RIP Renfield ... arise Sir Renfield of the Dark :)

[Mal Bridgeman]

I know there are many who are fed up of reading course reports and probably fed up of DIR Fundamentals course reports more than most. If that's you then this read is not for you I'm afraid.

I think there are many on the board who already thought I'd done this and many who'd possibly wonder why I would bother.

Well......
The short version is....I did the course, had a really good time and learned more than I thought I might. Got some great feeback on my diving and what I can now do regarding further GUE training.

Met Richard Lundgren who is a genuinely good guy and was thrilled to be part of the course where Clare got signed off as a GUE Instructor.

I got the pass I wanted

The longer version.....

Over the weekend, (Friday to Monday), three Yorkshire Divers : Dianne (Madfish) Mike and I attended DIR-F in Vobster. The course was run by Clare Gledhill and Richard Lundgren and, as well as being our course to learn the fundamentals of GUE diving, it was Clare's final assessment as a GUE Instructor.

The Result.

Overall I had a really really good challenging course. I passed the course and got some very valuable feedback on my diving both when all is calm and also what tendencies I have when things are not going so well. Some of those tendencies are good but some less so and it's those tendencies .... which I can now go and work on.

It was intense and my own view is that if one goes on the course, never having dived in this way, then unless it all comes very naturally then achieving a pass is difficult but not impossible. So going in with an expectation of a provisional and a roadmap on how to get the desired pass would be realistic expectation for most I think.

However to show what can be achieved, my buddy has had interest in DIR for a little while and took delivery of a new drysuit and twinset rig recently which he dived for the first time on 22nd December 2006. Whilst we have worked quite hard together to get him as comfortable as possible with his new equipment over the intervening 4 weeks we tried not to pre teach what would be taught on the course. He was pleased as punch to get a Technical pass and a roadmap on what to now do.....


Why did I sign up for the course?

There were three main reasons why I took the course. For some reason, most people think I had already done it so it seemed a natural thing to do....my interest in DIR is no secret. I made a deal with Clare when she first started down the line of being a GUE Instructor that I would be a student on her first course so it was nice to make good on that promise. Finally, my buddy and I want to dive wrecks in the South Coast and we decided that Tech 1 was the route we wanted to take together to do that.

What's it like on the course?

It is intense - four solid long days of diving theory and practice. A full day of lectures is followed by the swim test and underwater swim. The next day, a morning of lectures was followed by in water skill demonstrations and performances ... captured on video. This was no surprise because the power of the video debrief is well documented but it enabled me to make impartial observations of my performance and assisted Clare in helping me concentrate on the three main areas of required improvement for the next dive, followed by another late evening lecture. Day Three and more of the same and each of the dives increased in its challenge with more and more being asked of each student....looking for the improvements which were previously discussed and then highlighting the three main improvement areas for the next session. Day Four had a very small lecture then some concentrated diving practice. The course was rounded off with a self critique and personalised feedback from the instructors. This is the "prize" for all the hard work during the previous four days

What did I get from it?

Quite a lot. As a Recreational Scuba Instructor and with a Trimix qualification I'd like to think I was quite sorted as a diver.... but the video doesn't lie and although I had a mental image of me when the world is a good place I had not realised what happens to that when things are not going so well. So that gives me things to work on. May be I am being hard on myself but it's something I'd like to nail. The course material is very thorough and I learned some new stuff from that too. It's not the cheapest course, the course fees, accommodation, gas, kit etc soon mount up but I am not sat here regretting a penny of it.

Would I recommend the course?

Of course! As has been previously documented, the syllabus is large and there is plenty of learning available in the course for everyone.

Final thoughts.....Cigars and Medals....

Firstly thank you for reading this far. the biggest thanks to Clare and Richard for the lessons and to Howard P for being video bitch/kit bitch and all round good guy. Also to Tim and the rest of the guys at Vobster for the enormous amount of help they gave in ensuring the course progressed as it did.

I have read many DIR-F course reports and they seem to give an impression that the course is some form of Army boot camp or tantamount to finding religion. It is neither....it's a scuba diving course .... but where it differs from other courses is where this style of diving is grounded. One of the most interesting lectures (although it may not seem it at the time) is the explanation of GUE and its goals for education in particular....Safer, more enjoyable diving achieved through a more exacting standard of individual performance. There are goals on research and exploration too, but it was the education goal which resonated with me. Initially this could appear a little idealistic but what I realised during the course was, just how much these important "company" values were to the employees i.e. the instructors. Many examples and illustrations during the course were grounded in the personal experiences of the Instructors. The illustrations left me with a powerful image of why GUE want to improve diver safety and enjoyment....and why my diving will continue in that direction.


Other things.....

I got to say hi to a number of YDers whilst doing the course ..... sorry if I was pre-occupied ... I hope you understand.

I was involved in a car crash travelling from the B&B to the Dive site which everso slightly p*ssed me off and means I have more than the normal amount of things to catch up on today.

[And]

Hi

Nice report Mal. Congrats on the pass

Andy

[KeyLimePie]

Well done, Mal, congrats.

[Odin]

Good, short and to the point report!
It was also good to meet up again.
After the car incident - the boy done good to keep it together and carry on that day.
Well done!
Paul
p.s. MOD1 next??

[Steve S]

Congratulations Mate and to Chunderfish as well, I'm chuffed you passed and sorry to hear about your RTA.

On another matter I'm beginning to feel alone now on the non GUE mod front with And you Gareth and Daz [assuming he's taken his revaluation] I hope there won't be any ganging up on me

Safe diving,
Steve

P.S. you owe me several beers for the nicknames

[onthetrain]

Nice one Mal.

Good effort mate. Pleased for you all and of course for Gledders. Sorry I missed you on Saturday. You could have had a shot on my rebreather between dives as its working beautifully now

[Odin]

Originally Posted by onthetrain

Nice one Mal.

Good effort mate. Pleased for you all and of course for Gledders. Sorry I missed you on Saturday. You could have had a shot on my rebreather between dives as its working beautifully now

or mine
resistance is futile...

[ardhill]

Well done Mal.

I am glad you got it first time - see it shows you were nearly DIR before you even took the course
.