7.20.08 - Divemaster/Assistant Instructor Log

Hello everyone!

Well, Sunday July 20th finds the Video Dude and Bobby James of Scuba Network Deerfield Beach aboard South Florida Diving Headquarters' "Aqua View", heading out for our students final Open Water Checkout dives. Just like yesterday, we have the class divided into 2 groups (morning session and afternoon session), and today is basically a day of "touring" the reef so we can check the students' buoyancy skills. We are also joined by my friend and dive buddy, Joanie, who is just along to observe Bobby and I, and see what life as an Instructor and Divemaster is all about.

After getting everyone's gear aboard and organized, I have the students assemble their gear. Today is also an evaluation day for their gear assembly skills, so they have to rely on their knowledge and their buddy checks to make sure everything is correct. After this is done, Bobby gives a briefing on what we are doing today and a little bit about the dive sites for the morning session.

Dive #1 is supposed to be on the "Sea Emperor" - a nice wreck with lots of life - but there are already 3 other boats on it when we arrive, so we change locations and head over to the "Ancient Mariner" instead. After a briefing from Bobby on descent/ascent procedures, we jump in and follow the line down to the wreck. A few students had problems equalizing on the way down, so we took it slow and easy. Upon arriving at the tie-off point, we take a tour around the wreck and look at the sights. Then it's back up the line to the boat for our surface interval and gear changeover.

After our gear changeover and surface interval are complete, we head over to our next dive site, "Lighthouse Ledge" for a nice drift dive. I have the dive flag and after organizing everyone on the surface, we descend for a nice lazy drift and check out all the cool stuff. Again, these students are really excited by everything they see, and you can see their eyes are big through their masks. All too soon we have to begin our ascent to our safety stop and finally our boat. Back on the boat, I get everyone started breaking down their gear and packing up so that when we arrive at the dock, we can get everything off quickly and fill out the students' certification paperwork.

Just about the time that Bobby is finished with all the paperwork, the students in the afternoon session start showing up. After we get permission from the boat crew to board, I again get everyone's gear placed on board and start them assembling gear. After that is done, and following another boat briefing from Bobby, we find ourselves at our first dive site of the afternoon, "Sunkist Reef" and I begin the process of getting everyone in the water. I keep everyone in a group on the surface until Bobby joins us in the water, then Bobby gives the signal to descend and we're on our way down to the reef. Another nice, lazy tour checking out the wonders of the reef and watching the students point out everything they see to one another. As always, it seems too soon to have to head back to the boat, but we do, and I get everyone organized changing over their gear for the next dive.

The second dive of the afternoon is on "Lighthouse Ledge" again, but a different section this time. We're lazily drifting along checking everything out - the current has picked up by now - and again the students were absolutely amazed by everything they saw. When we are back on the boat, I have to answer a whole lot of questions about the names of various fish, how to catch lobsters and "what kind of coral was that?" before I could finally get everyone started breaking down gear and packing up for our return to the dock. Back at the dock, it's get everyone's gear off the boat as quickly as possible so we can do more certification paperwork.

Man what a week this has been for teaching and assisting with new divers! But while it can be tiring, it still is fun!

Reporting from Paradise,

The Video Dude