The First Open Water Course of the Year!

April 28th & 29th the Saturday and Sunday marked the first open water course of the year for Busan Scuba. My role during the course was to help out where I was needed. It was Jen and I working with Drew to make sure that the new students were all set up and everything was in it's place. We were there to help make Drew's job just a little bit easier.

April 28th the Saturday and first day of the course Jen was there helping Drew throughout the day. I had to tutor, so I came later. I had other things to do as well, so I didn't stay that long for that day. The parts I did stay for was the students watched parts 1 ~ 3 on the DVD. Drew sat in the room and talked to them about the knowledge reviews in their books as well after the DVD. Jen and Drew had gotten the gear around in the morning, so basically everything was set up already. When Drew was not talking to the students, he was giving Jen and I pointers as too help us out in what to do for a class time sessions. Well after they were done in the classroom came the time to demonstrate how the gear worked to them. We had two tanks, two BCD's, and two sets of regs. Drew demonstrated how to assemble the kit, and then he let the students work on it. While the students were working on their kits, Jen and I would walk around watching and help the students out. We also used this time to order lunch. All the students did a great job for their first time ever putting a kit together. By that time the students had got all the gear assembled and the questions were asked and then the lunch arrived. We ate and talked about different things. After the lunch it was time to get into the pool, however as things go, I had to leave. Jen and Drew got them set up in the pool and took them in. I said my goodbyes and that was it for me on Saturday.
Sunday I arrived around 8:30 in the morning. Drew was already there by that time setting up the gear and getting it all collected, so it would be easier to put into the van. I started to help him pack and then I got my gear together. The students arrived at the shop and there was this sense of excitement in the air. We all got into the van and we headed to Taejongdae where we dive locally. We met one of the students and Jen there. Drew took the students to the beach to show them what they were going to do. While Drew did that Jen and I set out the gear for the students, and we got into our suits and waited for the students to come back. The dive center was busy with life. There were a lot of Koreans there this weekend, and this could mean only one thing. Dive season has started for them too, and it was just going to get busier and busier as the summer continues.

Once the students go back they put on their gear and started doing their buddy checks. Drew, Jen, and I watched them as they did this, and helped them when we could. I was paired with the girls, and Jen had the guys. After the final ok's were given, we walked to the beach with the gear on. We got on the beach and Drew talked for a minute to review what was going to happen. We put the masks on and got into the water. We showed them how to put the fins on and we let them work on that. We also helped them when they couldn't get them on properly. When we were all floating in the water with all of the gear on we swam out to the buoy. Jen went down with the guys first and I stayed at the top with Drew and the girls. On the way down one of the boys just sank like a rock, while the other one took his time. Drew went down after him after him. After the guys were down and situated it was the girls turn to go down. I walked them through the 5 point decent and we started to go down. We went down the line very slowly, because one of the girls had problems equalizing her ears. It was no big deal, Drew came up to where we were and took the other girl that was doing ok. I remained with the other one and we just took our merry time going down. I was really proud of her for doing this. I know that sometimes when you see the other people in the group you want to rush into things and not be the last one, but she took her time and made it down safely. Once we were down there we go the students somewhat buoyant, and we took them on a swim. We were around 9m (29.5ft), and the visibility was around 1m (3.2ft) the water temperature was also 15C (59F). While swimming around I really couldn't see how Jen was doing with the boys, I was too busy trying to keep the girls moving. One of the girls was doing alright, but the other one had a floating issue. She kept on rising while she was swimming. She was a small to avg girl, and she had 12kg (26.5lbs) around her waist, so it wasn't her weight. I then noticed she had gotten her Low Pressure Inflator buttons mixed up. Anyways, I grabbed and dragged down, but in doing so we both started to rise. I dumped my air and I then I maneuvered her to a vertical position and dumped most of her air in her BCD. I was really proud of her during this time, because she remained calm and didn't panic while I was tossing her around in the water trying to get her to sink. Well with that out of the way we continued on. I had the girls by the hand and we swam around for about 20 some odd minutes. Around that time the students were getting cold and wanted to go up to get warm. We got on the surface and started to swim to the shore. Once everyone was there and the gear was off, Drew informed them that they had to do a swim part of the course. They looked at him with doubtful eyes, but they all got back into the water with just their fins, snorkel, and masks. Drew even got in with them and they swam around the bay. After the swim Jen and I took the students back to centre to warm up. We took the tanks with us and Drew stayed with the gear. While up at the centre They got warm and Jen went down to the beach so drew could come up and get warm as well.

After about 20mins at the centre we all gathered and grabbed tanks and carried them down to the beach. We assembled the kits and got geared up for the second dive. However on this dive the beginning part of this dive the students had to work on their skills. Just like before we go them all out the the buoy, and the boys went down first followed by the girls. This time going down with the girls we went down a little bit faster this time. Drew did have to come up for one of the girls and I stayed with the other one and we took our time again. Well when she got down there the other students had completed the skills and it was her turn. She did her skills and we went for a swim around. This swim was the same as the last in terms of stats. However on this swim around the girls did a lot better with their buoyancy. I swam above them this time making sure that they didn't rise up, but they all did really well. Towards the end I did end up taking their hands and swimming with them a little faster, because they started to get cold again and we were a little farther out than last time. Well after around 20 some minutes we got to the surface and got out. We got cleaned up and they sat around talking about the dive. Drew helped them with the log books and Jen and I worked with the gear. After they did their log books Drew, Jen, and I packed up the van. everyone was really hungry, so we stopped for some Korean kimchi pork soup. We finished the lunch and headed back to the dive centre.

Overall the day went really well, at least I thought it did. It also gave me a better understanding on what a divemaster does when working with an instructor in the ocean. I learned new things and it was an overall great learning experience. I can't wait for the second part of there course this weekend.