title: Episode 34: An Update on our Cave DPV Certification
author: DIVE TALK
contenttype: podcast
publication: DIVE TALK
published: 2021-12-31T07:30:00-05:00
sourceurl: https://traffic.libsyn.com/secure/divetalk/DPVUpdatePodcast.mp3?dest-id=1756346
word_count: 12991
Hello everyone, my name is Gus. Hi, I'm Woody and today we have an update about our DPV training we We get tons and tons of questions about this because eight months ago We released a video and a podcast about the DPV training we had with Marissa Eckerd and talking about How much of an epic failure that was from our part Because we showed up with a DPV and zero experience and pretended to be experts and passed within two days and well We didn't pretend to be experts. I don't remember we had that we just we went in and we Let me give us a brief evaluation we sucked Yeah, I mean, I didn't know we didn't know what we were doing and Marissa was very patient with us. I will say even Because we definitely messed up quite a bit That was you guys already know that from the original DPV video And if you haven't seen that video or if you haven't listened to that podcast I would advise that you go back and watch that video before you listen to this one or you watch this video I'll link it you know right here on the corner If you want to check that out because we're just gonna this a continuation to that story What happened after that? So When we did that training the suggestion was for us to just go back and Just do a lot of training on our own practice just practice right just go back and practice and not just DPV practice because As we know you know that the whole thing about like practice practice makes perfect is BS is perfect practice makes perfect So the suggestion was just go back and do a ton of cave diving Just like get really good at cave diving because we both are fairly new at cave diving We haven't been cave diving for decades or something Um, and then once you get really really good at cave diving then do some DPV Diving and then try again and that meant proficient beautiful streamline trim and buoyancy we were not doing a good job at all with her with that um And that included being trim and buoyant while multitasking Lay in the primary in high flow caves that's right. Let uh setting jump lines Putting down your cookie. So we really just needed to get ourselves proficient before you added a DPV on top of this whole thing right Um, so that's basically what we did we went back and we started practicing we we followed kind of directions And what we decided to do is again just before we went too far with practicing and because perfect practice makes perfect We decided to book a whole week like five days or whatever it was with Ed at sorenson right one of best cave divers in the world we Have feature Ed multiple times here on the show and we said Ed you know We want to come and dive with you number one number two get some pointers and training from usings we actually bought the DPVs from Ed from cave adventures Um, and you know basically let's just go diving and you know teach us some things and at the end of the week maybe uh do a quick evaluation and tell us you know What else we need to do to improve? maybe Maybe show us what we're doing in terms of toes and different exercises and things like that and um, you know evaluate us basically That's basically it now one one key thing I think that we need to clear up from the beginning is that in most of the caves Which is why we bought the DPVs for because the caves that we dive in Florida have flow Which is a big difference with caves in a lot of other places in the world like mexico for example Which is very famous for their cenotes and their their caves basically they don't really have a whole lot of flow So a lot of people get certified in mexico and they are like oh, you know, I got certified in mexico and they say well you just come dive in Florida And see how you deal with the We have a river we have like a river of flow exactly hard flow on Certain caves yeah, I mean jb comes to mind in mariana right beyond a massive amount of flow which is with Ed Yeah of where we're doing this practice Right a lot to deal with um, so Because of that that's what we wanted to use a DPV at diver propulsion vehicle Is to be able to dive in caves and not swim against a river um and We you know we basically Talk to Ed about going into this into this thing and and having the training basically with him and say Just you know take us there show us some things and whatnot and we went and we spent five days with him They were awesome learn a lot we do I mean we learned a massive amount and he started Us not in the high flow caves the first day or Two today remember two days was in a cavern Oh, we went out we went to vortex we went to vortex yep, and we just practiced basic basic stuff like go straight Where is the DPV is it high is it low is it is the is the Stjet stream of the DPV hitting you in the right place where are your fins? How do you turn the DPV? Are you holding your left hand in the right place? What are you doing with your right hand? Can let me see you stop? Are you able to stop and be mature? Are you flying to the surface and or are you hitting the bottom because the DPV can disguise Good boy and see and trim another words imagine you got this Dipropulsion vehicle in front of you and if you're if you're really not point if you're if you're in fact Positively point you could just point the DPV down right and it's gonna make you look like you're Staying neutral or vice versa if you're sinking you just kind of your body would just turn it up and it's gonna keep you neutral, but then if you stop You can't disguise it anymore. You're either gonna fly to the surface or go down and that for me I'm always gonna speak to about myself look that didn't come easy for me I had to get used to it the other thing I want to add Gus that I had to get used to is I was perfectly good neutral Good trim on the sidewinder without a DPV but the Change of depth going up and down happens 10 times faster at least on a DPV so all of a sudden when you go up on a DPV You're you're not gradually going up you're going up up up up up you better be able to react quickly What do you dump first you dump loop volume do you dump your wing do you start dumping your dry suit first So you're having I just want to put in a perspective You're having a multitask all these different things when you're using a DPV To maintain this neutral buoyancy and good trim At a much faster pace and I had never done that before and Gus had never done that before So it made it look like We had a horrible buoyancy and trim. I don't think we had as bad A buoyancy and trim as we showed that we as we performed when we had a DPV with us. I don't but Look, I mean we needed that practice and this is why I want to set the stage here For all the different complexities that are added when you bring a DPV into the picture Yeah, I'm glad we were aboard text because for me I struggle the most with the whole hold exercises You know, I'll be cruising. I don't know like 10 feet from the bottom like three meters from the bottom And then add a random time see we just look at you and give you the signal for hold which is like a fist So it'll be like hold and I would just let go of the trigger and I would just plumb it to the bottom. I would just Like nose dive bang into the bottom and everything in scuba diving is delayed when it comes to buoyancy like even adding air like even if I would just hammer the inflate button There was no stopping me And what happens is because there's that delay reaction I knew that because I was inflating which is my my main you know Reflect basically as soon as I see that I'm nose diving I would hammer the inflate button so it will be double bad because I would hit the bottom and then my Inflation would kick in my delay reaction of the inflation would kick in so I would start You know just basically skyrocketing for the surface so then I'm deflating You know, so he was just horrible. We had no anticipation skills We were we were just reacting at the moment. It's like stop. Uh-oh. I'm flying up or stop I'm sick of the other thing. I do want to make sure of is that We when we went back to ed we did the training using the kiss spirit. Yeah, not the sidewinder and Later I did use the sidewinder ultimately and I practiced with the sidewinder and for me that was Way easier. Yeah way way easier to have good trimming buoyancy on the sidewinder Gus hadn't yet had enough time on the sidewinder There's certain requirements you have to dive a certain number of hours on the sidewinder in a cave before you can do DPV on the sidewinder the class and he hadn't had that yet So I wanted to be on the same unit as him right I thought in my mind We'll do it together. We'll do it together. We'll have the same unit and then you could not Feel balanced ever with those two stl50s and a DPV on the spirit Yeah, never I would if I wasn't moving my legs. I would just fall Literally like yeah fall. I mean it was too much I don't know just wasn't able to maintain good trimming buoyancy on the spirit right so so we did those two days With with Ed and Again, I I felt conflicted because there were two sides of me one side was Man, I really hope nobody was watching that that looked horrible You know But then the other side of me was man, I really hope somebody was recording that because that Footage is priceless. I would love to have it Nobody recorded it Which is a shame because that is the kind of footage that I think we're we're famous for here And I thought we don't mind posting that stuff and reacting to it and putting it out there for people to see and learn from I wish I had it, but we don't have the the footage from that training and Yeah, today's two days of that we got better Obviously we we learn how to deal with that we were in skyrocketing or crashing into the bottom anymore So we moved into the caves So now Once we felt like we were getting the handle of that then you opened the fire hydrant into your face and now you have to do it with that Okay, it is humbling because now you come into JB with the blue with the DPV Fire hydrant of Flow at that time it was very high even Ed even said it's pretty high right now right And we're gonna lay the primary line wall DPV Do you know how hard that is? We learned Ed taught us I need more hands. He's like look There's a way to do it he does a way where you throw it up high to your right while you're Doing your first tie-off and then you're Bring the DPV down and use it to move while you're holding your reel out all at the same all while maintaining Good boy and see and trim and our river is blowing in your face and then you're gonna do your next tie-off Put it up high do your secondary tie-off bring it back down scooter to the next tie-off this is Hard now what here's what's interesting. This is I don't know why We did pretty well With laying the line in JB on the first time we tried it. I don't know why and Ed even said why you guys That was not bad like you did a good job man like yeah, you see and now you remember you said you see didn't really need to be as Scared of it as you thought right and I was like I remember feeling pretty good like wow I can't believe I'm not like completely backwards upside down tangled in line right now That's what I thought I was gonna happen to us So we did it the one we did a pretty good job with that one thought I saw earlier that I didn't finish that I was about to say is that the vast majority of caves in Florida And that's when I went into Mexico and got out on a tangent They don't require you to have a certification to be on a DPV. That's one thing I wanted to mention One big one that we like to dive in is Jenny Springs which does require to do have a DPV certification on lesser with a DPV Instructor a cave DPV instructor then you can go with that instructor That's how they are able to teach classes in there and stuff But the other caves that are just open public caves they don't you don't have to have a certification We wanted to have the certification even though we don't need it We wanted to have it. I think it's a good example is it's a safety thing and On top of that we wanted to do it with really good instructors. That's why we pick Murray's done it exactly and it's not just I agree with everything you just said but I want to add one more thing I really wanted I wanted to be able to DPV cave dive Properly yeah, I whatever I have a card now. That's great And it allows me to go into Jenny and that is great, but I also want to know that I'm not destroying the cave. I'm not going to hurt my buddies that I can I can tow you out trust and you know I can get you out of that cave safely proficiently I mean, I want to know that I don't want to be Cheating if you will like well, I don't need one so I'm going to go in there. It's not safe You need this class to do it correctly. Yep. Yep so um so anyway, we went with that We We tried we uh we did the the toes and all of that inside Jackson blue obviously with the with the flow and all of that We struggled just like we did on the first training we did woodmur is uh and you know by the end of the week It was like you guys need a lot more training and practice. Well, I'm going to tell you what he said in our debriefing exactly Because I remember he played back our videos That's right. I was on the spirit remember um, I couldn't stop the kicking on the spirit for me That was one of my biggest problems My buoyancy and trim got better, but I I was so unbalanced. I never could stop kicking And he had some other evaluations for you. I think you were still a little low at times with your friends I think that may have been one of the things he said to you. I don't remember exactly We we needed more work and what he said exact words we goes look guys I think you both need one more day This is what he said and you're about 90% there he used the word 90 And I'd like to see you one more time Go back in practice and I think the next time you'll be ready to go I went back and practiced Glusively on the sidewinder I never Ever have been back on the spirit with the DPV because I knew I cannot get that unit balance for me I'm pretty light away like 138 having two steel 50s on the spirit. I can't do it. It just doesn't work for me Sidewinder well You'll play some videos. I think it was it really really helped I think that by the end of that second training though we both were in like different places mentally. I feel like I think that We first of all If we if we talk about pros and cons or good and bad the good news I would say is that we we were much better much better the PVX yes I think that we we both when we left I think we stopped for lunch or whatever And we both were talking and we were both like It's amazing how much we improved like after this week and If we went diving outside of Jenny like just went on a regular cave just for practice. I feel like I trust you Like you can get me out of there like I I felt because we did the toes with it And yeah like maybe my fins hit the bottom here and there or whatever like we it wasn't perfect It wasn't to the standards of Ed Sornson who's a he has high centers is on instructor right It's extremely high and I'm glad but that's you just said something We knew you will get out of the cave and you will all the way out of the cave. Yeah, um, I will as well And that part we I think even Ed kind of said that and we knew okay, we can we we can we can we can do this but Yeah, well not beautiful. I think again at that point we were we were in in different Mindsets again the the applause was we were both much better but we went up to the standards I would say of Being a certified by Ed Sornson as a as a DPV cave diver yet And we probably wouldn't have been for Marissa either she has very very right high standards as well And just as she should and I think on the way home we both We both decided that we were both going to get certified by Ed We both decided that but we both decided to do it in different ways. Yes It was happening. I don't know if it was gonna take me a year 15 years 20 years But before I have no longer on the face of the earth. I knew in my mind. I will get this yeah, but For me I said I gotta go and literally be on the sidewinder in the DPV and just practice I gotta be on it. I have to do it. I can't just you know come back and not Be like ready in my mind. So this is so this is I think one of the One of the things that are different between us that happens a lot like our our cave certification We went different paths and we both got certified our DPV Path was also different the way we decided to tackle it was different We arrived to different conclusions. I think for some reason I don't remember why we drove different cars For this for this trip with Ed. I don't remember why do you remember why but we drove two different cars Which we typically drive together. I don't know why I did for that trip Oh because I because I took my sidewinder training. I feel like oh right you were already there. Yeah rolled into the right because I got sidewinder certified with that that week. Yeah So anyway, so we drove separately so obviously on the way there I don't know if you've ever made the drive from mariana floydat to Atlanta, but there's zero things to see On the drive from it's like farms. Oh my god. There's nothing. It's horrible So a lot of time to think and meditate and to Really contemplate what you're gonna do next and On the way home I was 100% convinced that I couldn't wait to go back and do it Like I could not like I'm like I just want to turn the car around and go back and do it. Okay Whereas I was okay I'm glad I'm going home I'm down And I'm gonna get my sidewinder I want it rigged properly and I'm gonna just dpv and I'm gonna get good at this I'm gonna practice because I really wasn't sure if I would ever Be able to do meat edge standards. I'm not kidding you. I eat those. Those are high Yes, I highly recommend you take dpvk from ed but He's gonna make sure you are yeah a very good gpvk diver and I honestly doubted myself And frankly, I'm really glad I had Gus because I He he had to bolster me back up. I'm not gonna lie everybody. I he was like man. Don't don't be so doubt you you know We're gonna get we're gonna get this. It's you know, we're gonna get it and I was like I don't know I don't know if I'll ever be able to actually have a dpvk certification at the standards that That is is is putting in front of us But I'm gonna practice my butt off on the sidewinder and try to get better and go back and not even know when I go back If I'm actually gonna even test with ed just go back and actually Be there and dpvk dive more in this case it was with meady and and not ed I don't know why I'm like this. I don't know why like it's not something I learn I was just born with it right there's this weird thing I have where it's like Like nothing worth having is easy and like the harder it is the more I want so like It's like if somebody says it's like oh yeah, that's it that's impossible Like you can you know or like this is not and it's not like one of those things like going dry camey like that looks miserable It's not that it's hard. It's not that it's hard and it's like oh it's impossible to go like that I just get it. It just looks miserable. It's not a hard thing to do. It's not hard to go in a dry cave I get it the climbing is walking. Yeah, okay, but that's not that's just looks miserable But like getting that dpv certification from ed meant it wasn't the card thing for me it was getting The foundation and all the skills and making no mistakes and like having the mental strength to like Build myself up to the level to demonstrate proficiency to his standards, right? So for me it was like there's so few people that will ever be able to do this that I cannot wait to go back and do it Is the weirdest thing. That's a great description for me it was I'm disappointed in myself Yeah, I'm like man. I see I see I was out there and I saw other people on their dpv I will never mention any name. They're not at ed standards. They're dpv in around and they're not at ed standards And they have a certification Not by ed. Now, I don't know who it's with. I don't care. I'm just saying They're not for sure. I know what it ed expect. I mean, I know what he expects right they don't have that right and I So I was a little bit just like man. I just I'm never gonna I'm not I've got myself stock because I'm not gonna now like go to another instructor I want to keep learning from ed because it's incredible learning and I'm in the process anyway But I don't know if I can never get it I don't know if I'm ever gonna reach his standards And I know in order for me to do that I'm going to need to just practice practice practice And then if I somehow can get to that level yes, of course what an honor To if I could possibly get certified by ed then I would say I feel like we are at we are we are Very proficient dpv cave diverts. Yeah, you get that card from ed. That's what it's saying And by the way, I think I mean just between us. I don't think anyone is listening to this right now Um, I think that if we at that point we just gave up and when we're another instructor I think we would have gotten the car We would have been I but it works like that. I'm not But it wouldn't disappoint no, but it would have been disappointing honestly It would have been it would have been a cop out in my mind for sure like okay You know, maybe I'm gonna go and I'm gonna do it again and somebody else but That's kind of like for sure cop out it would have been a cop out for sure But I'm just saying like it there's always and he works like that for everything There's always somewhere where you're like man I hope I get that guy or that instructor or that teacher like Everywhere in life in like everywhere you always want to try to avoid The hard thing and no right but I'm in a lot of I am beyond happy That it's with there's within cop out at that point where we that we were going to go try this again with ed I I would not Right want to do it with anybody else so so anyway, so going back um, I was like I can't wait to go back so Obviously, I'm I'm in a situation where I can just go diving every weekend But I do reach out back to many And many is one of the instructors that cave adventures and I tell many hey many I want to go back and many By the way was with us during that week that we were training with that He was helping out. He was our buddy basically And yeah, I think he's becoming a cave instructor himself. So this is helping him He's amazing and many has been on the show by the way He did a reaction with us on a French TV show. I'll also link it right here If you want to check that out, but um, you know, so I talked to many and I'm like many I need some practice. Can you you know, let's do some practice or whatever So many says absolutely let's do it. So as soon as I can just a few weeks after we did this training maybe a month or whatever You went back right fast. Yeah, I am back in mariana with many but not with me Right not with you I am back there and I think I think you were in the keys or something You you you had something else to do but but I don't even think that if you were available You would have gone just because again Your you have made your mind with I'm gonna take my time. I'm gonna train I will eventually do it. I don't know when but I'm not ready for this like I want to be proficient right on the sidewinder I'm the DPV so that when I go back they I want them to see a different guy right so That was not me. I'm like I wanted to see the same guy. I want to be I want to be the next one So yeah, so I just repacked my stuff. Let's go. So I went back and I go diving with Medi first day Just working on mainly my kid my my You know, I we discover that some of the The pitfalls that I had you know with my fins pointing a little bit down or whatever is mainly my setup So we you know with Patrick over there at cave adventures or whatever that guy's like an engineer So he he starts tweaking my stuff and like drills a hole in my plate and like puts a weight on it like he just goes to add it Um, this was on the spirit. You still have to do it on the side because I yeah, I didn't have enough hours on the sidewinder and um, you know, he he whatever they modify my thing much better right so then we go diving with no DpV me and Medi He says the first day we're just gonna go cave diving I just want to you know make sure your cave diving is perfect like trampoliancy all that stuff kicking perfect Okay, cool So we go cave diving in the morning and after the morning diving he's like we don't have to do after no like We're good perfect. We should just dpv now and I'm like all right. I trust you whatever you say Uh, and many is very much like whatever you want to do will do and I'm like no no whatever you say will do I'm not you're the expert So in the afternoon he's like we don't have to cave dive without the dpv anymore. Let's do the dpv Perfect. So the whole afternoon we spend just dpv maneuvering like turns and stuff like that and I had a lot of struggles with U-turns Just like going in and U turns like I can do U-turns, but I had a hard time maintaining my same Position on the water column like just staying at the same death I would either come out and be Shalower or or deeper or whatever than I was Hard time. So I would just do that like my both my my arms would just hurt from turning and turning and turning and turning and turning and turning Until I got that right So that was the end of day one then day two then we did toes and whatever whatever um So we just train and train and train and train and just dive with the dpv like that's that's what we did the most um Again, I was there mostly for training. I had no idea that I was gonna get a valueator or anything like that Little that I know uh ed wasn't even there ed wasn't even in mariana. He was in I don't know where been floored I heard North Carolina. I think he was in North Carolina. He was in North Carolina when I first got there Virginia were like navy sea for me. I was in North Carolina because um I think we was picking up some giant piece of Equipment he was like training navy seals or something when when I was there okay So I was like fine because I just wanted to train wouldn't I Um so anyway ed shows up and is like Wednesday or something like day three and he's are talking to Maddie and Maddie is like You know he's good. He's he's looking much better and that's the thing I mean you just have to practice you have to dive there's no shortcuts. You can't just magically bang. I'm an expert That's that it doesn't work like that So now he talks to him and Ed walks in when we're watching video on Wednesday. I was supposed to be there for four days um Thursday was gonna be my last day and I'm there on Wednesday afternoon watching video with Maddie and everything is looking I'm glad he worked in on Wednesday afternoon not Monday afternoon So I'm watching Wednesday afternoon video everything is looking good. So he's like so as I go and you know What are you get so he starts watching the video with us? Um, he's like that looks very good And I'm like, yeah, I'm at least doing a good job whatever um And uh, it's like house your toes because on Wednesday we were just at that point We had already done toes and whatever So it's like how how's the toes and I'm like very good man. He's like very good He did all his toes or whatever and he's like fine show me tomorrow 8 a.m And I'm like what? I had no idea Right that I was gonna die for that So I'm like okay well game on so Maddie was like you got this Don't worry about it So yeah, I went back to my You know five star accommodations over there at the uh The whatever the cabin the cave adventure has and um Yeah, next day show up With Ed 8 a.m Jackson blue same thing. He's like we're gonna go in you're gonna set up the primary We're gonna do the bubble check whatever you know how we do The 1.6 check all that stuff and then we're gonna go for a dive at some We're gonna go in on the cavern you're gonna show me you turns and you know all the navigation and stuff And then we're gonna go down the chimney We're gonna go to the second tier whatever it was at the end at some point I'm gonna signal you and he was gonna be behind me So I have to pay attention for that for the light at some point I'm gonna signal you my DBV is gonna be broken and you're going to Tome out Okay, so some random point okay great Um, so we do that do the U turns everything's good uh set the primary everything's good um Navigating inside the cave do the U turns or everything all that stuff is good at some point I see the light Great stuff go toe him toe is going great I think I started towing him around two thousand feet inside the cave. We were pretty deep inside the cave um Very very small and I'm a big guy and I have a spirit so it's I was I was concerned, but I wasn't hitting anything Um, I've been practicing at that point for days, you know on that spot um I make it you know to the First like break down or whatever there's like a breakdown go up and down and I'm like don't crash Don't hit anything just like you know, like you know with ed you're like holding your breath. You're so nervous I don't want to you don't want to mess up. This is you're getting evaluated um and while as soon as I pass the first breakdown and go down I can breathe I just can't breathe anymore. I I try to breathe I can breathe anymore So I reach with my left hand and I hit my deal button and Emphlate and I can take maybe like half a breath And I can breathe anymore. Oh, and I'm still towing ed like I'm still towing ed And I just hit the deal button again. I sound like water in the counter lungs. Yeah, I hit the deal button again And I get like 25% of a breath. Yeah, that's got to be water in the counter 25% of a breath I can breathe like I'm completely out of it So I reach out with my left hand bail out put it underneath my neck regulator my mouth I completely bail out still towing ed Towing ed I see the second breakdown coming I go over the breakdown I'm an open circuit at that point go over go on there we go into that It's really long where they do the barrel roll or whatever go over that super long thing and I switch to the left hand and going to bail out Going to bail out on the on the nerd and the the petrol And then switch again going to the bail out Into in my my pertics. So I'm fully bail out at that point to the 32% and I'm just you know out with ed So go up chimney everything is good. I'm just throwing him We get to the top of the chimney and at the top chimney I feel the squeezes on on my leg the exercises out I unplug from him from the toe and just wait until he's done As soon as he's done he looks at me. He says okay. I give him the okay sign and then I point to my mouth I have a regulator in my mouth and he's like He just takes back and he looks at me and he's like he gives me a thumb up like up and I'm like okay. Let's get out So um we go we do our deco thank goodness that my I had that full rebreed that failure Um when we were on the way out, you know, I guess we were like I don't know like a thousand feet from the exit or whatever um And so I didn't have a whole lot of deco to do so we did like I don't know 12 mean I don't know how many how much deco and then we got out And he was like what happened and I'm like I have no idea I just my rebreed that is stop working. It's just complete failure um And so he was like okay, I'm gonna go pick up your primary so he went down he grabbed my primary I came out when I came out I noticed that the Excel loop On the on the scrubber came out completely. I don't know how but I guess I didn't do a good job plugging it in or something but it was there from the day before so I have no idea How the day before it worked for two dives Uh, but anyway, it came out completely um and so the loopy was completely disconnected total Flood So full flood rebreed that are completely broken on the way out so um So yeah, so uh ed came out with my primary and I show him the problem We took it apart obviously full flood so counterloans were flooded My scrubber was flooded Um Sensors were flooded he was like just you know wash him with fresh water like what are you gonna do? So I flush him with fresh water Um everything was cost-stake but I never reached my mouth because I didn't have air so I I was forced to bail out Um, and he said Well Let's talk about the good things um, you know your primary was The way you did your primary was perfect Um, it was great You're maneuvering, you know and stuff you turns all of that stuff worked just great It's like night and day from the last time I saw you um I you know he he said some things about the towing and how like the I think he said something like this strap I need to make it longer or something like that um, you know, so equipment, comments or whatever um and he was like The fact that you bailed out in the middle of You pulling you pulling me out of there like you were towing me out you had a catastrophic rebrea failure I real catastrophic reweeler failure unexpected not planned catastrophic reweeler failure deep inside the cave And you continue to to me out didn't tell me anything didn't stop I didn't even know you had the failure all the way to the end was really impressive I had no idea I'm impressed so congratulations. You're now certified the BBK fiber wow So that was that Awesome. Yeah high five dude. That was awesome. That was awesome So I was not planning for that, but I'm glad that's the way you worked out But at the end of the day, I mean the way I thought about it was If that would have happened in a real dive like if you really had a problem And your deepy view was broken I'm not gonna just stop and be like sorry woody like I know you I know you're trying to swim out But sorry because I need to I need to bail out and like I know you would have understood and be like okay Go ahead and bail out and let's get out like you know, I know you would have gotten it, but It's not a big deal like we plan for this. That's what we have that's what we have to You know tanks that are for bailing out. Yes, we have a catastrophic rebreather failure inside our cave Big deal bail out and get out like what's that's you don't have to stop So yeah, that's the way you worked out. So then Go back look at film, you know, he finished the paperwork and stuff super happy Um end up, you know having a cigar with it talking about some crazy gnarly stories Um, and then go home super excited about that talk to you about what happened And I feel like and I don't know if this is true But I feel like when I had that conversation with you It kind of turbocharged the plans of waiting for a year To get this done. I feel like you were more like you know what maybe I didn't have a year in my mind I just had I don't know yeah, I don't know, but I think at that point you were like Maybe I should yeah Of course I'm still doing um Well, I don't know if we're gonna be able to have all this in one video I'll tell my story and you can decide if you want to make this a part two The Woody journey so I went back and practiced With the DPV on my sidewinder in a cave And I was with very experienced Cave divers in fact cave instructors were with me. I never was in it without that and Um, I just practiced and what's really weird And I again, I don't know why I don't know if it was mental or it was a fact that I already had a week What we did all of that on the spirit when I went back to the sidewinder you were there On one of them And I was on the DPV I felt really comfortable really fast. Yeah, like almost immediate like what happened You were like looking at me like I wasn't kicking anymore. I was really It just came together. It's like riding a bike all the sudden you're not riding it and then your dad's not or mom Aren't holding the seat anymore. You're riding and I remember after that You actually said to me man. You looked really good. I'm like really goes yeah No, I mean, it's like night and day So I think getting back on the sidewinder with the DPV something happened It just I can't explain it, but it felt very comfortable so I don't remember I made practice a little bit more and then I decided to schedule I emailed cave adventures. I'm gonna book the trailer the lodge Maddie special I'm gonna book with Maddie and I said you know what? Let me book Maddie let me have you for like a Monday Tuesday Wednesday And if Ed's available and feels that I'm worthy I had no expectation I guess he'll decide if he wants to evaluate me on Thursday or tell me No, you're not ready. I really did not know how that Thursday was gonna go I was hoping but I needed to prove myself right. I'm ready to go And I don't remember when this was but it was a few months certainly a few months after that first week And guess what happens to Woody I got beyond sick Like flu like symptom now what sounds like flu like symptoms in today's world now I'm triple vaccinated So I'm really sick I'm texting Gus. I said Gus. I am like I'm coughing and hacking I played a video of it man. I was Really bad I go across the street to a covid testing center. They test me the lady walks up your positive I mean, I'm like freaking got covid All right, I'm disappointed right because I was mentally ready to go whatever and they're not easy to get their schedule then I After rebook and I didn't do that right away And then I went again maybe another practice session I don't remember so you know more practice I rebook for exactly a couple of months later And I'm like I'm going So I'm driving there on that drive the way you describe just me and my van my DPV my sidewinder all my backup gear And I'm kind of nervous. I'm it's just me I'm pulling up I get to cave adventures. I'm getting the check-in stuff Ed's not there. He was also in North Carolina um Many just messages me. I'll see you tomorrow morning at Monday, so he's not even there Right the only person that was there was Patrick And Stacy Stacy's that's wife. She's like yeah, I'm just gonna finish up cleaning up the cabin and then you can you know Come over here's the code. Give me a couple hours. So I was like no problem. I then go I drive off. I go eat You know by myself something healthy like Burger King Obviously I'm by myself. I get to the cabin that night and I'm I'm really tired. I think I was tired because of stress. I was like nervous, right? And then I you know, I'm sleeping. I wake up early I'm gonna meet Maddie was actually at 9 a.m. Monday morning. I wake up. I meet Maddie at 9 a.m. And he's like Okay, here we go. What I want to do today what he is We're gonna configure our units. I want to look at your unit because I kept complaining that my right scrubber was floating up It wasn't parallel to the tanks. It was like this and I couldn't figure out why he was I want to get that fix You told me about it. So he's and I and so the first dive. I just want to cave dive But in that cave diving on the side wonder you're gonna put in the primary and we're gonna do jumps And you're gonna put in cookies. You're gonna put in the jumps and everything I Get in there and I'm feeling really good. I don't know what it was But everything was clicking the primary easy, you know, proper good trimming buoyancy just nailing I'm S putting in my cookies like stopping back kicking perfectly. I'm just bam And I hear Maddie going woo-hoo like in the back like he's impressed underwater. Yeah And he almost I think he may have high five me underwater. Maddie I don't remember I think a couple times like and I was happy and I was like you Rew like I'm loving the dive I'm just enjoying the dive You know how sometimes when your game is on and whatever your activity is you're just having a good day I had a really good day and we're cave diving in jb. I don't remember how long that dive was We went to some cool places and it was awesome awesome dive Come out unwinding everything good or whatever Everything goes beautiful I come out meti was basically was like That went really well. Dude you looked really good He goes I think I see what's wrong with your scrubber. Let's go back. I want to fix that He starts operating surgically on my sidewinder, right? Like we're gonna lower this We're gonna tighten up that right bungee. We're gonna. I feel it's pulling in too much if I loosen that up That should drop it down and the next dive we're going in with the DPVs You're done you are only DPV diving We go back in We go in and at the beginning there you're doing like a low PO2 check And you're only like in four feet of water and I'm on my sidewinder and he gets that adjustment and I'm just Perfect trim and neutral in four feet just sitting there hovering and he looks at it He's like yes underwater is like and I'm feeling good and I'm doing like hella turns right in front of him Back kicking dude. It was like perfection in four feet of water at the beginning before the DPV Then get the DPV Nailing everything on the DPV. I'm on my game I'm not bragging. I'm telling you believe me nobody's harder on myself. If I suck I would tell you Gus band dive one was a nightmare right? He's like same thing. We're practicing turns We're practicing toes Toe one then toe two it throws the DPV at me and I got a title up. I'm neutral I'm in trim the turns. I watch him do it. I do him. I'm not going up. I'm not going down. I'm stopping in the turns. I'm nailing Everything I just didn't have a bad moment with him come out I Get you know we do all of our stuff same thing we when we go down to the 20-foot spot We did our 1.6 you know we did our bubble check everything everything everything is going great I come up with Maddie and he's like Maddie I mean you can chime in with comments, but you said to me Woody You don't need me for two more days I honestly you if edged back tomorrow you can test with him you are I there's nothing well I don't have anything to do with you. I'm like no Maddie I'm not confident like you're saying I had a good day. I feel good that unit feels way better with that scrubber in position but We are diving for two more days Absolutely two more days. It's like okay Well, then we're going to do some epic cave diving Woody and I'll still throw surprise drills at you but We're going to do some epic cave diving because are you okay with some pretty tight areas? I'm like Yes, other than any other time if I'm with you Absolutely So we then have the I have the honor of Maddie taking me to some other epic areas in JB Still again, so the next day on Tuesday was JB again But one of them was this area called Kings Canyon. I'm like wow I've never seen anything beyond the main line and maybe this I don't even know if I had ever gone to the second tea like I'm like Wow, this is magnificent and on that dive we were DPV and then had to tie off the DPV And I had to set jump lines to get to this area that you can only swim Super tight man. I mean super tight. I'm on my game again like I'm just doing really well and drills More toes, but I come out again and he's like Awesome He said and said every day this is when he told me he goes you know every day ads asking me how you're doing That's okay. Well, you know great. I mean that's good. I'm definitely getting better and well every day Same thing Gus we would go back and look at the film and I was very happy with the film I was yeah, I could use some work with my fin positioning when I was towing Definitely still needed to work with that there wasn't of course, you know, but but but metty said well Ed asked me To rank you as follows Does he suck? Is he average is he good? Is he fantastic or is he super fantastic? Five opportunities for metty to tell Ed which one of those five I am from suck To super fantastic metty said ed look I'm never going to tell you the words super fantastic for everybody for anybody I'm like ready to tell you that but I'm not going to tell you he's super fantastic so I'm going to give him a fantastic and metty said what he the reason that if I tell it super fantastic You know, it's ed I don't know maybe you're gonna have to do barrel okay First thing I want to see you do what is a perfect barrel right? I mean, I'm like no, you know, don't I don't want him to say Any I said okay, right wow. I said that's a huge compliment coming from you. I don't think that's a huge improvement from If you remember day two of war texty said well good news guys are moving from terrible to horrible and I've seen worse So that's I want the full I want the full-ed scale yes, we went from terrible to horrible yes Yeah, I don't know he starts a terrible and he goes to super fantastic No, when I got to when I remember feeling good. I'm like wow, I'm horrible now. That's pretty good So anyway, I said I don't feel like I'm fantastic metty That's a really huge honor coming from you because metty is super fantastic. He is flop there is no other what I would say yeah, so He's like all right tomorrow, I would he Forget you're not paying me I want to I just want to be on the D pv and cave dive with you I'm comfortable taking you anywhere This is from metty right we are going to go to twin caves and hole in the wall I've never been to either so you we get ready the next day. I'm like I am paying you number one because you're you're guiding me and you're teaching me That is a I just don't believe that he's a dive professional. He's helping me He's just so good metty. He just didn't want to like Maybe thought I'm taking advantage like no you're still training me We get to take one of the boats which I've never been on the mill pond is right in back of ed's house You take the boat that he has these rental pond two boats Two twin caves and hole in the wall and it's 10 to 15 minute boat ride but I'd never been back there right on the boat ride I'm like this is magnificent and metty's filming me. I'm like I've never seen this because you've never seen this I'm like no I've only been I said just I'm not even in the caves yet and metty had briefed me he had briefed me on both of the dives We're gonna do well These dives were spectacular We get he goes we're gonna he goes we're gonna get into some really tight stuff are you comfortable with that? I said yes if you are with me yes We go first to twin caves you pull up to this little dock you kind of get ready On this little dock and you kind of there's these tiny little stairs so I'm it's just an awkward little area to get ready There's not and it's like you're going straight down this like barrel roll kind of going into it almost Like a barrel roll with the dpb and we go in there and it's it's beautiful And metty's filming everything man And we go through some really tight stuff and there are parts where we get we had to take the dpb off and swim and There is impossible at betty told me you are going first because Nobody can go through this part and not silt out my god It's not a matter of are you good or bad Woody? It's just You have to squeeze through and you're gonna touch the bottom and I sure and I want you to have good visibility And I'll film from the behind because it'll be cool for them to see that you know That's it what a real silt that looks like we go I have an incredible day with metty Get's be back to an area does a surprise to this time it's surprise I never know when they're gonna come in I see the light waving and He said and he put me and he told me later I'm gonna put you in a really hard position to where you're gonna have to tow me which is with the flow So he's not facing against the flow I have to approach him where he's still going away from me with the flow And I have to come around him And he's moving I have to get into my position Hook up and we're still going this way and then turn both of us back around Against the flow and tow him out because I want you to I want your heart to go harder man Yeah, you know, I know you can do the other nice and it was harder and I did it and it went Well and another yeah, so I was feeling really good. We come out great great great Then we're gonna go take the boat to hole in the wall Another cave this cave can be Zero visibility from the start Based on the time of the year We're not zero But it can be maybe a four feet. Yeah without it doesn't matter you it's the time of the year We he goes I don't know what it's gonna be like he goes but um Well by the way on twin I had also gone the furthest back in a cave I had ever gone because many had staged some gas So I got to go way way back Way back but we we had gas staged in there And we were gonna get to the stage gas which was only like 1800 feet back which I had plenty of gas for and if that stage was good and filled and working then we would go Like to the end of the line like almost 4,000 feet back and we did a long DPV ride dude Your DPV in for like 45 minutes, so you really get a lot of practice Then the next day the next diver do hole in the wall And it is not just bad visibility metty said he goes dude. I feel so bad UDPVed through there in some of the worst Vis I've ever seen yikes and nailed it now when I say worse. I mean I had to okay the line YDPVen you could not see at and same with twin there were times where you could not see your light You could not see your your bright Cave 4,000 Lumen light is no longer visible. It's yeah, it's a blackout Okay, the line and go you know you're gonna come out of that area at some point right So also in twin my back it to hole in the wall we go all over it I can tell it's huge metty is really trying to apply it for me and But the vis was no good not good at whatever but I can tell that is definitely okay We want to go back to in good vis it's got giant rooms But in twin he actually underwater underwater said all right Do you want to go through a really tight restriction? He's underwater right at that it's like on the way out what we would have to clip off our DPS on the main line and I'm like yes It's okay we go into this area and it's tiny I'm like I don't meant I'm like a puzzle like how am I gonna do this? Yeah, do I turn this way? Do I turn this way? Many goes through and has to really wedge himself. I mean you hear it like and And I'm not and I know I can get through it But I'm when I got to it and I didn't go through it by the way. Yeah, and I hear why I said well Just in case if I do go through this and I tear a loop or something I'm going I'm supposed to evaluate with Ed the next day Thursday morning and I don't want to screw up my Unit I don't want to take the risk that it's gonna damage my unit, right? So I didn't really push Too hard. Yeah, so I just shook it off But I will go back and do that and I again It's just a matter of respect for what I knew I was gonna have to do All right, so yeah, there's video of all of this by the way So anyway, I come I come out we do everything and I come out Med is like you are totally ready. I said I'm nervous. You know me. Gus right? Yeah, I'm nervous the next day. I'm going with If not the greatest cave diver in the world Can you say he's in the top five in the world? Yeah, I mean there's a bunch of great cave divers and this is Ed Sorenson Right. I'm like okay, you know So Med is like I want you to do this when you're with Ed. I want you to imagine you're just doing Your cave diving with me and I don't want you to think that you have to do anything different than what I just saw You do for three days including day one before I showed you anything you were ready when you got here I'm a scried when he told me that I'm like that's what he told me that was my final briefing for Medi You were ready when you got here. Just think of this as a formality, which is what I told you I know you did, but I'm not I'm pretty tough on myself. I'm like I don't know what Ed's gonna expect of me But I knew I was way better so I get there 8 a.m Thursday morning and Ed is We're preparing the units and um By the way, I want to give a shout out to Chris from Deep six because he looks at my unit and he gives me brand new stage ones and stage two's and I also have his eddy fins and They are incredible regulators on my bailouts now. I mean Go get deep sick stuff man. It is like so we and he said that's why you to die with it And he's really cool anyway, so Ed's ed's like I Here we go We're gonna we're gonna take two different cars because I had all my stuff in mine already So we get to JB and I said Ed, I'm nervous I'd be honest with you when I'm with you. I'm not gonna lie. I'm nervous I'm just gonna be honest with you straight up. I'm gonna do the best I can and I said to him. I remember what I said I said look I'm gonna give you The best that I can be and I'm gonna try my best and I don't think I can prepare anymore So I'm prepared to accept whatever happens happens because I don't really think I don't know I don't know I don't if I can't get through it I don't know if I can ever get any better than this because I've been really working hard. Yeah He goes I want you to do this This come this is coming from Ed Sorenson I just want you to go on a fun dive with me Like it goes yeah, it's a fun dive That's it Yes, here's what you're gonna do and he breathes me and yes I want to see you you know go in and we're gonna do real work and you're gonna You're gonna tow it's gonna be a tow one and a tow two You're gonna do a Lights out hold the line Hand on the front part of the DPV. I want to see you be able to maintain a good buoyancy and trim but Just have fun. I really do I'm serious. I really want you to try to do that And I remember when I'm putting on my dry suit I don't like to zip it myself and I was nervous to ask Ed to zip it like I wonder if he even expects me He's like yeah come here. I have this spray stuff that I use on the zipper And it by the way, I just bought it by the way this stuff just makes a zipper go like like butter It's like sure. Yeah, man. No problem. He's like being super nice with me It's almost like I heard a different level of respect from him or something Because I've been working so hard. I don't know Getting into my unit all by myself zero help. I used to you know all of this everything Hooking up the whole unit all up by myself never asking for anything We get in And I am nervous at the beginning. We do our 1.6. We do our bubble check or whatever And by the way when I first get in I'm going and I forget to stop and do the 1.6 and bubble check I'm so nervous. I'm like I just want to get into it. He waves me and I'm like oh, yeah, yeah, yeah Right away. I remember we do that and we go in we go in and I'm I'm doing pretty good I get one on the video one of these we'd like wanted to see me just at the beginning But right away he saw I self corrected that before he even had anything say goes wow In one second I saw that in the next second. I saw you perfect nice man woody So we do all of the drills We come out and I know I'm getting ready for that Moment where I'm above water and I'm gonna get briefed by Ed Right, I'm about to stand up and it's time for me to hear what Ed has to say. I don't I know I felt good But I still don't know was this good enough for Ed. All right, so Here's the ending I stand up Ed's already standing up And he looks at me in a pretty serious face and he says Do you want the good news or the bad news first and I'm like you know what Ed I need I just need some good news. I you know what Let me have some good news because I'm not any good news in this entire journey So I said how about just the good news first This time, you know how most people picked the bad news for some like I just I just I mean it's awesome I've done I just I don't know what else I could do so Hopefully there's something good I did And he goes all right well you were Spectacular I'm I'm looking up because I I don't want to misquote Ed Sorenson I've never heard him say this he goes you were spectacular you're a different guy I am so proud of you Give me a hug I'm stealing they were that Sorenson give me a hug. I'm like oh my goodness. I Think I was just told that I'm what the PVK diver He goes oh yeah, you're definitely a DPVK diver There is no bad news I don't have any bad news I'm just Awesome and then we got into some other chitchat about like I just did that in front of like the tiger woods of of that's why Tony I said you that's what you are I got to play I said where else would I get to test and any other sport in front of Like the best in the world are gonna test me like I'm gonna I'm gonna show tiger wood Said I have a good drive so tiger do I have a good drive You're not gonna get to do that and I got to do that with Ed Sorenson So was it meaningful do I feel better I feel I cannot wait I am literally in my mind All I want to do is get on my DPV and go cave diving and I said Ed I want to go cave diving on my DPV one time with you just Go and have fun he goes any time Absolutely you are now I told him we're going to see Brian He goes you are totally now ready for that now you're ready To be with Gus in the crystal caves of the Bahamas in abaco We go back we watch the film Ed does a little bit more tweaking on my unit He added this little extender for where my scrubber attached I mean they really care about you know wanting to help me This was just being nice to me like you know to get those scrubbers perfect I'm siding there savanna. They're their sidewinder master. So yeah this little extender Which I haven't dove yet and then one more thing Ed's like hey, you know I have this strap that I invented that's like a harness that I used He goes you tried if you don't like it return it to me They totally reconfigure my unit again Read every strap is coming out. I'm like oh no And they size it on me. I'm putting it on take it back off. It's not put it on take it back off redo this many's like having to do all this And I haven't dove it yet with that strap but it feels so secure man Like rides up on your hips. I mean, it's like holding you. It's awesome nice and that's when Ed also told me hey I'll tell you The only comment I would really have during the film is that if you when you DPV Cape dive if you spread your legs out Rather than keep them together you'll feel way more stable It's like standing if you put you could push somebody over when their legs are together But you can't really push them over when your legs are apart right try that next time Congratulations again And the story So that's the update and then that's the update and then there's the Surprise that you did for me. I don't know if you that may be another video No, I think we should talk about it. So yeah, so like Woody said when you know after I got certified I You know Woody was was kind of like yeah, I I want to start Practicing some more and I want to go back and you know and get certified as well And I started seeing obviously the improvement because of the sidewind They're and because of the fact that he was practicing more as well And I contacted This guy in Poland Who creates these like action figures this figurines of divers Costum made he's an artist and he makes these amazing figurines The website's models for divers and I made one of Woody. I had one made Um to give it to him as a gift when he got certified. So I I've been hauling on to it Finally, I was able to give it to him and there's actually a video of his reaction and Here it is First of all It was so meaningful not just that this figurine The Gus and this guy Every detail. I mean literally like the coloring where am I where everything is on my unit It is if every single detail was thought about I can tell yeah Not just that, but it was the fact that That meant a lot because that means that Gus really had confidence in me And he really was pushing me and he really believed in me And even when I was there he was texting me like you got this Making sure I was staying confident like you got this give me the update today And he really cared a lot. Yep, and I needed that Yeah, I appreciate it And for those of you watching on the video, I'll show you an example He sent me another one. This is this is another Another figurine. This is Jill Heinerth Beautiful, right? Look at that They're amazing Uh, maybe if you move your hand, I'm thinking If you move your hand, where it is There he goes Look at that, awesome And mine mine is pink and it has my white mask It has the dual Mav where I put it I mean It's these things are beautiful So Really really cool And I think I feel now Honestly, I'm so proud of both of us because man we have You know A DPP cave certification from Ed Sorenson And it did not come easy now And I think what Gus said at the beginning is absolutely profound words It makes it sweeter I think the fact that we had to struggle and we did struggle Is that much better? And I was later told that a lot of people have to go through multiple times when they take this class with Ed but Nevertheless, I feel like I really believe in us as good DPP cave divers He makes you also Appreciated in respect the people that get certified with that as well You know not Justin DPP cave but in other areas as well cave divers site mound that really whoever They really you know take it seriously. They're just I got to say this without being insulted because I don't know a lot of other DPP cave dive instructors and I'm sure they're all good, you know marissa standards are extremely high as well That's the only other one I've done this with but I you know cave adventures man It is such incredible training You are not going to get out of there without improving dramatically without every single part of your diving improving from the way they configure your rig To the way you dive to the way you think about diving to the wise and the logic behind everything You are going to be better in every single aspect of your diving And it's almost like I said this to meady then I'll end with these words when I started training with cave adventures I remember thinking which was back when I did my sidewinder training It was like After 40 something years Now I'm learning out of dive I'm starting all They're like oh really you know how to dive It was like Starting over starting from the beginning and it was Totally and completely changed to I am as a diver And I'm just so happy about it really yep absolutely So yeah, this episode comes to an end. Thank you so much to again everyone who was involved and everyone who has been asking For an update in our training. We are now DPP cave certified very proud of that and hopefully A lot of people helped us Brian Boucher dog Aber saw Marissa Eckert absolutely a lot of Pretty maddy and you know they were all helping us With all of this yep absolutely And if you Watch this all the way to the end and you enjoy hearing our stories and things we get to do We're not like a lot of people are commenting out there We never get out of this office and we don't dive and we don't train and we don't do anything We actually like to go out and dive and do other things and actually prove it to you click on this next video Right here and check out some more of our Interesting stories and training and dives We'll see you on the next one bye everybody