Becoming a Divemaster in Summer 2020 Covid times

 

 

 

 

Wed, 17.6.

I arrived in Italy yesterday, we start the Divemaster course today.

"DMT" is for Divemaster Training Dives.

DMT1 Morning dive Frati 1, 32 m, end 100 bar

After that we have a Theory session, instructor manual chapter 1

Lunch break

15:30 theory session:

Instructor manual chapter 2-4

With me is Max Langley, a somewhat awkward guy, he is doing the Pro Crossover from another agency, probably Padi. The crossover has more or less the same content as the Assistant instructor, that is why I am studying together with him, probably. So, I start my Divemaster education with the theory of the assistant instructor, and that's a massive amount of studying. As soon as I am back at the bungalow I fire up the computer and work my way through it

Later have a glass of white wine on the terrace and a plate of spaghetti Scoglio at the beach Bar Cap Landen 

 

Thu. 18.6.
The cats at the Camping site seem to like my motorbike....

9:30 Theory instructor Manual chapter 5: briefing of a skill session

Assignment for the Lunch break: Prepare a briefing for a skill

I do that with a Toste and Coca Cola at Cap Landen:

Afternoon: I present a briefing for the skill Regulator Clearing by Purge. Not excellent, but ok, missed some points, but it's my first real, though mockup, briefing.

Max has to brief Mask clearing, but he gets lost a bit in explaining dangers and problems that might occur while diving. Completely offtopic, he is very nervous obviously.

Assignment for tomorrow: Chapter 6 and 10 of the Instructor Manual. Boy, that's a lot to read. I feel a bit overwhelmed, remember, it's only 48 hours ago I arrived from a 1000-miles-motorbike trip with two days of heavy rain... And it is not Divemaster, but Instructor content. What is going on here?

But I have full WiFi at my bungalow, a beach bar 1 minute walk away and decent weather. My bike is parked in front of the house and I have a super nice commute to work every day. Curvy roads along the coast with nice sea views. Will have to make a video of that.

Fr. 19.6.
DMT2 9:00 Educational Dive at Ratteghe with Ale and Max Langley, who does the pro crossover. I have trouble going down, back to surface, 1 minute breathing, focus, exhale, descend.
We do Instructor skill demos mask removal, hover, regulator out and purge, 18 minutes, then out.
At 15:00 we do the Pro Crossover Exam for Max Langley, I do it, too, pro forma, wrong 9/50, allowed 5/50.
Then more theory with Chiara
I show briefing for Swim without mask

Evening on the camping site, I go to have a beer at the rocky beach, all by myself

The waitress  at Cap Landen tells me she is the girlfriend of Cesare, who did the Stress&Rescue Course here with me last year. Her name is Veronica, and she's a diver, too, but Padi, so she dives at Nautilus, Marina dei Aregai, 15 km down the coast. I know the center, have been diving with them a couple times. My former Rescue Buddy Cesare is back in Imperia, now works at the Beach Club Baia Salata.

I feel a bit of relief that maybe the monster theory sessions might be over now that Max has finished and left.

Sat. , 20.6.
DMT3 9:00 Dive with guests. My task is to "close the group" (dive behind everybody else, tail control) Dive site is Saraghi , 22 m max depth, square dive profile, dive time limited by NDL Nicole, Sergio Romano und Davide and two others
Later have a coffee at the Spinnaker Beach Resort, which belongs to the dive center. I meet Alis, wife of Gigi, our boatman. She has a farm with five houses and land in the Abruzzi mountains near Aquila and wants to sell it. She asks me if I kinow any alternative, eco-oriented platforms to promote that. It's not a vacation home, more for some people who want to go off-grid. I promise her to talk to Kate and come back with results.

I have a late aperitivo at Café del Mar in Diano Marina, lazy afternoon by the sea.

Sun. 21.6.
DMT4 9:00 Dive site Frati, max depth 30 m, square dive profile, time limited by NDL. Same group as yesterday, plus one from Albenga. Sergio und Davide do their own thing as a buddy team.
When Alessandro signals ascent, the guy from Albenga, Nicole and me swim to the anchor line, Alessandro brings up the anchor and I cover Nicole, while Albenga is already at the surface. Ale comes and asks me where Albenga is. Albenga out of the water already and in the boat. Alegoes up, too, I do a controlled ascent with Nicole. Albenga gets treated with pure O2 on the boat.

Then free time, made a video of my way to the DC and back with the new GoPro 8,

then repeat Theory again.

 

 Mon. 22.6

First time I sleep until the alarm goes off at 7, the nights before I woke up before the alarm.
DMT5, 9:00 dive Saraghi with Clients Pietro and Henry and Laura from South Africa. I do the boat and dive briefing in English for the latter two. I learn that Saraghi is the plural of Sarago, that's a common fish in the Mediterranean, about the size of the palm of your hand.
Henry doesn’t go down, gets 3 more kg from Vincenzo from the boat.
Nice conditions, no current, nice viz.
Navigation: first WSW, then back, passing the anchor, towards the next Sandy Patch.
There we find an Outboard Motor in perfect condition, at 23 meters depth, obviously lost by a boat crew.
After 20 minutes I ask my divers for air, Laura 140, Henry 110. Back to the rope after 25 min. Nice and easy

Tue, 23.6.
Went to DC, no work today, I study Dive Guide course again. Relaxed late afternoon at the beach

Wed 24.6.
DMT6
Teaching Dive at Ratteghe, perfect conditions, like an aquarium. I assist Chiara as divemaster on the 2. OWD dive with her group.
Skills: knee pivot, reg clearing, reg recovery, hover, clear mask. Two sets of 15 and 17 min.
I take down two students two times.
Relaxed. Love my new work.
Vincenzo: „The Divemaster is the silent Ninja.“
Davide DDG posted pics on FB of the Saraghi dive yesterday, I steal one with me on the boat...

I bring Borgo Marina Diving marketing material to Teccu de Ma
Then free time, buy bread, Campari, water, nectarine, have a Campari Soda at home. Nap
A lady at the Camping is interested in Try Scuba. Next weekend her daughter comes, too. Talk then, maybe I can sell two courses

Thu 25.6 Day off
studied the Dive Guide Book again.
I take a short motorbike trip to Taggia, there is an Electronics market, Euronics. I buy a set of bluetooth earphones, I completely forgot to bring some. 

Fri 26.6.
DMT7 Teaching Dive, Assisting Chiara on OWD Dive3,same group, one missing. Picked the young guy down from the surface again, he always has his inflator in his hand. I remember doing so as well, during my first diving course. Next course for them is Monday.
In the evening nice snack...

Assignments for tomorrow:
1. Upload insurance and medical statement
2. Study Navigation
3. Study Night diving
4. SOD final exam 100 questions

We find I need to do two more courses to meet the prerequisite: Night diving and Navigation. Chiara buys the kit package for me. I start studying both after lunch.
I upload my dive insurance (non-pro), Status is pending.
I upload my medical statement from 10.2.2019, Status is invalid, too old.
-> I will have to get a fresh medical exam, RSTC form and all. Shit.

Afternoon at Cap Landen Veronica calls Cesare on the Molo, we talk a bit, he made his DM in Koh Tao last winter and worked as DM there until April.
Now he works at beach club Baia Salata in PM, direction San Remo.
He says he'’ll come around the DC one of the next days, wants to dive Bettolina at Capo Mimosa, 47 meters.
I study, study, study, and finish with a nice snack in the evening

Sat 27.6.
Wake up at 6, Study, shop groceries, to be at Dc at 3 pm.
DMT8 Ratteghe. I get Roberto who hasn’t dived for 8(!) years. Alessandro gives a dry Suite lesson, I take Roberto diving. I repeat basic scuba knowledge, explain equipment, basic skills like clearing mask, clearing regulator, remind of deflating fully at descent, give dive briefing about the site, for in and out, max depth, max dive time, repeat basic signals we will use (up, down, ok, problem, how much air?, signals for air 100, 50 etc, cancel dive)
Dive:
He has problems getting down, I deflate him, at bottom wait a minute, his mask is fogged, we clear it with problems, head North. After 14 min I ask for his air, he has 150 bar (started with 210). Surface once, clear his mask, I put it tighter, down again, head south.  After 10 min he surfaces again, has buoyancy problems, I give him 1 more kg, he signals comfort now, we do another 8 minutes and surface. Missed the boat by 20 meters...

At the boat I help him take off fins, the ladder bangs into my rib cage on the right side, at the top of the ladder he falls back, BCD stuck. Two divers on the boat take off his bcd, or rather peel him out of the BCD, he can move again. I exit water when he is safe and do a debriefing on the way back.

Afterwork beer at U Teccu da Ma, they have fresh Nastro Azzurro on tap. 5:55, that's Beer o'clock!

 
Sun 28.6. 3pm at DC
DMT9 Saraghi.
I am supposed to divemaster Roberto again. Alessandro and Chiara go with other divers. When Robert back rolls and surfaces again, his alternate regulator blows off. I cannot stop it. Gigi closes the tank from the boat, air is at 140 bar. We open the tank again, the alternate seems ok, but 140 bar is not enough for Saraghi. I wait until he is at the ladder, Gigi takes care of the rest, I go follow the other groups. At the anchor in 22 meters depth turn right, swim a minute then I see bubble columns and dive with Chiara closing the group and dive mastering the ascent. Last out of the water.
At the DC I help Roberto log yesterday’s dive, must have a look at his logbook, think he has only 4 or 5 dives 8 years ago 😱
Tomorrow I will be divemaster for Chiara OWD, probably Ratteghe again.

Mon 29.6.
DMT10 Ratteghe
Divemaster for Chiaras OWD course, only Matteo and Marco.
Roberto goes with Filippo and Francesco.
Navigation is NE, at the end of Posidonia NW, Cross big sandy patch, same way back main course SW
We repeat skills, reg, mask, pivot, and air sharing ascent.
40 min dive
Chiara asks me to bring my camera next time for a video of their buoyancy.
Tuesday will be a day off, Wednesday 9 am again.

Tue 30.6.

Day off. Laundry, Clean bike, clean home, read, beach, relax.

In the evening I take the bike to Cap Landen and ask Veronica to take a picture of me for a post. Didn't come out too bad:

Wed 1.7.
DMT11 Ratteghe with OWD Course. I make a video of the buoyancy.
Chiara shows me how to lift the anchor.

edit it at home and send the Vimeo link to Chiara. She likes it and posts it to the OWD Course Whatsapp group.

Thu 2.7.
DMT12 Tubo. First time for the group to go deeper than 5-6 meters, max depth is 9,66 m (well, as Divemaster I have to stay above them, so they probably hit 10 m) not much to see, so it’s buoyancy training again.
I pay close attention to the course Chiara takes. From the anchor at 6.7 m she goes SW, finds a tube and follows it to a sandy patch. Turns left, Posidonia at left shoulder, swims 5 min, and returns. Posidonia on right shoulder, find the tube again, turn right, follow the tube for 7 min, turn NE, tube is on the right, anchor after 1 min.
Controlled ascent. My computer does not show the safety stop. ??? Last stop is set to 6m, deep stop disabled. Maybe have to enable Deepstop?
After first ascent I go down with Chiara to clear the anchor.
We go Saraghi tomorrow, I will take both comps. And Cam…

Fri 3.7.
Immersions rimandata, Dive postponed.

I do groceries in the morning, have a Pam Card now, back to camping, make a hamburger for lunch, short nap, restart working on this blog, do some laundry. In the afternoon I meet Olga on her way home, she tells me Bella, whose real name is Teresa, doesnt leave the house anymore since Covid-19. They are two very kind and lively older ladies, we meet them on the Molo every summer. 

Aperitivo at Teccu, Paola proposes me an Italian Mule, then back to Cap Landen, have a beer under a dramatic sky. 

Sat 4.7.
DMT13 Saraghi
Chiara, Samuele, Andrea, and I close the group. The guys are doin well.
I pay close attention to navigation, and of course the boys, always behind and a bit above them.
Bad communication underwater with Chiara, I dont understand she signals me her computer is dead and wants to know the NDT.
I understand she wants me to keep an eye on the course.
Second try I understand she wants the NDT, my Vyper Novo reads 23 minutes, I show her with full hands. She looks at me like she doesnt believe it.
We set that straight on the boat on the way back.
Ascent becomes a bit chaotic towards the end, the sea has waves, the line is loose, My rib bruise hurts again, I am floating, not aware Chiara doesnt have a timer for the safety stop. kind of bopping around between 3 m and surface…
The EON seems to work fine, shows the safety stop. Obviously the other day at Tubo there was no need for a safetystop

This afternoon I will first officially guide a dive with the two boys at Ratteghe…
Chiara: This time you will have to find the boat!
Me thinking…Eyes on Navigation, boy!!!
DMT14
My first independent dive guiding, no skills, no exercises, just guiding…
Max dive time is set to 30-35 minutes by Chiara.
Samuele and Andrea from the course, Luca, who joined us on some dives already, and a fourth (forgot name, italian). Luca might have some ear problems.
Chiara makes fun of me that I have to find the boat again, haha
With everybody in the water I tell them I intend to go south, against the current, makes our way back easier ;-)
We descend, gather at the anchor after 1 minute, everybody signals OK, off we go. 1 Minute later Luca pulls my fin and signals he has ear problems and ascends. I cannot leave the students alone, so we slowly dive the given course, along the Posidonia on the right. A couple minutes later Luca is back and ears ok.
I have a close watch on swimming times and course, combined with natural navigation. Get back to the ballon after 15 min, now take course north, Posidonia on left shoulder. When Posidonia ends, I turn and swim back on the other side of it, and find the ballon a second time.
Now I dive an odd compass course over the Posidonia, only guided by compass and swimming time, straight back on counter course with some lookarounds and find the ballon immediately. I am getting into this…
We surface after 32:20 minutes, now that is exactly between 30 and 35

Sun 5.7.
DMT15 Morning dive Saraghi
I Divemaster and close the group
A swiss couple, Urs and Sandra, CMAS *** and ** . I do the briefing in German, explain roles of Chiara and me, descent, max depth, topography, fishes, safetystop, basic hand signal, forgot the one for safetystop. divetime is limited by NDL, no decompression dives here…
They seem happy after a 39:40 min dive.
Davide and Davide and Sergio dive around, too, Vincenzo has the same client as yesterday morning.
My rib bruise is getting better.
Back at the DC I explain for Urs and Sandra where to find everything.
I make lunch, have a short nap, and log some dives.
No message until 3pm, so no dive this afternoon.

Later Chiara posts a pic on FB, with our OWD group and Vincenzo on the boat.

I share that post and immediately Brad from Hawaii comments asking if that’s Vincenzo in the back. I confirm.

Shortly after that Vincenzo contacts me on WhatsApp, Brad called him because he saw my fb post with Vincenzo in the pic.
The two know each other from Honduras ...
Man, this world can be small ;-)

Mon 6.7.

DM 16 afternoon Ratteghe
Chiara, me, Eduardo who started OWD some days ago, and Elain, German American girl, who didn’t dive for 4 months (she says). She is not interested in her equipment, not focused.
I put the balloon on the anchor (will have to fix it to a carabiner on the BCD next time, much easier to take off than from the SMB hook), then find the rest of the group. Chiara wants my extra kilo but I don’t understand the signal at first (circle formed with thumb and index finger of both hands), adesso Lo so. Underwater Elain bicycles, even Eduardo on his 3. or 4. dive has better trim. But he is struggling with buoyancy, too. I pick him down from the surface a couple times. He is supposed to be in front of me, because I have to close the group, but he always follows me! And he is slooow...
Later Chiara tells me to let the students make mistakes, in order to learn
Dive time 41 minutes (in case Elaine asks, it’s 50, Chiara tells me...)
Vincenzo brings up the balloon after delivering his group, his bcd is leaking again. And off we go
Tomorrow morning dive. 8:30 at dc

Tue 7.7.
All diving postponed due to strong winds
Alessandro in the Morning: tomorrow same time
WhatsApp in the afternoon: dive Thursday 9.7.
I’ll go tomorrow morning anyway

Lazy day, very hot, though very windy

I have time to prepare some nice light mediterranen cuisine:

Veronica, the waitress at Cap Landen,  recommends Restaurant La Fermata in Imperia. Boat people from the port go there
Owner is Sergio, from Tobago.

Wed 8.7.
Good I went in the morning, the Whatsapp message stating Thursday was meant for the course only!

DM 17 morning dive Frati, the big anchor and bell.
Sergio in the group, also the Swiss couple again, Sandra and Urs. I do the dive site briefing in German for them.
I am 1 minute away from deco.
After safetystop is finished the Swiss guy Urs doesn’t want to go out, and Vincenzo is waiting at 30 m deep for everybody to be safe, so he can pull up the anchor. Misunderstanding, or different expectations. Chiara is not happy with me because I stayed in the water with the guest. She tells me I must force him out.
We three set that straight later.
The Swiss couple seems happy after this dive. Yeah, what a difference a bit of nitrogen at depth can make...🤣

At noon an Irish couple shows up at the DC, interested in wreck, or full cave, or XR, or Freediving course...
She Linda, Cmas *** 500 dives since 1988, he David, Cmas **, 50 dives
In the end we can recommend them to take a wreck course, and start right this afternoon.
Chiara shows me how to register new divers, I help with the Training records.
At 15:00 we meet again, I assist Vincenzo on the gear setup etc.

I go out on the boat but not diving, nice chatting with Chiara and Georgia, who started an OWD today. I learn to drop the anchor and pull it up.
Nice day!
Aperitivo at Teccu, met a Unicorn in the beach bar...

Tomorrow morning Tubo with the OWD Course. I want to do the anchor...

Thu 9.7.
DMT18 Tubo with OWD students Marco, Matteo, Edoardo and another Matteo.
When fixing the balloon on the anchor, I put a bit too much air, anchor starts hovering a bit. Chiara puts out excess air.
Divemastering during dive
When I pull up the anchor, I forget to close it before I fill the balloon, so the guys on board have a hard time pulling it up...
Next try tomorrow. I hate it when I behave like an idiot.

I learn some new italian words and sayings, like Ciccio pasticcio, which could be translated to something like "Chaos Kevin"...
scherzare to make joke
Scherzi you make a joke
scherzo the joke

Fri 10.7.
I check my SSI Account in the morning, and there it is, the Dive Guide certification, which together with my Science of Diving certification earns me the prestigious Divemaster recognition.

So today this is my First Official dive as a SSI Professional
Da oggi non piu Ciccio Pasticcio, da oggi in poi il tuo Divemaster Pino, il Ninja Silenzioso…
DM#1
OWD Course 6 students
Chiara Instructor, Vincenzo closes, I am the middle man, have to keep an eye on everybody. first I deal with one student, then keep an eye on all of them.
I do the anchor again. Only one flaw: when pulling up, I put less air in the balloon than possible. But Vincenzo is contento with me.

End of my Divemaster education, I am an SSI Professional now, Pro Nr. 93414

Read the next post on my work as a Divemaster and how I take the next step, the SSI Assistant Instructor

more dive videos here: https://vimeo.com/user55401320"

See you under water