The Evolution of a Divemaster

I've always wanted to learn how to scuba dive but always had something else to do, no time to do it, or some other excuse that kept me away from the water. Then my friend Ben (There is your plug Ben…you happy?) told me that he had bought scuba lessons for two and the other person had backed out. He offered to give me the lesson if I went through class with him. Not being one to turn down the free classes, I signed up with him. Before the classes even started, I mentioned to a few of my other friends that Ben and I had signed up with another friend of ours (Kris) and they were interested as well so they signed up too. The first day of class came around and myself and 4 of my friends walked into class not really knowing what to expect. We found out that our instructor was Tattoo Bob. Bob definitely allowed us to have fun in class but made us learn as well. After all, that's why we were all there. We went through the four days of classroom work and the four days of pool sessions having more and more fun as every class went by. Next step…open water!

The day finally came when we got to put the skills we learned to the test in the cold waters of the Puget Sound. It was a cold, beautiful Saturday morning in October…probably raining truth be told. We put our gear on like pros. Anticipation was building. I had wanted to do this for a long time and it was finally gonna happen. We got into the water and did our weight checks and made a small surface swim out to a buoy that had been set before we got to the beach. As we headed down into the depths of the Sound I realized I couldn’t see crap and I didn’t like it. Because of the rain in the last few weeks, it had caused the visibility to go horribly bad. I had never felt claustrophobic before but I did now and I did not like it. I began to panic a bit, breathing really heavy, not thinking straight and so on. The number one rule in diving is never hold your breath and that definitely wasn't a problem for me. After being down there for a few minutes I put what I learned in class to work for me: stop, think, act. I got my breathing under control and successfully finished the first set of skills. Due to the really bad vis, Bob decided it wasn't a good idea to take an underwater "tour". Once back on land, Bob explained to us that it was rarely that bad and to please not judge diving on this one day. I took what Bob said to heart and said, "Forget it. I’m out. This isn't fun." It took several hours for Ben and Kris to convince me just to finish the next day. Ben used the “I paid for it” excuse and Kris used the “You spent a bunch of money…you owe it to yourself to at least finish” approach, which is what it took to convince me.



The next day came around and reluctantly I suited up and made my way to the buoy. As we descended down, it was like a totally different view. I could see further than six inches. I didn’t feel so closed in and I could kinda see why people choose to do this. We finished up our skills for the day and we got to go on the "tour" of the area. “Beautiful and amazing” were the only things I could think of. This is why I wanted to dive.



After the dive, we all went to the Buzz Inn Steakhouse in Mukilteo (RIP) to get our books and certifications signed off. We made it! While sitting there waiting for our books to be handed back, Bob mentioned that he was giving an Advanced Open Water class the following weekend and that it would be a good idea to take it. Even with so little experience, Bob said we would be fine. After just having had an amazing time, it was a no brainer. We all decided to take the class. The great thing about the Advanced class is that there is no classroom work. You fill out your book, give it to your instructor and go diving, which is what we wanted to do. We met Friday night for our night dive. During this dive, I encountered my first octopus. Although it was only about a foot in overall length, I had never seen one while walking on the beach so I was in total amazement. Saturday we did our deep dive, which always had interested me. Bob and his Divemaster, Phil, took us slowly down to 100 feet. Triple digits below sea level; this was a good dive. Our second dive was fun as well. It was our buoyancy control dive. Bob and Phil took us down to around 70 feet making sure we went down slow enough that we were able to adjust our buoyancy so we would stay off the ocean floor. Sunday came around and it was starting to snow. This worried one of my friends and she didn’t feel safe. If you don’t feel safe, you don’t dive. It’s pretty simple. Bob said this was fine and those who wanted to dive could. Those who don’t don’t have to and they could make up the other two dives. Our first dive was a navigational dive. We had to do square patterns and out and back patterns using only the compass…one of the most important tools you have while under water. The next was kinda a free dive but we called it our fish identification dive. Bob didn't go with us. Since we were certified open water divers he didn't have to. Ben and I decided to go out looking for fish but mainly just trying to get comfortable diving with each other and definitely working on our buoyancy. Two more successful dives and one more certification…next up Rescue Diver.



Ben and I both decided we needed to get a few more dives under our belt before we took the Rescue Diver class. After all, we are only 9 open water dives into this. We weren’t quite ready to rescue people were we? It took about two years before Ben and I took the class. During this time, Kris continued on ahead, getting his Divemaster certification back and continued on to become an instructor. I took the next few years to fall in love with diving. All other hobbies were pushed to the back burner. I didn’t see friends who didn’t dive as often as I used to. I made friends just in visiting the dive shops. I was heading to the beach just to meet people there and dive with them. With every dive I enjoyed it more and more. The more I enjoyed it, the more I wanted other people to experience this new found love that I had found. One day Kris called me up and said that he can tell I was loving diving and noticed how often I dove and was making new friends. He asked what I would think about becoming a Divemaster for him. Knowing that I have wanted to continue my education I told him yes. Ben and I got our Rescue books and went through them together. Kris put together a great presentation for us for the class room setting. The Rescue class was by far my favorite. You really get to learn some fun, yet life-saving skills, some self-help, and skills for panicked or distressed divers as well as learning how to locate a missing diver and how to bring an unconscious diver up. Administering emergency oxygen and CPR were also in this course. When you get done with this class you really feel like should something happen you could handle it, but more importantly, you learn how to recognize problems before they happen. You will never be able to stop all problems; you never know when a regulator will free flow, but it becomes second nature if it does. After taking a written test and passing, I added one more certification to my accomplishments.



Once I had my Rescue card, I started sitting through class with Kris helping where I was able to, which usually meant handing out paper work, collecting tests, setting up his computer, etc. We had a word for it, but I’m trying to keep this professional. As a Divemaster candidate I had a lot of fun. I met people in class that I am really good friends with now even outside of diving. Some even invited me to Cabo with them three weeks after knowing them...but that's a whole other story. With Kris never having had a Divemaster candidate and me doing a lot of fun dives it took awhile to get through class. There was a lot of work through many class type settings, with yet another great presentation by Kris and Lisa*, who helps Kris with well…everything actually. Going through many books, learning more physics and the body’s reaction to diving kinda took some fun out of it. When you take a hobby you love then turn it into a science lesson...what can I say? The mapping project I had to complete for my DM certification was more difficult than I thought it would be. There were many dives with a lot of stuff going on at once; compass headings to take and measuring distance between important objects then having to draw it out. But even while this is going on, you are still learning. Being able to observe and help in the pool definitely lets you practice your basic skills over and over until you get them to demonstration quality.



What I have learned through this several year journey is that you’re going to get out of diving what you put into it. I have had so much fun helping people get their certifications and helping them find a love for a sport that I love so much. I have met some amazing people and gone on some amazing trips. I've even learned a few things about myself that I never knew. I do not know what the future holds for me, but I do know that diving will be in it. To steal a phrase from my mentor, “A good diver is always learning”, so it looks like more classes for me.



Stay wet, stay safe…

John Pendergraft

(*edited by Lisa)