While there appears to be a lot of interest in doing the GUE programmes,
cost was, for many people, an obvious hurdle.  Particularly given our
disadvantageous exchange rate and the ancillary costs like travel and
accommodation.  Nevertheless, eight of us registered to do the Fundamentals
programme as a prelude to hopefully getting the guys back over at a later
stage to teach the tech programmes.

Of the eight, one flew in from Darwin, in the Northern Territory; one drove
across the 'island' from Western Australia; one flew up from Melbourne; two,
(including Simon Hartley, who some of you may remeber from Scuba-L, the Tech
and Quest forums) drove the 600 kms down from Lismore; and three of us
hailed from Sydney.

The programme is a non-certification course evolved over two years that's
intended to bring people up to speed on the 'basics' as a prelude to the
tech programmes.

The first day of the intensive three day programme was spent in the
classroom - with dry-run practice sessions -  learning buoyancy, weighting
and trim techniques; balance and trim skill development; various propulsion
techniques, including frog kick, modified frog kick, modified flutter,
backward kick, helicoptor turns; centre of gravity drills; how to perform
the 'Basic 5' skills, (reg removal, exchange, modified S-drill; mask removal
and replacement) while maintaining depth in the horizontal position; valve
drills; team techniques; and fitting - and adjusting - the equipment
properly.  (It quickly became apparent to everyone that book learning ain't
no substitute for personal help and assistance in fine tuning the
configurations - and that the K.I.S.S. principle offers very practical
benefits!)  :-)))

We spent a good deal of day two in Sydney Harbour - at Little Manly - with
two teams of three and one team of two, practicing and developing the
various skills by swimming a grid of laid line.  The rain of the previous
day had sent the visibility tumbling to 2 - 3 metres.  Nevertheless, it
still enabled JJ and Andrew to video us!  (At the end of each day, the video
was replayed so that we could see that no matter how well we *thought* we
were performing, there was considerable room for improvement in our various
techniques!)  :-))))

The classromm sessions - that carried through until late - were based on gas
management techniques; decompression planning; shooting a lift bag - and
recovering it while maintaining constant depth and horizontal attitude;
planning and executingdives; OOA drills; communications; more dry-run
practice on our propulsion techniques.

On day three we moved to Shelly Beach!!!!!  The vis was even worse!  :-)

We practiced sudden OOA situations and horizontal ascents maintaining 1
minute stops (as an exercise) at increments of three metres and properly
deploying and restowing the long hose.  (At this point, I have to say that
I'm now firmly convinced that my 6 ft hose is about to be swapped for the
7ft hose.  It's easier to deploy and much easier to stow - even without a
cannister light - than the 6ft!) :-)

As is always the case, nobody was there to see when, on the last dive - I
eventually mastered the backward kick and - without the use of hands - was
able to swim myself  backwards while maintaining horizonatal position and
depth!  :-)

We deployed lift bags, recovered them; swam around without masks and eyes
closed while maintaining constant depth; and lots of other stuff!  :-)

And then back to the classroom for more talks and video reviews of our
'progress', before all going off to an evening presentation given by JJ and
Andrew on the Wakulla Expeditions; Decompression planning; the Britannic
Expedition and and introduction to the philosophy of DIR attended by about
100 people that finished at about 23.30 hours.

It is, of course, possible to cover everything that we did, but it would be
very long winded and even more tedious to read about something that has to
be experienced.  The programme sounds very basic - and, indeed, it is!  But
it's remarkable how much we all learned.  But to dilute it all down, the
emphasis was very much on the diver - and their attitude to diving.  The
equipment was just a small part of the total equation.

We were also fortunate in having JJ and Andrew as Instructors.  They would
rank as the best that I have ever seen, are articulate and manage to get
their message across in a very unthreatening and gentle fashion, and really
seemed to take delight in helping people.  It is the best, most informative
and enjoyable diving course that I have ever undertaken and - as I said
earlier - also one of the most humbling!  :-)

Oh!  And the title of the post, "Rule #6".  It was in Andrew's introduction
to the programme.  "Rule #6: 'Look Good'"!  (It may come as a surprise,
considering many of the misconceptions surrounding DIR, but that was the
only 'Rule' mentioned!)  :-)))

Strike