{"id":1354,"date":"2008-07-19T23:36:24","date_gmt":"2008-07-20T06:36:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/psychosolodiver.com\/?p=1354"},"modified":"2008-07-23T21:02:01","modified_gmt":"2008-07-24T04:02:01","slug":"dive-mastering-the-11th-annual-gold-star-dive","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/psychosolodiver.com\/?p=1354","title":{"rendered":"Dive Mastering The 11th Annual Gold Star Dive"},"content":{"rendered":"

Once again, I was called upon to use my advanced Dive Mastering abilities to make sure all the participants at the Gold Star Dive would be safe.<\/p>\n

I also couldn’t turn down the pay – a T-shirt, free food, free water and the ability to write off transportation as a charitable contribution.<\/p>\n

\"Registration<\/p>\n

Registration begins along with food sales.<\/p>\n

\"Divers<\/p>\n

Divers prepare to enter.<\/p>\n

As I mentioned in previous posts, The Gold Star Dive is a charity event that benefits the Catalina Hyperbaric Chamber<\/a> and the LA County Sheriffs’ S.T.A.R. program.<\/a><\/p>\n

Participants paid $55 to register.<\/p>\n

At a particular time, a canon fires and SCUBA and free divers then try and find one gold star that corresponds to a later prize; a raffle is also held.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

The participants are briefed on the event and safety.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

The 2008 Gold Star Safety Crew; I am the guy in the back row wearing the cool green hat.<\/p>\n

I was going to be on the rocks with a lifeguard can and snorkeling equipment.<\/p>\n

We had people working the stairs, in the water and on kayaks; others reconciled C-cards.<\/p>\n

\"Do<\/p>\n

Do I look macho holding a lifeguard can, or what?<\/p>\n

The event started with the firing of the canon; a few free divers plunged down and came up with stars they had spotted previously.<\/p>\n

So there I sat, on a rock, fins on, can in hand scanning the water for trouble.<\/p>\n

I know that many participants are new or only dive on occasion.<\/p>\n

A signal for help is an overhand wave of the arm; a surface “OK” sign is placing your hand on top of your head.<\/p>\n

How many times did I see a wave, only to hear, “Hi Mom!”<\/p>\n

I’m looking, asking divers who seem tired if they’re alright.<\/p>\n

Someone yelled, “That diver needs help!”<\/p>\n

I looked over, and I saw a big clump of kelp with a waving hand sticking out.<\/p>\n

I jumped in the water and swam over; Steve, who was working at the stairs, pointed the diver out to Jake and another safety worker.<\/p>\n

I got there first and handed her the can, which she promptly grabbed.<\/p>\n

I asked, “Are you just caught in the kelp?”<\/p>\n

“Yes, I was about to panic.”<\/p>\n

“Don’t do that, you’ll be fine.”<\/p>\n

I started untangling and breaking the kelp off her gear.<\/p>\n

Jake and the other guy swam over and helped with the process.<\/p>\n

She was diving with a group of three; apparently the other two just kept going when she ran in to trouble.<\/p>\n

Once free, I tank towed her back to the stairs to an awaiting Steve.<\/p>\n

The diver thanked us and apologized for putting us through the trouble, but we told her that she did the right thing and that’s what we’re here for.<\/p>\n

I was getting hot sitting on the rock, so I should have thanked her for the swim.<\/p>\n

The kayakers towed some tired divers.<\/p>\n

Once all the divers were accounted for, Steve and Laurie told us we could leave our posts.<\/p>\n

Another rewarding day as a highly paid event safety worker!<\/p>\n

I took the early boat back.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Once again, I was called upon to use my advanced Dive Mastering abilities to make sure all the participants at the Gold Star Dive would be safe. I also couldn’t turn down the pay – a T-shirt, free food, free water and the ability to write off transportation as a charitable contribution. Registration begins along […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12,18,9,27,22],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/psychosolodiver.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1354"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/psychosolodiver.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/psychosolodiver.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/psychosolodiver.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/psychosolodiver.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1354"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/psychosolodiver.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1354\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/psychosolodiver.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1354"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/psychosolodiver.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1354"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/psychosolodiver.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1354"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}