SLS033112A - Puerto Rico Troop 35 Arrives

Crew SLS033112A is my last crew for the spring season and probably for the year. I don't expect to return again this year. I may teach at the Divemaster Academy over Christmas...it's too early to commit. I'm working with Megan Ware, world traveler. We worked together last August and it went well so I'm looking forward to a great week.

The crew arrived at around 13:00 which is a good time to arrive. It gives us enough time to complete all of the things that we need to without rushing. The crew is Troop 35 from Puerto Rico. I wasn't sure how the language difference would work out but they speak perfect English. I don't know any Spanish. The crew has these great long sleeve t-shirts for their crew shirt. It's good to see a crew that goes through the trouble of doing something like having shirts made. It serves as a uniform here at Florida Sea Base (FSB).

We went through the usual check-in activities. The crew had their picture taken and then they checked into the dorm. From there we went to the lagoon for a swim test. After the swim test we issued scuba gear to those that needed it. Everyone has their own mask, fins and snorkel which is good for a diver. We issued BCD's and regulators to everyone and headed to the SCUBA pools. In the SCUBA area we issued wet suits and weights. Now everyone had everything they needed to dive. We set up our SCUBA units, briefed the divers on the skills they would have to perform and then we got into the deep pool.

In the deep pool the divers performed a skills review. This is a review of about 15 basic SCUBA skills. Most of the divers are newly certified so the skills are still fresh for them. Everyone did well and there were even a few 'stars'. That's a relief and also impressive. We're always afraid of having divers that can't perform the simple skills. After the pool the crew went back to the lagoon with all of the SCUBA gear to do a salt water buoyancy check. This assures that they are properly weighted for diving in the ocean. After the buoyancy check we packed up our SCUBA gear and headed to dinner. We missed the evening flag ceremony because we were running a little late.

After dinner we headed to the Chart Room for an orientation. It's called the Chart Room because of the table that is in the room. It is very large and has nautical charts of the Florida Keys imbedded in the top. The orientation is a necessary evil that gives us an opportunity to start teaching the crew about their adventure and what to expect with life on a boat. Nobody fell asleep even though they had been up since the wee hours of the morning. 

After the orientation the crew was turned loose to go pack, sleep or do whatever. It's going to be a good week.