debris across the property. Yikes! Mike jumps in to lift the buoys and when he comes back, says the vis is pretty bad. Like 6"-1'. When I had my open water check out dives, it was similar situation, but not quite the same. The water is very stirred up, not just algae, but the silt makes the water cloudy. Add the snakes that are swimming back and forth across the water and the day looks challenging. No prob, I'm up for it. There are 2 smaller snakes and 1 really BIG one. Mike swears it has red eyes. RED EYES!!
We have one student finishing his open water dives, and one starting. The student finishing is in with his dad and I'm assigned as his buddy. We are to descend, find the "T" on the platform and hang out. We start our descent with the "Padi handshake", which is right hands clasping forearms. I can't even see my buddy's face in the water. Uh oh. We practically land on the pole and I try to get him to hold on the the rail. We can't even see the instruments. I try to make our way down to the platform, and I start to hear Mike's jingle bell. It's the new tool for divers, instead of using your knife to bang on your tank, you jingle this bell to get someone's attention. I listen for a moment to try and judge where the sound is coming from. Sound moves weird in water. I try to maneuver to the sound and get tangled in my dive buddy and the rail. I whip out my knife to bang on my tank, successfully get that done, and am about to sheathe it, when my buddy starts grabbing for my hands! I am wearing gloves, so I can handle my knife safely. Covering the entire blade with both hands, I direct him to grab my elbow. Whew. I would hate to have to surface and treat a wound caused by my equipment.
About the time I figure out we are not going to find Mike in this and am about to abort the dive, my buddy turns on his light, aims it at his compass and starts swimming in. I connect with his jacket and monitor the trajectory from below him. I can see the pole, and that he is going in a straight line back to shore. This one won't go in the logbook, as a mere 11 minutes have passed. The student passes and they are done for the day. Next student is a one on one, so no Jr DITz help is needed. Logan and I are going to get in a dive. And this is a task in the divemaster class, 2 birds with 1 stone.
I absolutely do not want to interfere with someone getting certified, so our dive plan was to follow the pole, go around the platform and hang out at the bubbler. I always go left at a fork in the road. Apparently, Logan always goes right. We lose each other almost immediately. I spend a few minutes searching near the bubbler, try turning off my light to see if I can see his light, and circle the platform to try and find him. No luck. I surface to try and reconnect. I can see Mike and his student's bubbles at the first buoy, they haven't even made it to the platform. There is one rogue bubble stream close to where I am. Looks like Logan is at the "T" again. I descend again to try to reconnect, but just manage to circle the platform without ever finding him. Later, we discuss the dive and determine that we were circling in the same direction each time, stopping roughly the same time.
Day 2
The morning starts off pretty much the same, except I am presented with Divemaster paperwork to fill out! I am so excited, I can hardly stand still. I do manage to complete the paperwork, and get squirted with an empty defog bottle filled with water in the process. Hazards of Jr DITz.
At the lake, the plan is very complex. We have a student finishing open water, 2 students finishing Rescue, and 1 starting open water. The plan kept changing as the day morphed in to more complicated tasks. Eventually, I am assigned buddy to one of the rescue divers during her search and recovery. I'm to hold the reel while she searches from the pole. Today, the vis is about 1'. Better. Lucky I mapped the lake last weekend when there was amazing visibility I know where I am without being able to see where I am. We determine the amount of rope needed to search and tie a knot for her to feel. I stay at the pole and we slowly cover the middle of the lake, going shallower. In the last 2 passes, I know she's about the find the cone she's searching for, but on her return just before finding it, she hands me the reel with the rope in knots. Not just little knots, either. It looks like a bird's nest. Crud. I signal a, "hold on a moment" and start working the knot.
Knots are very logical things. They make sense to my brain. Like a puzzle. It can only be untied one way. I'm tugging and pulling, taking off one glove, and get it almost untied, but one knot that has tightened beyond my ability to release. If I could only use my teeth, I could have it out in no time. I decide against removing my reg and give her back the reel. The knot is only making the total length short by an arms length, so I hang my arm over the pole to compensate. Underwater problem solving: check. She returns on the next leg and indicates she found the item. We handshake to the surface and done!
Next up, Mike is the victim in the Non-responsive diver scenario. I am the equipment ghost. Meaning, when the student removes gear, it's not just dumped in the lake for recovery, they hand it to me and I swim alongside. The first student is able to hand me all the equipment and passes the first go. The second student, too. This task was pretty exhausting. On to the Open Water students. The student finishing the course went before the rescue students, so all that's left is the day 1 open water student. No DITz needed with that, so I'm off for my #34 dive.
Getting close to the required 40 to officially start Divemaster. I'm determined to hang by the bubbler this time. I go between the rail and the platform. Reading my gauges is easier today. The platform reads 20 ft., 17 ft on the rail. Next time, I need to bring a small section of rope and just spend 20 minutes tying knots.
That marks the end of the working dive weekend. We head back to the shop for some decompression.(See what I did there?) A few beers and hanging out. We end up jumping into the pool. My Divemaster buddy gets thrown in, fully clothed. (This is a regular thing) When she gets out, I try and tell the new rescue diver that it's better to jump in voluntarily, or you get tumped in. And then, I'm being picked up and tumped in. I can honestly say, I have never been picked up and dropped in a pool. I thought being plus sized would save me from that. Dang strong scuba instructor.
We end the night with a good ole "chicken fighting". 3 out of 4 wins for me and Mike. Woo! Good weekend.
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