Ariel!

Well, now she’s got another notable accomplishment under her belt, and we wanted to share it with you. As part of a music class, she composed this arrangement, and it’s beautiful! Check it out on YouTube. AND to top it all off, her choir gets to perform with the Rolling Stones during their show in Toronto, and Ariel was interviewed by the CTV!

Way to go, Ariel! We’re proud of your accomplishments, in and out of the water!

Here is her composition:

And here’s the CTV interview:

http://toronto.ctvnews.ca/video?clipId=933464

We’d love to feature YOU in a future guppy update! Send us an email and tell us your story!

First we’d like to say thank you and bon voyage to the wonderful Juan Pablo Maturana. He joined us in January, and we knew that he would be with us for the winter season only, as he had plans to visit and teach in New Zealand in May. What we didn’t realize was how well he would fit into the Blue Angel family while he was here! Always with a smiling face, JP was a helpful hard-worker ready to pitch in to make your experiences wonderful. While he was with us, JP achieved one of his “goals for growth” by meeting the requirements for his Master Scuba Diver Trainer rating, and we congratulate him on that accomplishment!

We will miss him, and we certainly wish him well. More happy photos of JP and his students can be viewed here!

Juan Pablo with Willie on the last day

And now for the exciting announcement; we think we have found the perfect replacement! Help us welcome our newest instructor, Norman McLiberty! You know Norman from his seven years of experience working at Blue Angel as a Divemaster, and you may have seen photos of his Assistant Instructor program here. He’s now an Open Water Scuba Instructor, and has already created some new divers. Welcome, Norman!

Congratulations, Norman!

“The biggest success is the huge boost in confidence in my abilities and a new passion for diving.”

That’s what we want for all of you. Each and every one of you. Increased confidence in your abilities, renewed passion for diving. That is what the Master Scuba Diver Challenge is all about! During his 2013 visit, Brian gained some more experience by just diving. Diving, diving, diving. We’re so proud of his accomplishment! Congratulations, Brian!

Master Scuba Diver, Brian Wright!

*The Master Scuba Diver rating requires certification in 5 PADI specialties. Brian accomplished this by completing his Enriched Air Diver, Peak Performance Buoyancy, Drift Diver, Night Diver and Digital Underwater Photographer courses. You can choose others if you prefer! Click here for a list of options. And send us an email with questions! We can work with you to develop a plan to accomplish your goal!

Congratulations to these April students who all worked hard to move forward.

Elizabeth P, Marcia R, Todd R, Theodore D, Nolan H, Catherine H, Jackie B, Jason T, Olivia T, Matthew A, Robert H, Aubrey T, Mack P, Juan R, Rinaldi R, Hans G, Carrie A, Aaron H, Rebecca W, Brent J, John H, Sharon H, Alejandra C, Marshall W, Kayla H and Randall H!

Between them, this group completed Open Water Diver, Advanced Open Water, Peak Performance Buoyancy, and Enriched Air Diver.

We are glad to see so many of you returning to us, and of course, are always delighted to see new faces!

This could be your office!

Tracey P, Agnes P, Debbie S, Troy R, Corey P, Robert B, Lauren R, Gary M, Alain M, Nicole M, Daniel A, Susie D, Rob D, Barbara R, Steve M, Jason F, Karen A, Gordon A, Mike K, Omar A, Adam L, Mike M, Beto B, Brendan W, Gabriel S, Hung D!

It’s wonderful to see so many returning students, moving forward in their scuba journey!! Between them, this group completed Open Water, Advanced Open Water, Enriched Air Diver, Digital Underwater Photographer, and Peak Performance Buoyancy. To top it all off, they had great fun doing it, and made giant strides!

This could be your classroom!

Enjoy this video provided by our own Tony Vilet!

Ian B, Ben R, Amy M, Joel M, Michael D, Craig S, Regina R, John L, Steve C, Steve M, David M, David K, Celia S, Larry S, Lindsay P, Lauren P, Robin C, Tracy V, Kale B, Julie H, Steve H, Stephanie M, Larry R, Wendy R, Bill M, Lisa Rae S, Jordan H, Kaysi B, Louis H, Loree H, Mike R, Andrew M, Karen R, Jon M, Brittany H, Lauren T, Ty P, Robert P, Nigel P, Riley H, Cameron G, Janelle G, Sarah W, Scott F, Thomas B, Gayle W, James W, Derek B and Susan D!

Between them, this fantastic group participated in Open Water, Advanced Open Water, Emergency First Response, Rescue Diver and Divemaster programs, the Instructor Development Course, and several specialties including Enriched Air Diver, Digital Underwater Photographer, Peak Performance Buoyancy, Underwater Navigator and Emergency Oxygen Provider. Whew! Lots going on and great job!

This could be YOU at work!

Contact us to schedule YOUR next course!

Carnival is behind us now. The remaining of stages and kiosks are slowly coming down while the festive impressions are still fresh in my mind. The five or so days were packed with events throughout the day not to mention the weeks and months of preparations leading up that all ran smoothly in the end. Carnival was everywhere; it could hit you at any point without warning. An afternoon stroll to the supermarket was when we witnessed a kid’s performance on 7^th street. Watching the kids and families get into it really makes it. Just marvelous, as a first timer, really was something.

One night I decided to wander around the neighbourhood in search for tacos and a beer. I had time to think about something curious a few ask. The local plaza was packed to the rim, carnival was in full swing and tacos were locked in sight. The vibe was nice, I felt safe. I didn’t feel strange because I was alone or a foreigner. Maybe it’s just my attitude to think I am at home wherever I go or Cozumel is not as dangerous as what we see on the news as far as Mexico goes—it also helps not to read the news (especially in Central America—no good news there). That night I got nothing but warm smiles and polite greetings on the street.

Senior queso Oaxaca

Cozumel is different. What I love most so far is taking the car on the other side. You take Transversal Street 14 km from town and you reach an untouched stretch of beach which extends left and right. The traditional path is to go right, the nice paved road leads past endless beach, some scattered restaurants along the way. The other day we were feeling up to the change of going to the other side of the other side. Turning left offers a more wild experience; a small sandy road takes you through an untamed green. A friends’ last day is worth the extra effort—a little swim and picnic was the plan. Trooper was fine until she sank deep into the sand and the back tires turned hopelessly. It took some strategy and man power to free her at last. Meanwhile, we had a chance to take a few snaps of the wilderness and mighty Atlantic, that is, before a flash rain hit and we were scrambling to keep the baguette dry.

Diving this week was exciting. I am slowly checking off the dive sites I have been to but there was one on my mind since I came. The Devil’s Throat, as they call it, is famous dive a bit farther south—is all I pretty much knew about it. Was one of those things that I just wanted to see for myself without building fantasies. I only realized it was a little extreme when Willy (who was organizing the dives that morning) was hesitant to put me on the boat. “But it’s for professionals,” he said… I was already mentally on the boat; he had me at Devil’s. The divemaster for the dive gave us a few tips that confirmed my adrenaline. Maximum depth 40 meters and a flashlight would be useful. “If there are any problems let’s catch them before we go in because then there is no turning back” he said as we raced towards Punta Sur. The boat was full with experienced divers and everyone was friendly, down to earth and helpful. We back rolled out from the boat and entered the deep abyss and began swimming vertically down one by one through a narrow dark system of caves. Having survived the devil’s grasp, we warmed up a bit and shared a little of our experience (different and the same). We all now had that experience under our (weight) belts. Have you done that dive?

This week I am taking the instructor manual and slides out once again to get back on track to finishing my dive master. Matthew and I made a nice list to make sure I complete every requirement. Rescue exercise #7, equipment exchange, skills circuit are a few. The shop is busy and company came at the right time. A group of young Canadians came full of enthusiasm. This should be a good learning environment for all of us.

——-
You can read more of Rada’s personal blog here.

How does one begin to sum up three weeks of life?

Hm.  (An honest question as much as it is rhetoric philosophizing.)

Well, let’s see… the IDC (or ‘Instructor Development Course,’ to you non-acronymites) began the last week of January, marked by an early-morning saunter into room 201 of the Blue Angel – a hotel suite converted into our temporary classroom. Here I met our course director, Mr. Jim Hutchinson, and my fellow instructor candidates.

The group included Julie, a conservatively-raised farm-girl and former ex-school teacher hailing from Missouri (‘Misery,’ as she called it) who broke away to live in Cozumel. There was Steve of Connecticut, a machinist and avid road-bike racer who sold everything to move to Playa del Carmen with his wife. Tracy was another piece of the IDC puzzle, a Texas-born badass who knew enough asian martial art to fight MMA, but opted to spend a decade in Iraq and Afghanistan instead. And then there was me, the long-haired hippy wanderer-type with a love of photography and perpetually growing beard (which had suitably earned me the moniker ’Jesús’ around the shop (pronounced ’hey zeus,’ of course)).

We were a colourful cast of characters, coming from different parts of the continent with our own unique stories. The coolest thing? That despite our differing background and age we had all come to Cozumel in a mutual search for fulfillment and purpose.

Inadvertently, being surrounded by all these people – these ‘adults’ – who were making the same changes I was, some having gone so far as to sell their home and 99% of their possessions, encouraged me further that I’ve been doing the right thing. That we, as individuals, are the only ones who can make the change if we are not truly happy.

In the following two weeks of training, we spent the majority of our time under Jim and Matthew’s guidance in class or in the ocean.  We learned the PADI system and marketing mechanics, refined skill demonstrations, took turns in confined and open water as ‘instructor’ and ‘students,’ wrote lesson plans, gave presentations, mastered diving physics and physiology, wrote more tests than I had fingers and drank more coffee than I had in the last two years of my life.

Julie, Steve, Tracy and I watched each other overcome our own personal struggles during the IDC, then went on to collectively face the Instructor Examination. This took place over two days (Feb 7th-8th), with the written exams and classroom presentation on the first day and all the confined and open water stuff on the second day.

It was strange – I was incredibly confident with all aspects of my training but as soon as we were in an Exam Room with the evaluator (Mario, of Montreal) and eight other candidates, my heart started beating twice as fast. I think the notion of being tested shook me a bit, but the feeling was short-lived. I went on to score 94% on the Standards Exam (open book, don’t be impressed), an average of 90% between Knowledge Exam segments (physics, physiology, RDP use, general skills and equipment), and a 4.7 out of 5 on my classroom presentation, which we had an hour to prepare after finishing the exams.

Mario had to be on a ferry by two the next day, so he made our team (codenamed ‘red’) do our open water skill briefings that evening as well.  Talk about time crunch.

With that day successfully behind us, we arrived at the IE by eight AM the following morning. Team Blue was already going through their open water briefings, then hopped in the ocean with Mario to run through their skill segments. Team Red (us) stayed on the surface with another course director and ran through Rescue Exercise #7 – Unresponsive Diver at the Surface. We passed, switched roles with Team Blue, and sunk twenty feet below onto an expanse of sand.

The evaluator designated the instructor, then went behind him/her and signaled problems to the ‘students,’ which would have to be caught and remedied by the instructor. Failure to do so would result in a failing score. We had done this many times with Matthew and Jim but this was the only evaluation that day where there was no second chance.

Immediately after this, we went through our skill circuit (five were chosen alongside classroom topics, confined water and open water skills on exam day one), and immediately after that we swam to an isolated section of the beach where we did our confined water circuit. Team Blue followed up, and once they had finished we closed the IE with our open water debriefings. Upon individual completion, Mario would take us aside and let us know whether we passed or failed.

When he shook my hand, I was both relieved and excited.  When he told me I had gotten a score of 4.6 in open water, I was over the moon.

And just like that, it was over.

Hugs, high-fives, fist bumps, and good vibes abounded the rest of that afternoon and would continue well into the night. Mario and the PADI Regional Manager, Robert Sievens, gave a closing speech to congratulate us, and one by one we collected a certificate and a handshake.  We had done it, and that sense of accomplishment begun to feel more and more like a reality.  I became giddy with the realization of how far I’d come, thinking back to a year ago when I had first set this goal for myself.

And here I was, holding a certification in my hand. I had done it.

With that, I feel compelled to say thank you. I am overwhelmed with the amount of support I’ve received from everybody. First I’d like to thank my family for the acceptance and encouragement of my approach to life, and specifically to my mom and stepfather for coming to visit Leah and I during their recent vacation to the Yucatan.

I’d like to thank my love, Leah, for putting up with my prolonged absences; for buying groceries and making sure I was constantly well-fed (she’d make me lunch and dinner everyday). Wouldn’t have been the same without you.

I’d like to thank Matthew and Kari Atkins, for their remarkable hospitality and high standard of education and training; for allowing me to experiment with their underwater camera and featuring me on the Blue Angel Scuba School website. It’s been a helluva journey and I couldn’t be happier with my decision to come and do it with you two in Cozumel. Thank you for making me feel at home.

I’d like to thank Julie, Steve, and Tracy – you were all a constant source of inspiration and it was wonderful getting to train alongside you.  Best of luck with everything that comes your way.

And finally, I’d like to thank you, the reader, and to those who have come up to me or contacted me telling me how much they’ve enjoyed the blog. It’s been really cool knowing that there’s a steadily growing audience who’s interested in my writing, my photography, and my future endeavours. It really does mean a lot. And, if there is anybody out there who still would like to contact me, my email is kl.beaudry@hotmail.com. Feel free to ask any questions, or simply drop a line to say ‘hello,’ I’d love to hear from you all!

As I said, it’s been a journey. Challenging, invigorating, self-actualizing, productive… but now the feeling of being ‘done’ is settling in, and entertaining future possibilities (which are infinite, really) fills me with all sorts of excitement.

~KL

You can contact Kale at kl.beaudry@hotmail.com and you can read his blog at http://klworld.tumblr.com/