February 24, 2008 - Divemaster Log

February 24th sees the Video Dude doing the Divemaster thing again with Bobby from Scuba Network Deerfield Beach and the Advanced Open Water students from Saturday night. Once again we are aboard South Florida Diving Headquarter's "Coral Princess" and this time we are heading out for the "Captain Dan" and "Sunkist Reef". It's another beautiful South Florida day with calm seas, warm temps and lots of comraderie aboard the boat.

Dive #1 is going to be the student's required Deep Dive and Bobby gives them their briefing and explains to them all their task for this dive. They are to spell a word backwards underwater while being timed and then compare it to their time done on the boat. When we arrive at the site, we all jump in and follow the descent line down to the wreck. Immediately we find a nice sandy area to do the word skill and everyone performs excellently! Then we get to spend a little time looking around before having to head back for the ascent line, our safety stops and ultimately the boat. Once back on the boat, everyone talks about their timed skill and compares their time with what they did on the boat and changes their tanks out for the next dive.

Dive #2 is on "Sunkist Reef" and Bobby once again briefs the students on the dive and the skill they are to perform- this time they are working on their Navigation Skills. Once at the site, I jump in first with the flag and, after everyone gathers on the surface, we start for the bottom. I find a nice sandy area to do the navigation skills in and I run a reference line for the students to use. The students then run through their reciprocal courses, kick-cycles and square patterns and we end up with a little time to tour the reef before heading up to our safety stop and then the boat.

Lots of work, but also lots of fun in Paradise!

The Video Dude