9 replies to this topic

[ScubaGypsy]

Though I have been diving on and off since 1986, I learned last week that I have just been blowing bubbles while underwater! I signed up for the GUE-Fund's course in Ft Lauderdale next month as I have never been particularly happy with my trim and buoyancy. I had already begun switching to some of the prescribed configurations and have read their book and watched their DVDs. However, one can read all they want, and it is easy to change ones equipment set-up but that is still a far cry from perfecting new skills. I had a couple of off line chats with SD's Trace Malinowski and expressed my concern over reading some internet comments about these skills. I do not know anyone that had taken these courses as GUE is generally not popular in the northeast. At the time of our discussions, I was driving in my motorhome from IN back to RI. So Trace suggested meeting at Dutch Springs in Bethleham, PA, as it is relatively close to him and is not far out of my way for driving back as well.

Well we met up last Thursday (October 27) and it was an overcast and cold day (low 40's but water in the 60's) with only a couple of other divers there. Trace already had plans to work with another instructor in perfecting his skills as well. We initially reviewed our equipment configurations and made some minor changes. We also reviewed some of the drills top side. Finally we went into the water over to a training platform at 25' down. This was only my second time wearing the Eclipse BP/w as I had been wearing the OMS BP/w for the past couple of years. And I must admit that this new Eclipse feels almost naked next to my OMS set-up! However regardless of any equipment set-up, I have never seen such perfect buoyancy and trim as Trace performed. He appeared to be completely stationary throughout the dive and exercises while the other instructor and I were all over the place! I never could get to the skills beyond the frog kick, and even that was rather lame, as I was never able to get to complete buoyancy. I felt totally out of sorts as I have never even seen those talents much less tried them before. Trace even took all of my weight off, and I was wearing a full 6.5 mm suit, hoods, gloves, etc, as well as a steel 130 tank. I still sunk! So it appears that I'm going to have to go back to my aluminum tanks and just save the steel for my drysuit. However it is apparent that I am just now learning to dive after witnessing such talent and skill as Trace demonstrated. He appeared to be able to go as fast backwards as forwards with kicks and leg control that I had never seen or really heard of before.

I am appreciative for the time and patience as well as the experience to watch such skills in action. Thank you Trace!

[PerroneFord]

I'm sure you will get many responses, but WELCOME. I am also planning on taking the GUE courses, but I am going to start in the spring. While clearly there are a LOT of highly skilled divers who are not GUE trained, it is a hallmark of GUE technical divers to dive as you saw Trace. Notice I said Tech divers. There are some divers who've taken (though not passed) DIRF who will not show anywhere NEAR that level of proficiency.

I had opportunity this past weekend to dive with a couple of VERY skilled divers. Neither GUE trained. Both had excellent buoyancy and trim. I am working on these skills myself and hope to be decent by the time I head to DIRF.

You mention that GUE is not popular in the NorthEast. It is really not popular anywhere. It's a VERY small organization, and one that is highly controversial for many reasons. Since you are going to Ft. Lauderdale, I assume you are training with Dean Marshall. He does a LOT of DIRF classes. I am not certain if I will take my class with him, or with JJ or Mark Messersmith, as I only live a couple of hours from High Springs.

I wish you the best in your endeavors, and I will say this. Once you "get it" in terms if the whole idea of working your skills and seeing progress, it's intoxicating. Don't forget why you're down there. Trim and skills are means to an end, not the end itself.

-P

[TraceMalin]

So it appears that I'm going to have to go back to my aluminum tanks and just save the steel for my drysuit. However it is apparent that I am just now learning to dive after witnessing such talent and skill as Trace demonstrated. He appeared to be able to go as fast backwards as forwards with kicks and leg control that I had never seen or really heard of before.

I am appreciative for the time and patience as well as the experience to watch such skills in action. Thank you Trace!

Thanks, Tom! I'm really looking forward to coming up to RI and diving with you and your boys (aka. "The Pink Divers"). I haven't been to a couple of the shore sites you mentioned so I'd love to see them. Yesterday, I found out that I can back up pretty well while wearing a drysuit and carrying an 80 cu.ft. and a 40 cu.ft. stage along with my Pro 14 canister light and fully loaded pockets. That's a lot of drag when reverse finning, but possible. Good luck with your DIR-F class! Let me know what they decide to do with you for the best size single cylinder. The reason you don't need weight is because you're so tall and in shape. But, I'm interested in what cylinder may be a better choice for balancing you out. If you have the chance before you go, jump in from shore and work on staying stable. You can play around with your tank position as far as height goes. If you move it up a bit in the bands it might help keep you from doing a foot plant. Let me know how everything goes!

Trace

[ScubaGypsy]

If you have the chance before you go, jump in from shore and work on staying stable. You can play around with your tank position as far as height goes. If you move it up a bit in the bands it might help keep you from doing a foot plant. Let me know how everything goes!

I'm planning to go out next weekend and try both my aluminum 80 and 100 tanks without weights to see if I can become buoyant!. Hopefully the weather will stay like it is today (upper 60's and sunny) instead of like this past weekend (30's and snow/rain drizzle)!

Edited by ScubaGypsy, 31 October 2005 - 12:28 PM.

[ScubaGypsy]

Since you are going to Ft. Lauderdale, I assume you are training with Dean Marshall. 

Trim and skills are means to an end, not the end itself.

Yes I am signed up to take the course with Dean, although I understand that the Ft Lauderdale area is still in abit of a mess from Wilma.

As far as a means to an end, Trace alluded to the ends that I am pursuing. I have 3 boys ages 15, 13 and 11 who I spend a significant amount of time travelling and diving with. Diving with my own sons is the essence of family values!! And as we have formed our own "dive team" over the past year, my boys have adopted the style of diving in pink. Apparently the pink color is now a big hit with teen aged boys, at least here in New England, though I'm not sure if it is because of hip-hop music or just plain shock value. At first I just thought it was silly until we were diving in a spring and the boys had silted it up so bad that the ONLY thing that I saw was the old pink regulator that my youngest son had in his mouth. With the lousy visibility up here, anything that improves seeing each other is a positive addition.

In any event, I do like the skills and team work concepts of GUE and if I can improve my abilities and translate them to my boys, then we will be all the better, regardless of what color we are wearing!

[normblitch]

Though I have been diving on and off since 1986, I learned last week that I have just been blowing bubbles while underwater!  I signed up for the GUE-Fund's course in Ft Lauderdale next month as I have never been particularly happy with my trim and buoyancy.  I had already begun switching to some of the prescribed configurations and have read their book and watched their DVDs.  However, one can read all they want, and it is easy to change ones equipment set-up but that is still a far cry from perfecting new skills.  I had a couple of off line chats with SD's Trace Malinowski and expressed my concern over reading some internet comments about these skills.  I do not know anyone that had taken these courses as GUE is generally not popular in the northeast.  At the time of our discussions, I was driving in my motorhome from IN back to RI.  So Trace suggested meeting at Dutch Springs in Bethleham, PA, as it is relatively close to him and is not far out of my way for driving back as well.

Well we met up last Thursday (October 27) and it was an overcast and cold day (low 40's but water in the 60's) with only a couple of other divers there.  Trace already had plans to work with another instructor in perfecting his skills as well.  We initially reviewed our equipment configurations and made some minor changes.  We also reviewed some of the drills top side.  Finally we went into the water over to a training platform at 25' down.  This was only my second time wearing the Eclipse BP/w as I had been wearing the OMS BP/w for the past couple of years.  And I must admit that this new Eclipse feels almost naked next to my OMS set-up!  However regardless of any equipment set-up, I have never seen such perfect buoyancy and trim as Trace performed.  He appeared to be completely stationary throughout the dive and exercises while the other instructor and I were all over the place!  I never could get to the skills beyond the frog kick, and even that was rather lame, as I was never able to get to complete buoyancy.  I felt totally out of sorts as I have never even seen those talents much less tried them before.  Trace even took all of my weight off, and I was wearing a full 6.5 mm suit, hoods, gloves, etc, as well as a steel 130 tank.  I still sunk!  So it appears that I'm going to have to go back to my aluminum tanks and just save the steel for my drysuit.  However it is apparent that I am just now learning to dive after witnessing such talent and skill as Trace demonstrated.  He appeared to be able to go as fast backwards as forwards with kicks and leg control that I had never seen or really heard of before.

I am appreciative for the time and patience as well as the experience to watch such skills in action.  Thank you Trace!

Regardless of WHERE/WHO you get the Hogarthian/DIR/DWW style dialed in, you will be HAPPY HAPPY...AND, I'm here to tell you that it WILL stick with you...After MY 15-year hiatus, it WAS like riding a Bike.

AND, when I went from a Sherwood Outback (ugh!) to a bp/cell, I, too, DID have more than a few UW moments of buyers remorse...the GOOD NEWS is that every successive Dive was better and better...don't concern yourself with small tweaks until you know where the real instabilities lie...

Trace makes a good point re adjusting the cylinder position on the bands...always try to solve Trim issues with existing Mass...

FINALLY, breath control is PARAMOUNT...long, deep, & slow measured breaths combined with SMALL BC inputs and dumps will eliminate over-control...small moves with your fins/legs, and no hands....AND this will make your SAC rate enviable!!

ENJOY!

Norm

[ScubaGypsy]

Well I went diving last night off of Castle Hill with my oldest son and wore my full 6.5 mm suit, hood, gloves, etc. I once again used my 130 steel tank with the Eclipse but did not initially start off with any weight based upon my experience with Trace at Dutch Springs last Thursday. What I found was that though I was still too heavy in the fresh water of Dutch Springs, I was far too buoyant for the ocean. I added a 6 lb weight and was able to descend but it appears that I'm going to have to add more weight than that as I was fighting the buoyancy and current too much to realistically try any of the skills. I'm hoping to go diving in a gentler ocean environment this weekend to try and perfect this buoyancy as my progress seems almost nonexistant so far!

BTW, the water temperatures were not that bad, upper 50's, which is pretty good for RI in November! And the visibility was in the 15-20' range which is an improvement from this summer.

Edited by ScubaGypsy, 02 November 2005 - 07:57 AM.

[ScubaDadMiami]

If you decide to come to Fort Lauderdale, you should be fine as far as the ocean conditions go. Just call the shop to see what the status is with electric.

[VADiver]

I took my fundies with Dean. He is a great instructor and a great guy all around. He'll work with you to get you dialed in which shouldn't be a problem. Just go in with an open mind and listen to what he has to say and ASK questions if you're unsure of anything. I'll be down there this month for a scooter and a dry suit class so I'll let you know what the conditions are like. When are you heading down?

Also, you might want to look at this link for the North East Under Water Explorers. See the DIR philosophy is growing; I've seen a lot more GUE/DIR trained people since I started. http://www.ne-ue.com/

Have fun in the class and relax...you'll do fine. And remember it's not about just passing and getting a card but learning the skills and philosophy behind GUE/DIR.

Oh, and I think all Brownies rents are AL 80 tanks. What wet suit will you be diving…a 3mm I hope.

[ScubaGypsy]

I'll be down there this month for a scooter and a dry suit class so I'll let you know what the conditions are like. When are you heading down?

My class is scheduled for 18-20 November. According to my friend that lives around the corner from the Riveria Beach location, they have electricity back. I don't know what the situation at Ft. Lauderdale is though.

Also, you might want to look at this link for the North East Under Water Explorers.

Hmm, I was totally unaware of North East Under Water Explorers. Thanx for the link, I'll definitely look into it.

Have fun in the class and relax...you'll do fine. And remember it's not about just passing and getting a card but learning the skills and philosophy behind GUE/DIR.

My goal and intent in taking this course is to learn these skills! Right now I am having severe doubts as I wonder if it is easier to teach a new diver as opposed to an old dog. I would presume that my kids could pick these skills up much easier than me.

Oh, and I think all Brownies rents are AL 80 tanks. What wet suit will you be diving…a 3mm I hope.

After the experience this week with my steel 130 in the ocean, I think that I still prefer to use it and learn how to perfect my buoyancy and trim. The 130 has a H-valve as well.

I don't have a 3-mm and didn't really want to buy one. I have a dry suit on order that is supposed to be in next week though I ordered it in the middle of September so I am having doubts. I was going to bring my 6.5-mm and dive skin. I'd prefer to use the 6.5-mm as this is the suit that I usually wear but perhaps it might be best to begin using the drysuit to get used to it as well. I love wearing the skin but it is not realistic for the majority of my dives.