Utila – Week 5, Day 2: DMT of the Week
UTILA
Week 5
Day 2: DMT of the Week
December 12, 2022
Having gotten over the previous day’s failures, I was ready to dive again. Amelia and I would be assisting Catherine and Noah with their PADI Open Water course. We’d be going for our first open water dive with the students, and I, for one, would be diving with my new equipment setup – weights on the front and a lower gas tank. I was as excited as the students!
We went to Big Rock for our first dive. Amelia, Levi (who’d be joining the course as an assistant), and I would each be paired with two students each as they performed their tasks. I asked if I could be paired with Quentin, considering I had worked with him the previous day along with Tom. With that, Noah told them to hold on to the buoy line and descend in pairs, while we looked over them. They did so without any problems.
As I descended slowly, I noticed my trim was already a hundred times better. For the first time, I could feel my body falling forward effortlessly, giving me a horizontal trim and helping me control my buoyancy. I swear I could’ve made love to Buck at that point.
I was so lost in my newfound level of confidence that I failed to notice Quentin floating midwater without holding the buoy line. Despite my initial panic, I quickly realised he didn’t quite need it. We made it to a sand patch where they went over their skills, Quentin doing most of them seamlessly – much to Noah’s surprise after Catherine had told him to keep an eye on him. I was so damn proud of him!
After that came the fun dive portion. This is when all hell broke loose – at least for me. While Tom managed to dive with minimal issues, I can’t say the same for Quentin, who seemed to be attracted to the surface like a friggin’ magnet. It took everything I had to hold him down and bring him back to our level every time he started to ascend, which was about 80% of the dive. I swear, by the end of it, I had run through so much air and was so physically and mentally exhausted I wanted to give up my role as a divemaster trainee.
But there was one consolation: I could pinpoint the problem. He didn’t know how to kick properly. Instead of kicking up and down, he was moving his knees in and out. I tried to show him a couple of times – sometimes using hand signals, other times by telling him to look at me while I demonstrated the correct technique. When that failed, I literally grabbed his fins and mimed the proper kick. That, unfortunately, didn’t work either. And so, it went on like that for the rest of the dive.
Amelia, on the other hand, had picked Gary and Cory – two excellent students – and enjoyed her fun dive. Levi, much like myself, battled with JP as he tried to keep him at the same level as the rest of us.
From Hell Dive to High Fives
During our surface interval, after a few minutes to recover and recompose ourselves, Noah took the students aside and gave them constructive feedback.
Much like he had been with us, he was supportive and kind – highlighting their strengths before moving on to what needed improvement. When he was done, I approached Quentin and told him about his kicking technique. It felt like a lightbulb switched on the second he understood what I’d been trying to show him underwater.
He said he’d try his best – and I readied myself for yet another hell dive. We got to Moon Hole, descended, and he performed his skills exceptionally. Then, much to everyone’s surprise – especially mine – he was in full control of his buoyancy and kicking technique. I was honestly elated. I had no idea someone could improve so much in such a short time! I kept clapping and giving him fist bumps throughout like a proud father.
Levi couldn’t quite say the same thing, though. Mid-dive, PJ suddenly shot to the surface and started bawling his eyes out because his mask had flooded. Let’s just say he never had the redemption arc Quentin had.
DMT of the Week
Back at Underwater Vision, I finally felt like I was going somewhere. Like the previous day’s failures had evaporated, and that I actually had what it takes to be a divemaster trainee (DMT) – let alone graduate as a divemaster.
Throughout the month I had spent diving in Utila, there were days when I’d question that over and over. The skill circuit LPI detachment fiasco, the lionfish hunting debacle, and the wreck penetration farce all had left an impact on my confidence levels. As with any other sport, diving didn’t quite come naturally to me and I had to put in more hours than most to get better at it. That said, I was managing. By this point in time, I’d learned that the skills I never thought I could potentially improve upon – say, navigation and buoyancy – would be refined over time. Instructor-level buoyancy is attained after a couple hundred dives. I was still in my forties!
As with any other process, this would have its ups and downs. And, after such an up, I felt genuinely thrilled to be there, working towards yet another goal – improving, learning, pushing myself.
Having said that, it still came as a huge surprise when, during that week’s staff meeting, I was announced as the DMT of the Week. I had been working my ass off and, despite my limitations, I was clearly improving. That’s why Catherine nominated me. She might’ve been a bit biased given how close we’d grown, but hey – I could see those same things in myself.
Stay wild,
Marius
Post-Scriptum
Not expecting to ever be the DMT of the Week, it did kinda get to my head. I had the other DMTs refer to me as the one and only DMTOTW. I cherished the free beer that came with the title – and a couple more I was owed by other DMTs who forgot to put on the safety strap on their tanks that day.
You know what’s better than beer? Free beer. You know what’s even better than free beer? Pissing Monkey off by telling him he forgot his safety strap!