Week 2 recap

Hi Guys,

Computer nearly there!!! Just waiting on a couple of drivers to be emailed to me, then we are back on track.

In the meantime, here is the Week 2 recap written by Jenny...

DAY 8 - DAY OFF
Day off for me but Si had to do his Emergency First Response course (First Aid) to do, luckily I've already got my First Aid Course through work. I spent the morning mailing home and updating the blog. Had a surprise visit from Simon at lunch, apparently Crystal needed photo's & my First Aid Card, so I jumped on the bike and returned to Mae Haad and decided to join the 2nd half of his course just to freshen up on my first aid which turned out to be good fun.

DAY 9 - EQUIPMENT LECTURE
08.30 Start, this was my first lecture I think since college ..a bit of a shock but I found it pretty interesting. We covered different types of valves (K, J and DIN), regulators, open/closed and semi closed systems, guages (Bourdon, Capillary) and tanks. We both passed with 80%.
!2.00 We got ready for 2 Eco Clean Up Dives. Basicallly collecting rubbish dumped out at sea. It was very sucessful. Si prize find was a fishing rod whilst I got numerous plastic bags, nets and a car speaker. We also saw our first blue spotted rays of our trip.

DAY 10 - RESCUE DIVER (3 day course)
Morning spent in class, watching video's & completing Knowledge Reviews from our Rescue Diver manual. After lunch went though dive kit assembly and then headed for the pool where we practiced skills (mask clearance, sharing air, cramp relief etc) and watched a couple of the DMT (Dive Master Trainee's) complete an emergency scenario with an unconsious diver. Then it was off to the beach to practice various rescue scenarios. Found this pretty tiring as at the end I had to drag Simon out of the sea with full scuba kit on ..not the easiest of things to do

DAY 11 - RESCUE DIVER
9 am start. Worked on our General Review questions in the bar and then stopped for lunch. Afternoon out on the boat where we practiced panicked diver, unresponsive diver & underwater unresponsive diver etc, planning Emergency Action Plans over and over again. We were given speed tests on how quickly we could kit up and get into the water ..love doing this ......just the rescuing I could do without ;-D After a very tiring day we all went to the bar to discuss the scenario's for tomorrow and as to who was going to do what a spotter, rescuer etc to work out an action plan.

DAY 12 - RESCUE DIVER
Met at 10.00 to take the written exam. We both passed! Now it's just the practical. After lunch we were out on the boat for a couple of dives. We all check out the boat to see where the first aid, oxygen, buoyancy aids etc were and then set up our kit and watched all crew members as today, everything was going to be thrown at us. Scenario after scenario ..at one point there were so many drowning, unconscious divers ..........very tiring & stressful but after an exhausting day we'd all passed.

DAY 13 - ORIENTATION - DIVE MASTER
9am start. Watched a video on DMT's ..showing the role and characteristics of a PADI Divemaster. After that we had to go through a pile of form filling.. 3 hours or so later and after we'd been given our work schedules and introduced to the office staff we headed to the bar for a well earned bottle of beer and met some other DMT's

DAY 14 - PHYSICS LECTURE & EXAM
All classrooms were full so we headed off to one of the resorts to sit in the restaurant. Physics was gong to be based on 25% basic facts, 25% Physics of DCS (Decompression Sickness) and 50% Maths ..ARGH!!
And to my horror algebra! It was an interesting time and a struggle for some ..I won't bore you with the details but we passed with 95%