In this edition:
Congratulations! Congratulations to Rick for completing the EFR Instructor training course. Congratulations to Jared for completing his DAN On-Site Neurological exam for divers.  DAN Online Oxygen Provider course DAN has released an online knowledge development for their Oxygen First Aid for Scuba program. Now, you can complete the knowledge development prior to class, leaving more class time for skills practice. Some of the benefits include color graphics, interactive knowledge assessment and the luxury of being able to complete it at your own pace. You'll still receive a manual and will still take the exam. Contact me today to sign up for this course. You'll also receive a PADI Distinctive Specialty certification, which can count towards your Master Scuba Diver rating! Adding the course calendar to your iGoogle homepage Want to know what I have scheduled for the coming month(s)? Add my course calendar to your Google homepage. Click here:  OR...you can add it to your Google Calendar. Go to http://www.google.com/calendar and then click on the Add link on the left side. Select "Add by URL" and then enter: webcal://www.webscuba.net/calendar/phpMyCal/ics.phpMyCal.php?calid=1 Contact me if you have any questions.  DAN BLSPro Want to learn how to do CPR like the professionals? Take BLSPro! BLSPro is a basic life support program for dive professionals and others interested in developing their BLS skills to a healthcare-provider level. Two-person CPR, suctioning and using a bag-valve mask are some of the skills included in the program. Since we often dive a substantial distance from EMS, this is an ideal program for Diving Professionals (Divemasters, Instructors). You can learn more about the program here: DAN BLSPro Contact me to schedule & sign up for BLSPro. Where's Jon? (or what is this CDTC thing on the calendar?) If you look at the online calendar, you'll see this thing "CDTC" for two weeks out of the month. It's not a course I'm offering; rather, it's a course I'm taking. CDTC stands for Course Director Training Course. This is probably the granddaddy of all scuba training courses short of tec/commercial. PADI holds this program two times a year. There are a limited number of slots and applications are ranked--the top ones are accepted into the program. Upon completion, PADI graduates a new crop of Course Directors. What's a Course Director? A PADI Course Director is an instructor trainer. Course Directors offer instructor development courses (IDC), instructor-level continuing education and all other levels of PADI courses. I'll also be taking two Specialty Instructor Trainer programs while I'm there, so I can train instructors to teach the PADI Digital Underwater Photography and PADI Emergency Oxygen Provider courses. The great Twinkie™ experiment Note: no aquatic life was harmed during this experiment. We did not feed the Twinkie™ to the fish. On our last trip to Blue Lake, we took along some Twinkies™ as I'd been told about how they compress underwater. On the first dive, we took the Twinkie™ to about 20 feet. The cake was compressed and we did get a photo (I'll try to get it posted, but it may be after the CDTC). I stashed it in my BCD pocket for the rest of the dive. Our max depth was around 30' and the packaging showed no sign of leakage upon surfacing. So I ate the Twinkie™. On a subsequent dive, we repeated the experiment with a new cake. Same result. This time, upon surfacing, I noticed that the cake remained reduced in size, but the packaging was puffed up. Looks like whatever was used to puff-up the cake came out of the cake, but remained in the packaging. Results: Twinkie™ packaging is good to at least 30' of depth. Twinkies™ are compressable. Twinkies™, as much as they can be called this, remain edible after a trip to 30' and back.  IYOR International Year of the Reef 2008 has been designated the International Year of the Reef. This is a great time to take the Project AWARE and AWARE Coral Reef Conservation Specialties. You'll learn about reef ecology, how we impact coral reefs and how we can better protect these underwater rainforests. PADI Diving Society members can also receive a free gift when they take an AWARE course. Contact me for more information. Sign up for Project AWARE Now! Sign up for AWARE Coral Reef Conservation Now! Learn More about Project AWARE Upcoming Classes The 2008 Specialty of the Year is Project AWARE. I'll be offering Project AWARE in June, as well as when ever people ask for it. It's open to divers & non-divers alike, so bring your friends & family. Learn more about underwater ecology and how we're impacting the underwater environment. Sign up for Project AWARE Now! Learn More about Project AWARE Please be sure to allow jon @ webscuba . net to send you email. You may need to add this address (without the spaces) to your address book, friend list, white list, etc. June 2008 May 2008 April 2008 February/March 2008 January 2008 newsletter 2007 Newsletter archive 2006 Newsletter Archive | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
