I admit to being a devoted and, at times, distracted underwater photographer. My motive for doing this course was not to abandon the buddy system, which has been central to my diving for more years than I care to think. ItÆs a stark reality that there are times when a photographer must stop and take time to capture an image.
The buddy, generally another photographer, will have other interests. Buddy separation may temporarily increase beyond where immediate aid can be expected. At this point, we are effectively on our own. I needed to improve my gear and techniques, to feel more confident of self-rescue should things suddenly go pear-shaped.
IÆd never done an SDI course before and hoped IÆd not get more of the blinkered training typical of PADI. We were given the course manual, well beforehand. It was filled with common sense and written in an engaging manner but badly needed proof reading!
Our instructor, Rodney Gibbs, is a Technical Diver. He deliberately gave the course a ætekkieÆ slant, so we could clearly see where this course fitted and where it might lead. The course was strongly underpinned with detailed dive planning and gas budgets. Understanding stress, how it leads to panic and how to de-stress and avoid panic, together with dealing with equipment failures, entrapment or entanglement, in a solo environment, were all highly relevant.
Of greatest value was the individual attention given to gear configuration, quick access and snag prevention. It was capped off with a practical days diving with Rodney, covering more gear reconfiguration, mask-off diving, deployment of a reel with SMB, a navigation refresher and switching between primary and back-up gas systems.
It culminated in a æstressemupÆ when everything was thrown at us all at once, needing quick, precise action in the right sequence. In all, it was a worthwhile addition to a mature divers continued education.
Thanks Rodney; thanks SDI, thanks Dolphin Scuba.
Ian Robertson