The academics of the course was the 1st two days and while they were long days, it was not too bad. I must admit I was panicking prior to the class because I was overloaded with work and did not feel I would be able to retain any new information. A call to Becky calmed me down!! The next 3 days we were at the Quarry. On my first day at the quarry it was hotter than hell. I couldn't wait to get in the water. However, of course I had to be the 1 student that couldn't get through pre-breathing the unit. I have a low lung capacity and simply could not make the lungs move enough to direct my breath through the unit. In came Leon to the rescue, he suggested I pre-breathe while walking around with the rebreather on and this would make my lungs breathe. Well it worked! Once I was through that and underwater, I felt much better. The heat was truly unbearable. Each dive we had drills to perform in which some were easy and some required more practice. It was not easy to learn to operate a unit and then on top of that to be able to remember all of the "boom" scenarios and how to solve a problem. I can see that in time these drills will be 2nd nature but, in the beginning it is just a lot of information with not much time to process it. I also had trouble at times with buoyancy since I have a Bare neopreme drysuit that is difficult to keep buoyancy in check. I think my next drysuit will be one that does not have neopreme even if it keeps me warmer.
I was lucky enough to have Wally from Chicago in my class whom was in my opinion, very good in the water which helped the class to run smoothly. I learned so much from this class and could not be happier and more proud that I did it. I was definitely out of my "comfort zone" and can see how it will take sometime to get back to deep diving in a rebreather. I am really looking forward to getting my own unit and diving it next summer! I also cannot thank Becky enough for her patience with me and for sharing her vast knowledge of the Meg with me!!
