RICHinNC
Contributor
I started diving at 52. No doubt (good group!) I am by no means the same physical speciman now as I was when I was a paratrooper in the service....but I am not that big a slouch. I do find myself being more careful than some of the younger divers I have been with. I carry a pony bottle no matter how deep the dive is....or isnt. It has been the cause of many "humorous" comments....I just respond I like going to birthday parties...especially my own.
As a tangent thread.....how do you feel about having to buddy up with an "older" person you do not know? Do you worry about their capabilities to assist in an emergency?
And, as a tangent comment, I have never been involved in a sport that is sooooooo pro active on recruiting new members... then....for lack of any other phrase....holds it against them for being new. Looking my age.....most think I have been diving since prehistoric times. Yet, when they find out I am new at the sport, I encounter eye rolls, long sighs, pained expressions and the like. You read thread after thread here someone has a fear of water or something one would encounter with diving and they get tons of answers back encouraging them to "give it a try"..."you can do it".... and the like. Yet I have been on dives where the "newbie" was not wanted as a dive buddy.
My daughter does not dive and the first time she came out with me on a local quarry dive she enjoyed watching but on the way home made the comment.....""it looks like a fun sport but if you dont do it....they all seem to think you are substandard or crazy for some reason. ""
The older diver has more to consider, but, no more to lose than any other diver. From my point of view...it is pretty cool to be alive no matter how old you are.
As a tangent thread.....how do you feel about having to buddy up with an "older" person you do not know? Do you worry about their capabilities to assist in an emergency?
And, as a tangent comment, I have never been involved in a sport that is sooooooo pro active on recruiting new members... then....for lack of any other phrase....holds it against them for being new. Looking my age.....most think I have been diving since prehistoric times. Yet, when they find out I am new at the sport, I encounter eye rolls, long sighs, pained expressions and the like. You read thread after thread here someone has a fear of water or something one would encounter with diving and they get tons of answers back encouraging them to "give it a try"..."you can do it".... and the like. Yet I have been on dives where the "newbie" was not wanted as a dive buddy.
My daughter does not dive and the first time she came out with me on a local quarry dive she enjoyed watching but on the way home made the comment.....""it looks like a fun sport but if you dont do it....they all seem to think you are substandard or crazy for some reason. ""
The older diver has more to consider, but, no more to lose than any other diver. From my point of view...it is pretty cool to be alive no matter how old you are.
, but not an old diver. On a trip to Little Cayman a couple of years back, we ran into a "Senior Womens" group. The ages ranged from the late fifties to the mid-seventies, and this was one enthusiastic group of divers.
