It was a lot of diving & a lot of learning, but all worthwhile in the end. Pete Nawrocky did a great job, keeping the class interesting, and imparting the knowledge necessary to embark on a new journey.
First day I had my doubts about the decision.... A full day of class followed by a couple hour pool session in full drysuit cold water gear (to get weights & trim established) in 82 degree water. Buoyancy all over the place, breathing very warm air, totally unfamiliar dive routines....... It gave me pause to think... What did I just do?
Drove to the Quarry that night for the next three days. After the first Quarry dive John, my classmate, and I came up with huge smiles on our faces. Everything fell into place. Nice cool water, most of the buoyancy issues went away with depth and all was right with the world.
The three days of Quarry dives went very well, for the most part. We learned , we dove a lot, and had some frustrations, which is normal.
Now it's time to take a day off, regroup, then start to go over everything again. In water practice time is a must to go over drills learned and to start to hone the skills we were taught, which is why I'll be at Dutch again this weekend.
I'm real happy with the unit & know that I definitely made the right decision coming over from Open Circuit.
A special thanks to Pete for not getting frustrated and taking all the time that was needed to teach us that we are just starting the Journey, and while qualified to dive the unit, have a loooong way to go before we hit the deeper stuff.
Richie