Psyched after PFI course!

[iceselkie]

Hey guys, I just wanted to pop in and share my good news. I had a really great time with Kirk and Mandy, taking their PFI course the past four days, and after two pool sessions and the first OW session, I did a -20 m CW then the next day I pulled off a -30m. Looking forward to using these new skills in future dives with you all.

[Erik]

Awesome... they are great teachers indeed!

[nostres]

Congrats! very nice, do You have some pictures to share?

And also, where did You take the clinic?

[laminar]

Glad you got out diving! How was the viz at Ansell?

Congrats on the new pbs. How did they feel?

It was great to see you the other day. Hope you and Gabe find yourselves in Vancouver more often.

Pete

[surinate]

She even got the invite from Kirk to start competing, even after she slammed him into the boom on the Rescue scenario. I did the exact same thing right after though. lol. Sorry Kirk

[Fondueset]

Awesome! I really want to do 30m - unfortunately I don't have any safety divers and the burbot are notoriously unreliable.
(I gotta find a way to move this whole rig to canadia - BC is just entirely too cool!)

[jimdoe2you]

Bri,

I totally know what you mean, the PFI class is such a blast. Congrats on touching the 30M plate!!!

Jim

[Kars]

Sounds like you're really at home down there, could you describe you maiden 30 in detail? was it a fast dive or slow, did equalisation went ok, how was the the pressure on your ribcage, abdominem, was there any acidation? Did you dive eyes closed, did you manage to let yourself go an fall down, always the best part in my dives

Have much fun exploring en experiencing!

Love, peace and water,

Kars

[maytag]

Awesome! Did you do it in BC or Seattle? Congratulations!

[iceselkie]

Thanks!
Maytag, it was in Vancouver, we dove at Porteau Cove and Ansell point.
The rest was at SFU. 100% concurred, Kirk and Mandy live up to their slogan
I wish I had some pictures of the dive to 30 on my own camera, but I just have surface pics as Gabe had the camera and was diving a short distance away as to give us some room on the line. I know Kirk and Mandy have some footage of it though. To my recollection, Ansell that day had enough vis that you could see around about 10ft or so. I initially pulled straight down to 20m, although I was supposed to pull down to 10m. I pulled down to 10m after that. I was enjoying having the best of the best safety divers though, and knew that this would be the opportune time to try some depth. After pulling down to 10m, I tried a 6 hard kick, 6 soft kick, drift and equalize to see where I would end up at after two equalizations. I think it may have been on the fast side, and I recall seeing the rocks at the bottom, and thinking we should go out a bit further. The dive felt really comfortable, the pressure was fine, the equalization was fine, and I didn't feel any acidation. I wanted to try 35m at that point as it all seemed rather easy, but I was getting cold at the same time and after trying it again, turned at just short of 30m again even though the plate was at 35.
I did keep my eyes open the whole time, to watch marks on the line, to make sure my head had the proper position, etc.. counting cycles and seeing if they were at the right depth. I don't have much opportunity with a calibrated line, so I had to soak it all up. Plus, having both Kirk and Mandy down there, filming, and visually cueing me to drop my arms at the last bit and exhale (which I had previously forgot to do).
We practiced the safety stuff after that, and it's true, I rescued Kirk at about 10m, and came right up under the pole. I had better luck with Mandy the second time
For future PBs, I would likely continue to dive a calibrated line, in an area I knew I wouldn't fear of hitting anything when letting the sink phase take over. I'll likely want to take more time and work on relaxation and technique rather than depth, because knowing that I can do the depth helps that way, as the equalization seemed to go very well.
I have some pics up on facebook, but I should upload them to my deeperblue gallery here as well.
It was a great time, as Nathan would likely agree with me! And it's always a pleasure to come out to the coast Pete, I look forward to coming again, and joining in on the last stretch of Telegraph Cove 2! but don't count on me to dive for halibut!
**edited to add, I created a gallery and u/l'd some pics there

[DeepRN]

Yup, she done good <highfive> Kirk swims over to me afterward and says, "So... you need entry into the support group for freedivers who's wives kick their butts?" The class was in the water for about 2&1/2 hours on a cool overcast day. As with other areas during the time, the top 8m or so were crap for vis, but clear beyond that. There were numersous schools of smaller fish. I actually encountered three lingcod during my dives! I was impressed that I had enough time at -22m to scribble directions to Telegraph Cove for them.... I hope they come out.

Cheers to Bri & the other divers from the June PFI (Vancouver) group!! It was great to meet you guys.