Right hand release?

Last night, I had to buddy up with one of the candidate dive masters so that she could do her skills for evaluation. The first skill that the dive masters were being evaluated on is the buddy check. The course director (CD) wanted me to get my gear setup so that there were a number of things wrong with the gear. The idea is that the dive masters must become accustomed to what new divers can do to mess up their gear (and hopefully they will catch those things before the divers enter the water).

What CD wanted me to do was cross over the shoulder harnesses, and reverse my weight belt so that I had a left hand release on the buckle.

Unfortunately my candidate dive master buddy did not follow the slate and tried to do the buddy check from memory using the method I described in a previous post. If she had used the slate she probably would have caught the weight belt problem.

The problem with divers (myself included) is that we become complacent and do things almost automatically - especially when we set up our gear. The issue that we try to get across to the candidate dive masters is that the divers that they will be working with might be new divers who can and will do things to their gear that an experienced diver will not do. For example in just about every class that I teach to new divers, one student will set up the first stage backwards on the tank valve and when they open the tank valve the escaping air makes an impressive hissing sound that often intimidates the new diver.

No matter how carefully you brief the new divers beforehand they can and do forget details. Sometimes it is information overload, sometimes it is anxiety, sometimes it might even be some physical challenge like being hard of hearing. Whatever the reason, we have to prepare the candidate dive masters to be ready to catch these kind of problems.

What exactly is BWRAF?

Firstly, I think I should start with an admission. When I created this blog, I was hard pressed to come up with a suitable name. I wanted to use something that I could easily remember and that was SCUBA related. Eventually I decided to use the term "BWRAF". I guess I did not think about it too much since I assumed that BWRAF is only a user name and no one would really care too much about what user name I selected.

However, I have noticed a pattern in my blog tracking statistics that a fair percentage of the searches that find my blog are related to what "BWRAF" is. So I think it might be a good idea to define what BWRAF stands for and how to use BWRAF to do a good buddy check.

There are many ways to remember what the order of letters etc. The one that we use where I teach is "Begin With Review And Friend". Whatever method you use is fine as long as you don't forget one of the steps. Below, is a method of training students to use BWRAF to do a buddy check (source: PADI divemaster slate).

B (BCD)

BCD secure and functioning properly?
Low pressure inflator attached?
Appropriately filled for entry?
Buddy familiar with operation?
Tank secure?

W (Weights)

Amount of weight appropriate?
System free and clear for emergency release?

R (Releases)

All buckles and releases functional?
Locate releases without looking?
Buddy familiar with operation?

A (Air)

Sufficient for dive?
Valve turned on all the way? (remember to turn a quarter turn back from all open)
Alternate air source properly located?
Familiar with buddy's alternate air source?
Air pressure on which to turn dive? (when to return back)

F (Final check - OK)

General check of buddy - nothing odd or out of place?
Prepare to enter water

Disclaimer: The information above is for educational purposes only. Please do not undertake any SCUBA related activities without the proper training and certification.

Cameras

Its been about eight months since I acquired my first underwater camera. The camera that I purchased is the Sealife DC500. For my experience level (novice) I think that the camera was a good choice. The camera does everything I need it to do and is fairly easy to use. I have had some problems with the camera, but the company that sells the camera in the USA was very responsive and helpful with my camera trouble.

The problem is that now I am starting to look at more advanced cameras with more features. On the one hand I like the simplicity and easy of use of my DC500. On the other hand, I found that my DC500 tends to take pictures that seem to be a little on the cold side (more blue than necessary). So far I have not had problems with pictures since I use photo editing software and can correct most of the blue problems. I don't really like doing too much editing on the photos. As long as I can bring out the colors and brightness of the scene as naturally as possible, then I am quite content. I don't like going to the extreme of making the scene something it never was (for example introducing subjects that were not there etc.). If I can correct for some of the camera and lens issue with the software, then I think it is worth the effort.

My diving buddy, the Navigating Phenom who is a very good photographer (mostly video), but he had a very nice digital still camera as well. His camera is a little older than mine, but it seems that his camera takes more lifelike pictures than mine does. Of course NP would say that it is all in the hands of the operator, and I think that might be partly true, but I do think that his camera captures more colors.

So now I have started looking at other cameras. A while ago I created a blogroll link to Kona Hawaii Scuba Diver's Blog. The pics on his blog are gorgeous. Steve uses an Olympus SP-350. I know that the photographer's skill makes a huge difference and I fully acknowledge that he has a great eye for composition etc. But I do think that the colors and clarity of the shots are just great. The price of the camera is also quite reasonable compared to other cameras that I have looked at.

Another example of excellent pictures is Dany Weiberg's gallery on Pbase. His images are breathtaking. On his personal website he mentions that he uses a Fuji S2 pro camera.

The choices are overwhelming. I guess one should not chase features, but work on developing technique etc. It still is nice to look at what other people are doing and try to get better at photography.

I think I have been bitten by the photography bug!

Diving with the candidate divemasters

Last week, the instructor who really taught me most of what I know about diving and instructing called me and asked if I would be interested in helping with the pool sessions for the divemaster class. Of course, I jumped at the chance.

It is an interesting experience working with my instructor (who is also our course director) as a colleague and not as a student. For the sake of simplicity, I will refer to my instructor as CD for the rest of this entry. I still feel like a student when I am around CD and I guess that will be so for some time to come. The great thing about working with CD is that he is so good at what he does and I find myself always learning when I dive with him.

The one area that CD excels in is paying attention to detail. I tend to be a big picture kind of person and find that I don't always drill down to the nitty-gritty detail of things. However in working with CD, I have learned to pay very close attention to every skill and subskill that the students perform. It is part of the training to have the students flub on a specific skill to see if the candidates pick up on the mistake, but he is a stickler for detail which makes his students stickler for detail too.

Previously I wrote about how I felt that my training was more intense when I did my divemaster class. Having worked with the new batch of divemaster candidates, I guess I still feel that way. I remember how picky CD was about the most minute aspect of every skill. I am glad that he set such a high standard for us. The current class is much smaller than the class I attended so I am sure that the smaller class size allows for a more informal class situation.

Did you check your air pressure?

Recently, I had the occasion to be diving with a very professional dive shop in Grand Cayman. The dive masters were first class and the diving was superb. The dive that I was almost ecstatic about was Trinity Caves. I guess it was just one of the those days where everything coincides and you have a wonderful dive. Trinity caves was just one of those places that I fell in love with. The fish were large and plentiful, the views were phenomenal, the viz was great etc., etc.

It was interesting to be diving with no responsibilities and under the guidance of the dive master. The dive masters, as I wrote previously were top notch. However, the problem for me was that I had a hard time switching gears from the usual instructor mode that I am in to the happy holiday maker mode. At one point the dive masters went around check people's gear, and asking if we had checked our air pressures etc. It was an interesting experience being on the other side of the table so to speak.

The dive masters impressed me with their attention to detail. The dive briefings were thorough and the dive plans were followed to the letter. The emphasis is on safety and I was impressed that they insisted that everyone do a 5 minute safety stop after every dive, since some of our dives were a little on the deep side (nothing over 100 though),

Good on you folks at Divetech.