PADI Rescue Divers and injured friends!

We all had a couple of times to practice our PADI Divemaster skills in the pool during this week.
We always have a laugh when Andreas practices the recovery of the mask, he feels so uncomfortable opening his eyes underwater but I keep telling him to practice smiling underwater first before trying to practice the skill!

On the other hand, Angela had an accident the other day. It was the day she was on boat cover during Dennis and Andreas' adventure night dive. I passed by after their return and we all went to the beach. It was a very sunny and warm day, we all got excited and Andreas, Angela and I decided to walk on some rocky bay moving into the water. Andreas and I wanted to jump into a further rock a little less than 2 meters away with crashing waves in the middle. We tried figuring out the pattern of the waves but couldn't so Angela advised that it was dangerous and better to just go back which we did. But unfortunately she was swept away by one of the waves at first it was funny then the situation got serious but she was lucky to have some scratches with only one wound.

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We all started the week by successfully finishing our Emergency First Responder courses from the previous week so it was time to get started with our PADI Rescue course dives. One thing for sure, the Rescue course certainly comes in the right timing. After finishing your adventure dives in the PADI Advanced Open Water course, you get very well familiar with concepts in diving like buoyancy control and you get the chance to really be able to fine tune it very well during the dives.
Good buoyancy control indeed makes diving so much easier and fun but it's a skill among several others used to take care of yourself underwater. But diving is not an individual sport.
Mastering self rescue skills definitely comes in handy.
But ever wondered what if one of the group is in trouble?
How to deal with him if he is tired? Or panicking?
Or responsive? Non responsive? On the surface or underwater? How far he is from shore/boat?
These are all questions that make a huge difference between being prepared and knowing exactly what to do based on your knowledge and training or being helpless in the situation.

So we took off for our first confined rescue dive sessions. I was surprised how difficult it is even when you are very academically prepared to apply what you have learned in real life situations.
The idea is to really try to make the scenarios as real as possible and try to forget that it is actually a scenario in order to get the most out of it and see how you would think and react if being subject to the situation.
Sam was my buddy and I feel I was lucky because he had the exact same mindset, we practiced several techniques to deal with different situations until I felt comfortable and pleased by my performance.
Sam was nearly a PADI Divemaster by then and he was very happy with my performance as well, so that was a really good thing. It was a really fun day we all felt more confident with our newly acquired skills.

It was time for our open water rescue dives and over all evaluation. I had to tow Sam a relatively long distance but I was horribly slow because I find it very difficult to swim on the surface with fins, so this is something I will focus on improving the coming week.
Other than that, we practiced the same skills again, learned from new mistakes, learned how to do knots and that was it.
We went back to the shop, I did some reading in the Divemaster book and during debrief we were told we are all qualified PADI Rescue divers. It was really a very good feeling, it felt new.

I had 4 days diving this week. The first was with Ann, Alice, Melissa, Sam and Lydia we saw a very beautiful starfish, Sam showed me some cleaner shrimps and sexy shrimps and there was a small ray. Suddenly a current started to show up then after a curve it became so strong we were. Ot going anywhere, so we changed direction and made it a drift dive then Alice raised her SMB to signal Pete to come pick us up on the boat. I also went to Abades with Dennis, Andreas and Lydia was leading the dives. Lydia did really well choosing different paths for all the dives to make it more interesting.

We all went out on a farewell dinner night out for Sam. It was great having him around as he was very helpful and practically perfect. One thing for sure, he is going to be missed around here!

PADI Rescue Exams and Octopus

I will forever remember the first of November 2012 as the day I just started this great adventure in becoming a PADI Divemaster. 

I went to the dive shop of Melissa and Pete the day before the 1st to finally introduce myself in person and also met the two other interns Sam and Lydia that have already been on their internship for one month. Everybody was really nice so I was even more excited about becoming one of them on the other day.

We met in the dive shop the following day at 9 am sharp, all prepared for a great day. I have already met the other interns, who are starting with me, on the Halloween party the night before. So we are four new interns in total, which is Mahmoud from Egypt, Andreas and Dennis from Denmark and me Angela from Germany.

We have been introduced by Alice the future Instructor of Dive and Sea next to Pete one of the owners of the shop. to the duties of being an intern and she also showed us around. We have already learned so much about dive gear, taking care for the equipment and preparations and considerations we have to think about before actually going on a dive.
We also have to learn for our exams and certifications. So we have got deadlines to hand in our exercises of the certification manuals just to make sure that we won't forget about our homework.

Then the real fun part started. Mahmoud and I, both certified PADI Advanced Divers, went in the pool with Alice so that she can check on which level of experience we actually are. For that my last dive was three years ago, I think I wasn't doing to bad. We cleared our masks under water, put the regulator away and had to find it again by moving our right arm in a semi circle from our right leg to our backside and than further behind. We also observed Alice introducing Dennis and Andreas to their first scuba diving experience also in the pool, so we get an idea how to teach someone in becoming a diver.

The second day started with bundling gear up for our first dives in Tenerife. It was still so confusing because everything is new and you just don't now where things are placed at, but I am sure we will improve soon.

Then Melissa the other owner of Dive and Sea took Mahmoud, Sam, me and two other customers with her on a very nice first and second dive in Las Eras, a place about half an hour away from Golf del Sur. It was a shore dive and already a new experience for me because I have never been entering the water for a dive from the shore. I brought some fins with me from Germany and had to find out that they are not useful for scuba diving at all because I didn't fit in with 5mm boots, so I had to go on my second dive without the boots barefoot in the fins.
I was not cold in the water, just the stones on the shore were „tickling“ my feed a little bit. Poor me, so remember... always check for the right equipment before you go on a dive!!!
Still I was so happy about the two dives. We saw trumpet fish ( my favorites by now ), zebra breams, blue fin dam-selfish, a brown moray, a ray and lots of more beautiful sea dwellers.

The night of the third day ended early. At 7 am we were already at the shop starting to get the kits together because we wanted to go on a boat dive to the dive site that is called Yellow Mountain. So that is just what we have done. On the boat was Dennis and Andreas, Pete, Sam, Frank a German customer and me. I have became acquainted to the duty of a boat guard, so I haven't been on the dive with the others, but the job of a Divemaster is not just about the diving. You are supposed to know all the jobs that come with a dive business. So I stayed at the surface, helping the other guys in their kit, taking it of them after the dive, helping them getting settled in the boat again and from time to time I hold my head with mask and snorkel in the water, just to get a little jealous peek on what they were doing under water.

On the fourth day Dennis, Andreas, Sam, Lydia and I had our first day off together and enjoyed getting out for some coffee and breakfast. But we weren't just lazy at all. We actually grouped up to do some reading and some exercises for our exams as well, although it was hard at least for me to fight against the constant doziness. I was exhausted from the long days in advance.

We started refreshed in the fifth day of our internship and went on a navigation or orientation dive at the yellow mountain dive site without any customers. Sam was briefing us ( he will be a Divemaster soon ) in how to hold on to our orientation under water where sometimes everything seem to look exactly alike.
Andreas and I were buddies, which means that we have to watch out for each other and stay close to each other ( you will never loose sight of your buddy, he might save your life if you have problems ).

We split the duties between each other, so I paid attention to the bezels of our dive with my compass and he paid attention to the depth we were diving in. All this information’s, with the direction and some details of the surrounding environment ended up as a.... kind of weird drawing on our slates that we use under water.
Depending on the drawings you could really see that we have done this skill never before. Let's just say, there is a lot room for improvement!!!

The second dive that day was Sam's „special“ :). We got kind of lost under water as he is still training and improving his skills in leading a group under water, he did a really good job in reassuring us, keeping us calm and relaxed and finally we could see the outlines of the boat again. Well done Sam!!!

On the sixth day Melissa, Sam and I went with a Linda, Nick, Tony, Eileen and Mark all experienced  divers from the UK to Las Eras to do two shore dives. Unfortunately for me, we were short on tanks and had to change the plans ( you have to be able to improvise as a professional diver, because it might happen from time to time that gear is missing or dysfunctional or breaking or somebody just doesn't feel well anymore ) and I had to pass on the dive.
Actually I wasn't so sad about it, because I was behind on my reading and homework. So I went through my PADI Rescue manual instead and you can see that it was for good, because today I successfully passed my writing exam and I am on path to become a future PADI Rescue diver.
Well done me :))))

Apart from that, I went on my seventh day on another dive with the same crew than the day before except Melissa, she stayed at the shop and Pete came with us instead. This time we went to Yellow Mountain and Sam was leading both of the dives. First to “Alien Rock” and the other one led us to the “Swim through”, which was a nice rock loop that you could literally swim through.
I found two Octopus on the second dive, which was beautiful. They are incredible intelligent and could probably even learn how to turn off the air of an dive tank to get away from annoying divers.
Never ever should somebody show them that trick!

Angela