So I've learned a few things while becoming a dive instructor and subsequently doing my specialty training.
1. Assume people are stupid, they might not be but thats how the dive industry expects you to treat people.
2. You don't really have to know how to dive to become a diving instructor, you can be taught everything you need to know in a week prior to taking your instructor exams.
3. Everything you were taught is probably wrong and there is an easier better way of doing it, you just have to find it. This doesn't just apply to diving either.
4. Money, you need it.
5. Do as I say not as I do.
6. Believe it or not but computers solve all of lifes problems, or at least most of them. Expecially when they calculate your decompression times for you which subsequencely stops you from getting Decompression Illness/dying after completely ignoring the amount of time you were supposed to have spend on the bottom which happens to be roughly 100' underwater. If they didn't want me to stay down that long how come they gave me such a big tank?
7. Instructors need to know less than divers do. I can do a specialty instructor course in 2 dives, it takes everyone else 4-5. So I can teach it having done less dives than you will have to do...makes sense to me...
8. If your course director can do it so can you...just don't get caught
9. If it is underwater it probably won't kill you. Unless its a jellyfish, then your going to die.
10. Sharks are like puppies, they like to come see what something is but then get scared and run away.
11. If you know a straight guy that got beat up in a gay bar it is your job to ridicule him with it for the rest of his life.
12. Being a dive instructor does make you more attractive to the opposite sex. Expecially if they are wierd Japanese girls.
Thats only the start of what I learned but its late and I have a job interview in the morning with Tusa Dive, hopefully it will all go well. And as soon as I get pictures from the diving I did on the last few days on the SS Yongala I'll be posting them, including the picture of me laying next to a 7' long shark on the bottom.
Thursday, September 20, 2007
Friday, September 7, 2007
Australia's Newest Dive Instructor
As of yesterday I am Australia's newest dive instructor. I absolutely smashed all my exams getting over 90% on everything, and probably shocking everyone else doing their exams by writing both theory exams in less time than it took anyone else to finish even 1 exam.
There were 10 people in total doing their instructor exams. Everyone managed to pass with only a few people having to do remakes on any part. We were divided into 2 groups for the exams. The 3 of us from FNQ Dive plus 1 Japanese guy were in one group and the 6 people from ProDive where in the other group. The examener actually told us afterwords that he felt that our group was a lot better than the other one. I would probably have to give the credit to this to our instructor, Keith Cardwell, simply because he probably taught us every trick in the book that he has learned in his very long career in the dive industry.
Now that I'm done my instructors I have about 10 days before I can actually start to work, so in the mean time I'm going to be doing my Master Scuba Diver Trainer course, which will allow me to teach a number of specialty types of diving. We are going to be doing Deep diving, which means I'll be allowed to more or less go as deep as I want, well to roughly 60m at which point breathing air is no longer safe do to getting bent, and nitrogen narcosis. We are also going to be doing Night diving, which is pretty much just like it sounds which is to dive at night. We are also going to be doing Nitrox training, so I can use Nitrox and teach people to use it, the advantages of which are that you can extent the time you can stay down for by almost double assuming you don't go too deep with it because once again breathing Nitrox at too great a presure becomes toxic. We are also hopefully going to be heading down the coast to go diving on the SS Yongala, which is a really famous wreck, it is a cruise ship that sank in 1911. We will also be doing a handful of other specialties though none that are as interesting.
I will also be in the search of a job now that I'm all done my training, so for the next while I'm going to have to be out there doing a lot of knocking on doors to see what I can find. I'm hoping I will be able to find a job on a live abored dive boat though I don't want to get my expectations up too high.
There were 10 people in total doing their instructor exams. Everyone managed to pass with only a few people having to do remakes on any part. We were divided into 2 groups for the exams. The 3 of us from FNQ Dive plus 1 Japanese guy were in one group and the 6 people from ProDive where in the other group. The examener actually told us afterwords that he felt that our group was a lot better than the other one. I would probably have to give the credit to this to our instructor, Keith Cardwell, simply because he probably taught us every trick in the book that he has learned in his very long career in the dive industry.
Now that I'm done my instructors I have about 10 days before I can actually start to work, so in the mean time I'm going to be doing my Master Scuba Diver Trainer course, which will allow me to teach a number of specialty types of diving. We are going to be doing Deep diving, which means I'll be allowed to more or less go as deep as I want, well to roughly 60m at which point breathing air is no longer safe do to getting bent, and nitrogen narcosis. We are also going to be doing Night diving, which is pretty much just like it sounds which is to dive at night. We are also going to be doing Nitrox training, so I can use Nitrox and teach people to use it, the advantages of which are that you can extent the time you can stay down for by almost double assuming you don't go too deep with it because once again breathing Nitrox at too great a presure becomes toxic. We are also hopefully going to be heading down the coast to go diving on the SS Yongala, which is a really famous wreck, it is a cruise ship that sank in 1911. We will also be doing a handful of other specialties though none that are as interesting.
I will also be in the search of a job now that I'm all done my training, so for the next while I'm going to have to be out there doing a lot of knocking on doors to see what I can find. I'm hoping I will be able to find a job on a live abored dive boat though I don't want to get my expectations up too high.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
