4/29/13

Day 2 of my odyssey to become a PADI Dive Master.

Today started for me at 5:00AM when I crawled from my bed to the shower..... I headed over to the clubhouse for a dose of some awesome Honduran coffee. For those of you who have never had this coffee, it is one strong brew. After my 3rd cup I went over to the docks to see what was going on. I found Marco, one of the Cocoview Divemasters, getting the boats ready for the guests' morning boat dive. I asked if he would like some help. He put me to work right away. We loaded tanks, BC's, and regs aboard the red boat. After we finished I cleaned rinse tanks behind the locker rooms.

 Around 7:30, I headed over for a breakfast of an omelette, ham, fried taters, and a grande glass of fresh OJ. Great I thought, this should give me an energy boost after the loading.

 I headed over to Dockside Dive center to greet Patty, instead I find Alejandra telling me that Patty will be late, that there was "A change of Plans". She informed us the we were going to start on some of the required swimming skills, starting with the 400m free swim! Now this might not sound too bad, but the swims are all timed. Points are awarded by time.and this is how it goes:

UNDER 6:30  5pts
6:30 to 8:40   4pts
8:40 to 11 min  3pts
11 min to 13 min  2pts
more than 13min  1 pt.
Stopped swimming  0pts.

Now I must say I'm a strong swimmer, but I'm also slow and steady. I managed an 11 min swim. Not too bad for a 47 YO guy. (the 20 YO did not beat me)! If you are saying that that would be easy....go try it, and let me know how it works out for you...

 The next event was the 15 min tread water, with the last 2 min with your hands out of the water.  For those of you that have been to the beach with me, you know that I float like a cork in salt water! I started my float while my heart was still jackhammering in my chest. I floated for 20 mins or so, then  threw my hands up for another 3 min. After I heard Alejandra saying I was finished, I swam over to the seawall. For this, I earned 5 pts for the event. Yea Me!

 We then headed over to the office and met Patty for our 3 chapter review.

 By this time it was around 12:00 and we broke for lunch.

Lunch today was chicken soup, island chicken, and the ever popular black beans and rice.   I was able to finish up lunch pretty quickly and had time for a 10 min siesta. Boy did that feel good!

At 1:00pm we went over to meet Alejandra at the office to see what sadistic plans she had for us this afternoon. We started our skill development. For you non-divers, this is 20 skills you must master to become a certified diver. For the Dive Master program, you must master these skills to demonstration quality. The process is exact and demanding. We started by doing the skill and realizing that we were a little rusty on demonstrating skills. After a few times through the skills, we were getting by. A few more sessions, and we will have them down pat.

 We got out of the water some time around 5:00, and called it a day. We headed back over to the room to get a dry shirt and headed over to see the bartender for an ice cold cerveza! You see, the first one was on my classmate, Greg. It is the requirement for those who are caught with their mask on their forehead to buy a round. He was a good sport and bought Two!

 Dinner was served at 6:30 and we had steak and shrimp for dinner, followed by a delicious double chocolate cake.

 Greg and I laid around for a while in a couple of the many hammocks. We discussed the busy day and wondered about what awaits us tomorrow!

It's now about 9:00 and I'm beat! Heading off to bed.

For those following this, I'll get some pictures of the place up tomorrow. I promise.

Buenas Noches.