Nekton

(A Dive Master and enthusiastic technical diver already qualified in trimix - and who regularl y dives the deeper wrecks around Sydney - Ian Parkin, ('Parky', to those who know him) recently took part in the Fundamentals and Tech 1 courses, conducted by Global Underwater Explorers Train-
ing   Director,   Andrew   Georgitsis,
together with   G.U.E. Instructors,
Martin Lorenzo   and Gideon Liew,
held in Sydney in early September.
He describes his impressions of the
two programmes.)

The real clincher was listening to those people who had taken the Fundamentals programme last year and how much they had enjoyed and learned from it. (I also thought that learning how to swim backwards would be a cool thing to be able to do!)

As for Tech-1? Well, in for a penny.... (My thinking on this was, "Well, I'll pick up a few diving techniques. I may not learn very much, but you just never know.")

In the months leading up to the course, I talked with others who had taken the programme. The more I heard about Tech-1, the more I thought, "Bloody Hell, if I manage to complete the course, let alone pass it, it'll be a miracle!"

To make myself feel better, I kept telling myself that it wouldn't give me a qualification that I didn't already have. And if I failed, so what? It's only money! (And that's from a Yorkshireman!)

So what were the programmes like?

Fundamentals:
The programme began with a day spent in the classroom learning about DIR/GUE, what the course entailed, and how to properly rig the gear.

Day Two started with land drills. Now, I really couldn't see the point in this prior to the in-water training. As far as I could make it, it was designed to make you lie on the beach practicing various techniques in front of the public and looking foolish! I mean, I'm brilliant at walking round all day - although at night, after a few beers, it's sometimes a bit different - In fact, I've done it for years! But having practiced all of our skills, it was off into the water for a couple of days.

This is where the fun began. It was brilliant and lived up to all of the expectations that I'd gathered from those who had already taken the course. However, despite the emphasis that both they and the instructors placed on trim, I had failed to appreciate just how critical it is. If your trim's crap then your buoyancy is crap, making it difficult - because you're all over the place - to carry out the skills. Everything falls apart around you. This becomes apparent when you're expected to demonstrate a skill while hovering without moving.

That's the expectation. The reality is somewhat different! Imagine a scuba diver having an epileptic fit underwater and you'll get the picture that I - and everybody else doing the programme - presented. (All of the in-water exercises are video'd for later review!)

Funnily, enough the skills that we had practiced on land - which didn't include trim and buoyancy - seemed easier to perform, although they still looked terrible on the video. At this point, the elusive backward kick was still one flip forward and one flip back!

After the first in-water session and video debrief - and not looking at all 'cool' in the water - I now fully expected to fail Fundamentals. The up side being that I wouldn't fail Tech1 because I'd never get to sit it and I'd have a lot of time to practice the skills.   Every cloud, I tried to convince myself, has a silver lining.

After another day spent in the ocean polishing and refining the skills, my trim was apparently showing signs of improvement.   My finning techniques, however, were still short of perfect; especially the backward kick which, in my case, was all forward! But there's hope. We all passed and could now go away and practice.

This was a great course, and an absolute heap of fun. Just seeing your own performance on video was an added advantage. Particularly when you believe that you're all finesse in the water!

I have no hesitation in recommending this course to absolutely everyone who dives. It won't turn you into a legend over night, but it will give you the necessary knowledge of basic skills that will help make your diving so much easier and a lot more enjoyable.

And for those who wonder about how best to prepare for Fundamentals? The short answer is, Don't!

Tech 1:
Having only just completed the Fundamentals programme, I was left with few illusions as to the state of my competency in the water. I recognised that it was unlikely that I'd pass, but if I'd learned so much in Fundamentals then I knew that I would learn a lot from the Tech 1 course.

At that point, I still didn't really know what to expect, other than that if the Fundamentals course was anything to go by, there'd be a lot more to it and it would be difficult.

Without going into day-by-day detail, the teaching methodologies used in Tech 1 are the same as for Fundamentals and consist of lectures, land-based drills, in-water work, video debriefs, repetition and pointers on how to improve. (The skill requirements are also listed in the course outline on the GUE website at: http://www.gue.com/)

What particularly struck me was the intensity of the course. Doing 12 hours a day for 5 days, with an average of around 3 hours a day spent in the water, it's full on learning. The in-water training is all that you'd expect from a Technical diving course, with out-of-gas scenarios, simulated regulator failures, lift bag deployment, no-mask work, ascents involving simulated decompression, gas switches and so on; and all this to be performed in trim with perfect buoyancy: Techniques that you learned in Fundamentals and subsequently practiced.

I would say, at this point, that if you've managed to master the skills in the Fundamentals course, then Tech 1 wil l be made a lot easier. Once again, all of the in-water training is videod and critiqued at the end of each day.

At the end of the first day, we all believed that we'd performed quite well - until the video review. This is where it was drilled into us exactly where and what our faults were. Mine were exactly what I expected; trim, trim, finning, and buoyancy while motionless -

all of the skills that I hadn't yet mastered from the Fundamentals programme - with the addition of one other thing that all of us had problems with, a term that I'd never heard much about before the course, and one that was subsequently drilled into us constantly: "Situational Awareness".

To me, prior to the Tech 1 course, Situational Awareness meant, among other things, knowing the dive plan, where my buddy was and where I was during the dive. It certainly didn't encompass the three million and one things that we were expected to know at any one point during the dive, such as: Where is everyone? Can I see them? Can they see me? Who's got the most gas? Who's got the least? Who's the best person to go to if there's a gas problem? How much gas have I used in the past 5 minutes compared to what was planned? How much gas will I use in the next 5 minutes? Is my position the best for the team? If my trim's out, why? (The correct answer to which is not mine of, "because my trim's never in!") What direction are we swimming in? Which is the quickest direction to the ascent point?

These are just a few of the things that you are expected to think about and remember. The list is endless and if you want to know them all then do the course. Suffice it to say that my two favourites on the lengthy list were numbers "463 - Look at the pretty fish" and, "464 - look at the rusty metal".

By the end of Day One, I was fully convinced that I was, undoubtedly, totally incompetent in the water and the worst buddy in the world as I watched my performance in glorious technicolour on the big screen.

As the course progresses, the in-water work is geared towards not only performing the skills correctly, but also to improving one's Situational Awareness abilities, with each day encompassing more and more skills in increasingly more difficult situations.
During the course we were also fortunate to have two Tech 1 Trainee Instructors present, whose one-on-one help in perfecting various Fundamentals and Tech 1 skills, I found invaluable.

By the last day, (and I was surprised that I got there), my trim was spending more time in than out, and I actually managed to get to Item # 463 twice on the same dive - although I still can't swim backwards!

The classroom theory and procedures work were excellent and far more comprehensive than I had experienced on any previous course. (You only have to read the Tech 1 manual to get an idea of what to expect. The added bonus, however, is that the course teaches all sorts of tips, tricks and techniques that are not included in the manual.) Beware of the exam, though, it takes forever!

By the end of the course, my in water skills had improved by leaps and bounds and my head was full of the answers to previously unknown questions. But a word of advice: If you are intending to do this course then be prepared to have your diving

skills and abilities pulled apart and then put back together again. Don't expect to be molly coddled. Some people like this approach, some don't. I didn't mind it at all. Also be prepared for the fact that, by the end of the course, you will probably be disillusioned about your own and everybody else's previous lack of dive and buddy skills! I am! But that's just me, and it's something that I intend to try and remedy.

Above all, don't expect to be turned into a superior diver by the end of the course. You might improve during the programme; you might not! But I can guarantee that you'll know the level of skill you'll need to have at its end. It's just that you won't have it! If you want it, you'll have to go out and work at it.

I wouldn't recommend this course for every one, but for those people who want to take part in technical diving activities, regardless of their current level of qualifications, it's well worth it. As I've mentioned previously, it's intensive but not impossible, very, very rewarding and if you want to prepare for it, practice and perfect all of the Fundamentals skills to the point where they become second nature - and make sure that you've got nothing else to think about for a week but the course and diving. Also ensure that your kit is configured as you learned that it should be - and get yourself a good torch, they are invaluable.