The weekend started early on Saturday morning with three grueling hours of theory tests followed by classroom presentations. We had a quick break for lunch while we went over to the pool at Northwestern Health Sciences and got prepped for pool skills and in-water presentations. We successfully made it through our first day, but we were totally wiped out, and had to get out ready to head to the lake the next day.
We got out to Square Lake early on Sunday morning, and I was desperately hoping the water would be warmer than the chilly 65 degrees that it was two weeks earlier. I had planned to dive in my wetsuit and was worried about freezing underwater. But, fortunately, it was a beautiful day!
Dan doing some last minute prep for his Open Water presentation.
Beautiful day out at Square Lake! Lots of Diver Down flags.
Out at the lake, we were required to do rescue scenarios, open water presentations and skills in the water. There were 11 of us total in our group, so we were split into two groups. Dan and I were in the group that completed the rescues first, so we got those out of the way immediately, and the water actually felt pretty decent.
After the other group finished the in-water stuff, we headed out into the lake for our dive. The water temp was about 75 on the surface and I was feeling great. However, after going below the thermocline, it was pretty chilly! Our dive ended up lasting 53 minutes and the temp below the thermocline was 65 degrees. I was chilled big time and couldn't wait to get out of the water! As soon as I got up to the surface, I got into the super hot, steamy black car and just let the heat permeate me. I couldn't get enough.
Anyway, so after our dive, we finished our presentations, and then we all sat around waiting for the results. One by one we were called over to the instructor and he told us our scores and whether or not we passed...and we did!! In fact, all 11 of us in the class did! It was great! We took a few more pictures of the entire group with our certificates.
The entire group of newly certified SCUBA instructors!
The Scuba Center Crew - James, Dan, me and Travis
The Scuba Center Crew take two - our instructors RJ and James, and Travis, Dan and I.
Dan and I, with Square Lake in the background.
To celebrate our new certification, the Scuba Center crew headed over to the Gasthaus in Stillwater for some german beers. It was a perfect afternoon...sunny and hot and we all sat outside and enjoyed sharing diving stories.
Dan and I are excited to become SCUBA instructors and share our love of the water with others! Let us know when you want to try!
