Hi Gang,
Kind of an interesting story. My wife and I enjoy taking classes together, and she had recieved her open water from PADI in 1992, so in February of 2008 I suggested that we take SCUBA, and the shop I was going through, Gobe Divers in Denver (responsibly) recommended that she do a Skills Update while I was doing my open water. So we did that class together. Had a great time. We hadn't planned on an Open Water at that point...were thinking about doing something in the summer.
In the first week of March (right after finishing the OW Class and Pool), a good friend of mine who is an expert skier, ski instructor, etc. was actually killed on the slopes in Colorado, so it got me thinking. I was concerned that I had reverted to "driving a desk" too much and might in fact not go out doing something I loved doing, but was more likely to be found with an open bag of Cheeto's and a half a can of Mountain Dew at my desk, at which point, I'd get rolled out to the dumpster, chair and all, and simply replaced (sounds like corporate America these days, huh?).
Anyway, I digress. So the dive shop had a trip scheduled to TCI, Salt Cay (a *very* backwater and small island) that very week where two people had to drop for personal reasons. I asked them if I could assume one of the slots, and they said sure, but we leave tomorrow and you don't even have equipment yet...so I slapped down a *lot* of cash, got on-line and secured my own travel (fortunately I'm a seasoned traveler, so that was actually cheaper for me than the rest of the group
), had my equipment fitted and tested, and literally picked it up, tags, manuals and all on my way to the airport the next morning.
So while I was doing my open water certifications, several pods of Humpback Whales came through (it's a time and place of migration for them - hence the destination) and we could constantly hear them "singing" in the background. That made me feel a lot more like I was "living" again, and I immediately fell in love with the sport. Here I am scantily over a year later, and am completing my SSI DiveCon - planning to continue.
Warm Regards,
-Spencer Yonker