Date diving

[chillyinCanada]

Don't worry to much about that. While diving is a sexy thing to do, it is not in the least sexy looking. And after 200 dives your "date" should be well aware of that.

Now find out where you will be changing in and out of gear.

 

[spectrum]

Sounds good to me... You're certified albeit with scant experieince, you did a refresher (and I assume some diving with your daughter) and you are doing a shakedown with this gear in a pool in preparation.

Without putting undue reliance on your date/buddy you are in better shape than 2 newly minted divers heading out as they should. The critical thing is to make sure that the dive is within the scope of YOUR traning and experieince.

While you may be appealing in a rubber suit I hardly consider this anything contrary to dating in general. If he's going to do something stupid that could happen anywhere.

Have a great time!
Pete

 

[Scott]

<snip> and going to an unfamiliar location (about 3 hours away) with someone I just met. (Geez, as I write this I'm freaking myself out even more...hahaha...gulp.)
</snip>

I hope he's taking you someplace nice and not some mud hole that is 3 hours away.

How bad can a guy be if he's providing gear with the big H on it?

 

[mselenaous]

You'll have fun and it's a great way to get to know people.
Just remember to dive within your comfort zone, experience, and training until you get your mojo back.
You'll be tempted to just follow on "trust me" dives because he has more experience. It'll take you a while to build up your self-confidence/skills in the water as well as develop confidence in him as a dive buddy.
Remember #1 rule: Any diver can thumb (call) a dive at anytime for any or no reason, no repercussions.
Oh and just keep breathing.

Please tell us how it goes!

 

[lidja]

So... Did the pool session on Wednesday evening. It was great to spend some time getting familiar with the equipment and good to be in a controlled environment with the guy, too. After an hour or so, a lot of my worries evaporated. It also made me more excited about getting back into diving so I was really looking forward to Thursday's dive.

Thursday, we drove out to the "mud hole" (obviously, Scott has been to Blue Lake before - ha! What a misnomer! "Blue Lake"...hahahahaha!) Blue Lake is a geothermal pond near the border of Utah and Nevada. Here's a great scuba video of the place: http://youtu.be/SAfxhMFIytk

I'll admit the first dive was a little rough. I had a really hard time adjusting my buoyancy. I probably looked like a madwoman "flailing" around at the bottom, trying desperately not to kick up the sand while I adjusted air in my BC up and down, up and down. Arg. It was hard to get comfortable after fighting that so much. After about forty minutes, I accidentally surfaced (I know that sounds super stupid, but there it is) because I lost sight of him and was exhausted from all the wasted effort to neutralize. I spent the next few minutes just following his bubbles around while I imagine he was searching for me. <sigh>

The second dive was **heavenly.** I added some weight, and we felt more comfortable with each other by the second dive, so I was much more calm and (since we had talked about it over lunch) knew what I had been doing wrong and how to correct it. Sure enough, I was able to find the perfect balance and we toured the bottom of the lake, from bubbling pot to bubbling pot, coming across man-made objects here and there. The visibility wasn't great (5-6m?), so we held hands, which was nice too. hehehe. He says I towed him most of the way---I didn't realize he wasn't kicking at all, since most of the time we were shoulder-to-shoulder. Next time, I'm going to have to work on my hovering technique...

All in all, it was a great experience. I loved the tech gear. It was *fantastic* to have a readable diving computer on my wrist during that second dive (Wow! What a difference that makes!). It was great to feel I had made improvements in my skills over the course of the day. I think no matter what happens with the relationship outside of the water, we both felt we have at least found a good dive buddy for future dives.

Thanks for all your support and input, everyone!

Lidja


There was only one other diver there (diving alone???)


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[chillyinCanada]

That's great news! Thanks so much for sharing.

 

[mselenaous]

Sounds like you've gotten your feet wet (pun intended) and ready to giant stride jump back into diving. And having fun dates with this new dive buddy is an added benefit.

Keep on diving, keep working on your skills, and keep us posted on your love life. Here are a few inspirational photos to keep you diving.

 

[spectrum]

Thanks for the update, divers are swell folks!

 

[Aguablanco1]

It sounds as though you had a great time! It also sounds like you dive buddy may be a keeper. From your post I am assuming he was patient, nonjudgmental and willing to give you all the time needed to reacquaint yourself with diving. All laudable traits, both for diving and relationships. Hope you guys are happy. And, as was asked before, please keep us updated on how this all goes.
Good Luck,
RichH

 

[Capt Jim Wyatt]

Find a dive shop with an instructor -- get in the pool with her first. Bring the gear you intend to use to the pool.