What, no observation on the instructor?

Blimey, Barbara – diver trauma is indeed a terrifying thing. I’ve never lost sense of direction, but I do know it’s possible to do so in the blue. I would recommend a Rescue Course if you felt you could brave diving again, but it does sound like an intensely traumatic experience. I’m not sure what it is about that site – one aspect is that it’s actually an inverted cone, so it’s quite easy for folk in panic to get caught under things, and the wall feels more extreme because it tapers in there, and, of course, walking past the plaques doesn’t help — but it can be very freaky. At least someone was there to help you resolve your situation. That’s not always guaranteed anywhere… Theodora

Quite.

Talking of paranoia and safety consciousness, I’m seriously considering switching to CIMAS should I do more diving qualifications in a coupla hundred dives time – because they are SO paranoid and safety conscious, it’s untrue…. But it would be in a coupla hundred dives, minimum – not now….

good to hear you did Rescue! it really is an entire course on the myriad of ways diving can go wrong, but i think it makes you appropriately paranoid and safety conscious 😉

throwing was ok for me because I play netball, but singlehandedly trying to get a dude out of the water even with all the tricks was what nearly broke me~ very much easier in theory than in practice, glad I did my course with a group of 3 other people so we were never really stuck doing drills on our own (we also learned to keep our gear on after dives because there would always be someone to go ‘save’)

but yay keep on diving! glad you both were safe 🙂

Well, apart from when she comes to visit US, obviously. She’s pretty darn eagle-eyed in the water. And – yes – I saw that on Facebook. Sounds scary. At least in most diving accidents you’ve got a tank…

Sounds like we’re at similar stages. I did my Rescue after that incident – post on the topic coming up soon – and 100% concur that it really makes you safer (and shows you what you don’t know). The bit I found hardest, for the record — I’m 5’7″ and quite strong for a girl — was throwing. Took me about a zillion goes to throw the float (a basketball on a line) the required distance. Someone told me that you learn the most during the first couple of hundred dives, and I’m certainly finding that’s the case, because for the first 40-odd I had no idea what I didn’t know, or what I was doing wrong. Now I’m actively learning and observing.