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omech · 22nd April 2008, 20:15

I wanted to take the opportunity to say ‘Hi’ and comment on our recent experience training with Mel at Silent Scuba in Seattle. Al, Tony and myself have been diving together for years and have been contemplating a switch for some time, but it took a Rebreather experience with Mel last August to push us over the slippery edge. We ordered COPIS Megs shortly after, but had to wait patiently until last week to dive them. And we were pleased that Brad, joining us from Calgary and also on a COPIS, shared our twisted sense of humour making for an excellent week with lots of laughs to lighten the brisk paced class.

If your schedule allows, I highly recommend taking advantage of Mel’s new extended course schedule. We arrived on Saturday afternoon and got the run down on how to assemble our units (although some of us who’d been reading ahead had a little trouble restraining ourselves and staying with the group).

We then had until Monday night to tinker with our units and get them just the way we wanted for the pool on Tuesday. ISC builds a very well made product that’s a joy to work on and I highly recommend the neoprene counterlungs, especially after seeing the nylon lungs in person in all their Velcro-strip glory.

This also gave us 2 afternoons to get almost all of the classroom work out of the way before the treadmill-like ocean diving days began on Wednesday. Mel and Curt’s operation is very conveniently located within 5 minutes of most of the hardware and Walmart-like stores that you might need to source bits to fully pimp out your unit. And in terms of convenience they have a system that can’t be beat. Staying with Curt and Mel meant one or both of them were almost always available to answer questions and source bits of gear and not time was wasted going for meals or traveling to off-site lodgings.

When I read in previous posts about Mel’s courses that dives started at 7am at the dive site I thought that can’t be correct. I was wrong. Mel’s all about the early morning start, which actually works out nicely as it avoids the traffic both ways thru Seattle to Alki Beach. Short order cook Curt had breakfast waiting and lunches packed for a 6am departure and demonstrated wizardry with the BBQ in the evening with dinner ready once we’d returned from diving and had the units stripped and cleaned. I’d take another course from Mel just for Curt’s steak and ribs.

The BOOM drills weren’t nearly as irritating as I’d been lead to believe, especially when compared to multiple hose re-stuffs following 3H-drills, though she does have a tendency to appear out of nowhere overhead at the least opportune moment (spool unclipped, buoyancy sketchy, fighting for trim,

etc). By the end of the week we were quickly doing our best to look the other way, hide behind stuff or become invisible if we saw her coming. Though it’s tough to sneak any misbehaviour by Mel underwater and we were glad to have her around keeping us out of trouble.

Before I started, I had OC pretty well dialled in, yet the week took learning to a whole new level. We quickly saw the light on diving CC and won’t be going back to OC unless absolutely necessary. I also learned a quick and easy side mount method which I liked instantly so I’m not going back to standard mounted bottles anytime soon either.

I think the capstone to the week was getting dropped off a boat into 120fsw and 3+knots, instead of the 20fsw and near slack we were expecting, and realizing that 1) we could handle it and 2) I’d rather be on CCR in that situation than OC. The revelation that the usual OC gas constraints, resulting from being in a suboptimal situation where I may have to huff and puff for an extended period, are almost eliminated when on CCR was quite enlightening and not fully appreciated until experienced first hand.

We wrapped up the week with a quick meeting with Jerry at Alki to grab some last minute parts, to put a face to the voice to whom we’d been sending vast sums of $$, and to peek at the latest from ISC. Looks like the final touches are being put on the Shearwater integration and also there appears to be a light-weight Mini can in the works which should cut about 3# off the regular Mini can weight (same height as the Mini can, but all except the top 4” are 1/8” wall tubing). I could go on, but for those that are where Brad, Al, Tony and I were 10 days ago, it’s necessary to take the plunge to CC to fully understand the adventure.

Finally, we’d like to congratulate Mel on her latest step toward becoming “one of the guys” with her graduation to a She-pee.

I can honestly say I haven’t yet met anyone quite like Mel (which you’ll understand if you’ve interacted with her for more than 15 minutes). We wish her well with her p-valve and hope that she can soon move from the “I must hold onto something while I go”-stage to multi-tasking while peeing.

It was quite amusing for those of us who’ve had them for a while to observe the antics and offer our $0.02, helpful or otherwise.

Thanks again Mel for the advice and insights.

Owen
Train Wrecked Diver

22nd April 2008, 20:15	#1 (permalink)
omech New Member Current Rebreather/s: Megalodon Other Rebreather/s: Join Date: May 2007 Location: Vancouver, BC Posts: 27	Mod 1 Adventures with Mel Clark I wanted to take the opportunity to say ‘Hi’ and comment on our recent experience training with Mel at Silent Scuba in Seattle. Al, Tony and myself have been diving together for years and have been contemplating a switch for some time, but it took a Rebreather experience with Mel last August to push us over the slippery edge. We ordered COPIS Megs shortly after, but had to wait patiently until last week to dive them. And we were pleased that Brad, joining us from Calgary and also on a COPIS, shared our twisted sense of humour making for an excellent week with lots of laughs to lighten the brisk paced class. If your schedule allows, I highly recommend taking advantage of Mel’s new extended course schedule. We arrived on Saturday afternoon and got the run down on how to assemble our units (although some of us who’d been reading ahead had a little trouble restraining ourselves and staying with the group). We then had until Monday night to tinker with our units and get them just the way we wanted for the pool on Tuesday. ISC builds a very well made product that’s a joy to work on and I highly recommend the neoprene counterlungs, especially after seeing the nylon lungs in person in all their Velcro-strip glory. This also gave us 2 afternoons to get almost all of the classroom work out of the way before the treadmill-like ocean diving days began on Wednesday. Mel and Curt’s operation is very conveniently located within 5 minutes of most of the hardware and Walmart-like stores that you might need to source bits to fully pimp out your unit. And in terms of convenience they have a system that can’t be beat. Staying with Curt and Mel meant one or both of them were almost always available to answer questions and source bits of gear and not time was wasted going for meals or traveling to off-site lodgings. When I read in previous posts about Mel’s courses that dives started at 7am at the dive site I thought that can’t be correct. I was wrong. Mel’s all about the early morning start, which actually works out nicely as it avoids the traffic both ways thru Seattle to Alki Beach. Short order cook Curt had breakfast waiting and lunches packed for a 6am departure and demonstrated wizardry with the BBQ in the evening with dinner ready once we’d returned from diving and had the units stripped and cleaned. I’d take another course from Mel just for Curt’s steak and ribs. The BOOM drills weren’t nearly as irritating as I’d been lead to believe, especially when compared to multiple hose re-stuffs following 3H-drills, though she does have a tendency to appear out of nowhere overhead at the least opportune moment (spool unclipped, buoyancy sketchy, fighting for trim, etc). By the end of the week we were quickly doing our best to look the other way, hide behind stuff or become invisible if we saw her coming. Though it’s tough to sneak any misbehaviour by Mel underwater and we were glad to have her around keeping us out of trouble. Before I started, I had OC pretty well dialled in, yet the week took learning to a whole new level. We quickly saw the light on diving CC and won’t be going back to OC unless absolutely necessary. I also learned a quick and easy side mount method which I liked instantly so I’m not going back to standard mounted bottles anytime soon either. I think the capstone to the week was getting dropped off a boat into 120fsw and 3+knots, instead of the 20fsw and near slack we were expecting, and realizing that 1) we could handle it and 2) I’d rather be on CCR in that situation than OC. The revelation that the usual OC gas constraints, resulting from being in a suboptimal situation where I may have to huff and puff for an extended period, are almost eliminated when on CCR was quite enlightening and not fully appreciated until experienced first hand. We wrapped up the week with a quick meeting with Jerry at Alki to grab some last minute parts, to put a face to the voice to whom we’d been sending vast sums of $$, and to peek at the latest from ISC. Looks like the final touches are being put on the Shearwater integration and also there appears to be a light-weight Mini can in the works which should cut about 3# off the regular Mini can weight (same height as the Mini can, but all except the top 4” are 1/8” wall tubing). I could go on, but for those that are where Brad, Al, Tony and I were 10 days ago, it’s necessary to take the plunge to CC to fully understand the adventure. Finally, we’d like to congratulate Mel on her latest step toward becoming “one of the guys” with her graduation to a She-pee. I can honestly say I haven’t yet met anyone quite like Mel (which you’ll understand if you’ve interacted with her for more than 15 minutes). We wish her well with her p-valve and hope that she can soon move from the “I must hold onto something while I go”-stage to multi-tasking while peeing. It was quite amusing for those of us who’ve had them for a while to observe the antics and offer our $0.02, helpful or otherwise. Thanks again Mel for the advice and insights. Owen Train Wrecked Diver
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