OWSI!

I am well chuffed, I have done it.  After 2-3 months are slog and graft I can now call myself an Open Water Scuba Instructor.  For all of you who have waited for this post and supported me a big thanks is now due.  THANKS

The IDC was really good and run by a great Course Director Kev Turner.  He came over from Canary Island Divers CID to run it and his laid back teaching style really worked for me.  Ably supported by Simon who is now an IDC Staff Instructor not only was it made fun but I got a hell of a lot out of it.  

The Instructor Examination took place in Marbella/Estepona area at the Happy Divers CDC centre.  We started straight into the Open Water skills but I did not make a great start by forgetting to pack my regs!  Yes I did feel like a prize plonker.  Thankfully Happy Divers were able to run over a spare to save the day.  Having been left behind on the beach I then had to sprint swim out to the buoy to catch up.  Not particularly hard but I had to carry an extra 8kgs as one of the skills I had to get my pretend students to master was rig and lift a weight no more than 11kg negatively buoyant!  The other skill that I was assigned was fin pivot (LPI - using low pressure inflator).  You have to brief the skill out of the water then whilst under water get the students to show the skill.  You also have to assign an assistant to look after any students not doing the skills.  Mickey Thomas the PADI examiner was also down there with you assigning problems that I had to spot and rectify safely.  For the fin pivot I scored a 5.0 and the Lift Bag I got a 4.0 (all scored out of 5.0).  The only thing that lowered the second score was that the rope was a bit too long and I didnt spot to shorten it.  You also had to debrief it the PADI way and this was included in the scoring.

After this we had a simulated rescue exercise we had to pass.  Did ok and enough to get through.  By now though it was almost 9.30pm as we had started late Friday evening.  Did not get to bed until after midnight and we all had to be back in Marbella for 9am the next morning for round 2!  Marbella is about a 45-60 minute drive from Torremolinos.

Next morning was the exams!  In the following order we had 1hr 30 minutes to complete a total of 60 questions - 12 Dive Physics / 12 Diving Physiology / 12 Dive Skills and the Environment / 12 Decompression Theory and Recreational Dive Planner  & finally 12 Dive Equipment.  A quick 20 minute break and we were back in the exam room again for another 90 minutes, this time for 50 questions on PADi General Standards and Procedures.  I scored as follows - 88%, 100%, 100%, 100%, 96% and then 96%.  Another part done successfully!  

Next up was the pool skills, this was the area I was worried about and the pressure was on.  The 5 skills we had to do to demonstration quality were - Scuba Equipment Remove and Replace on Surface / Mask Removal Replace Underwater / Hover / Controlled Emergency Swimming Ascent and Regulator Recovery and Replace.  It started well but had a blip on the Hover, it is not one of my stronger skills but after a screw up I composed myself and ran through it again.  Done, whats next I hear you ask!  

Following this we stayed in the pool as we had Confined Water Teaching presentation.  I had been given a skill from the rescue diver course - Approach a diver in a panicked state and quick reverse.  After the briefing we had students with problems again that we had to spot and keep safe before acknowledging they had mastered the skill.  I got a 4.6 on this so pleased and was told I passed the skills as well.

By this point I could see the finish line as I only has the classroom teaching presentation to go.  For this I had to prescriptively teach the eRDPml.  This is a calculator that works out your No Decompression Limits for Multi-Level dives as well as everything a table RDP does (Recreational Dive Planner - original table used to calculate max dive times).  When you teach the PADI way you are supposed to start with a contact story that can be linked with the subject you are teaching.  I used flight planning as it linked well to diving at different levels.  I made up the figures as I new I could blag it - no one would know about flight planning would they?  Well much to my surprise one of the fellow Instructor Candidates used to be a Captain for SAS for 24 years.  He had a quiet word out of ear shot of the examiner asking what I was on about.  I replied "it was all made up, didnt think I would have an experienced Captain listening and taking notes!"  He said that he found it funny and we had quite a laugh about it as we knew I had gotten away with it as no-one else in the room had any technical aviation knowledge.  I scored a 4.5 on this presentation and had completed the last stage successfully.

I, as you can imagine, was well chuffed.  We had a small presentation of certificates and it was back in the van for the trip home.  Only this time I was an Open Water Scuba Instructor!

Had a nice couple of drinks and tapas to celebrate.  Not all over though as tomorrow and Tuesday I am being taught to become a Specialty Instructor in 5 Specialties - Deep, Nitrox, U/W Photography, Oxygen Provider and Wreck.  Then when I have taught 25 certifications I can apply to become a Master Scuba Diver Trainer - MSDT.

So then who wants to learn first?