Good morning, and Happy Friday, y'all!
Today my wife and I begin a our new adventure in this fascinating sport. We start our OW classes this evening in the NASA/Clear Lake area of Houston! We've been studying our textbook for the past couple of weeks, and I've been reading as many posts on this board as time allows.
Ever since I went snorkeling in Tahiti so many years ago, I've been wanting to do this for a long time, and now the timing has worked out for us.
I hope to post a regular series of blogs on our training on my newly established blog here: Lefty Writes (http://pnewmantx.blogspot.com/).
Have a great day, everyone!
carpe cerevisi
tstormdiver
May 6th, 2011, 09:01 AM
Good luck to you & have fun!!!:D
Warning: it can be a very addicting sport.....:cool2:
LivBlue
May 6th, 2011, 09:03 AM
I'm currently 1/2 way through. Did all the pool stuff last week and this week we hit Clear Springs dive park outside of Dallas. Can't say I'm overly enthused about getting in a lake but hey it's to get the cert. So far the classes have been pretty fun and the teachers were very good. All experience levels in the class so anyone should fit right in. Good Luck!
seaducer
May 6th, 2011, 12:43 PM
Good luck and congratulations!
kathydee
May 6th, 2011, 01:24 PM
Have fun & Good luck!!
Warning: it can be a very addicting sport.....:cool2:
AGREED!!!
ScubaNurse758
May 6th, 2011, 01:43 PM
As if I wasnt already depressed about having to be stuck in the hospital all weekend...... a little salt for the ole wound!:sad:
rameus
May 6th, 2011, 04:22 PM
We've been studying our textbook for the past couple of weeks, and I've been reading as many posts on this board as time allows.
well then go out there and have fun. just remember the basic padi-rule:
go places - meet people - do things :-) :popcorn:
CaliDenna
May 6th, 2011, 05:28 PM
You are going to have a BLAST!!! And you will meet lots of great people as I already have!
I took my OW in Mar-Apr and then jumped in and did my AOW by going on a week long group trip to Grand Cayman. There I even did the two boat dives everyday, numerous shore dives, an extra boat dive to dive the Kittiwake and a night boat dive. As others said, VERY ADDICTING......and so off I went yesterday to Catalina Island for the day for a couple of dives.
Welcome to the beginning of a great new fantastic adventure!!
SnorkelLA
May 6th, 2011, 07:42 PM
My wife just got certified this past week. I was chillin in the classroom so I could experience it with her.
The classroom quizzes aren't hard(without giving anything away), and they do an in-depth review with you.
diveprof
May 6th, 2011, 08:29 PM
There might be support groups and 12 step programs for this sport, but they don't work because everyone's an enabler. Enjoy!
spectrum
May 6th, 2011, 08:53 PM
You folks have a great time and begin deciding which investments you will sacrifice to fuel the addiction.
A training site for training often is not a prime destination. You will be on sensory overload anyhow. Just have fun strutting your stuff and experiencing neutral buoyancy in open water. Instructors often choose off the beaten path certification sites to avoid distractions and so they have novices in a location they know well in case the need to deal with an issue.
Pete
soltari675
May 6th, 2011, 08:57 PM
Warning: it can be a very addicting sport.....:cool2:
Oh man is it ever....
Lefty Writer
May 7th, 2011, 12:31 AM
Thanks for all of the positive comments so far.
:D
We just got back from class, and I'm glad we reviewed the textbooks ahead of time. It felt like more of a review than trying to "drink through a fire hose."
The hardest part for me was selecting a proper fitting mask. I had to really hunt around to find one that fit properly. The other equipment was pretty easy to secure.
We even got all of our rental stuff done for our confined water dives tomorrow and our OW dives at the Blue Lagoon in Huntsville next weekend.
We're now prepping our masks, rinsing the snorkel, etc. before bed. Back in class at 0800 tomorrow.
:coffee:
Lefty Writer
May 16th, 2011, 10:57 AM
Good morning, all!
Well, we successfully completed our ow certification this last weekend. We did our open water dives at the Blue Lagoon (http://www.bluelagoonscuba.net/), and had a blast.
This reminds me of when I finished my AFF training in skydiving years ago. Yes, I was no longer a skydiving student, and could essentially jump with whomever I wanted without a jumpmaster, but that didn't mean I necessarily should just go off and start doing my own thing.
I feel this way now after getting our c-cards. I realize just how much I don't know, and how much I have yet to learn. Does this mean I'm uncomfortable being in the water? No! I love being in the water, and feel reasonably comfortable with the skills I was taught. I know I (when I write "I," I'm referring to my wife and I as a buddy team) should dive with experienced divers to improve my skills and become a better diver. Mentoring is a big deal where I work, and I definitely see its value. Now all I need to do is build a network of mentors who are willing to dive with newbies so we can learn more and refine our skills.
My instructor does about a class a month, and I asked him about accompanying the class to the same area during their open water dives. My goal here is to just hang out with the same instructor team, and while not actually interacting with his class, just dive in the same area, practicing our own skills. Not only did he say that was fine, but actually encoured us to do this anytime he was out there. "Come on out with us any time we dive. I encourage all of my former students to do this."
The one skill I personally had the most anxiety about was the free flow regulator drill. While hearing about it, this sounded like it was going to be a tough skill to pass, but after all was said and done, it wasn't that hard. Most of the skills were actually pretty fun to do, and I had a great time doing them.
Our instructor then did an optional peak performance buoyancy class for us, and all of us took that class as well. I feel that those two extra dives really helped with my buoyancy control, although I still have a lot of work to do in maintaining optimal buoyancy. These dives were much more fun in that there was less stress in trying to pass all the required skills for our OW. Maybe this is what finally made something "click" during our fin pivots. All of the sudden, something just went off in my head and it was like "Hey, I get it now!"
We hope to do as many dives as possible before our cruise in December, where we plan to dive in Grand Cayman and Cozumel. We have much work to do, and lots of practice, but this kind of practice can also be fun. It's one of the reasons we decided to learn scuba, right?
Have a great day, y'all!
Cave Diver
May 16th, 2011, 11:49 AM
Good morning, all!
Well, we successfully completed our ow certification this last weekend. We did our open water dives at the Blue Lagoon (http://www.bluelagoonscuba.net/), and had a blast.
Congratulations!
It's been just over 11 years since I did my ow cert dives at Blue Lagoon. My how time flies! Enjoy the adventure, there is much more to come!
Insta-Gator
May 16th, 2011, 11:54 AM
Sounds like y'all are gonna be great divers. Congratulations. I really like your attitude :thumb:
Lefty Writer
May 17th, 2011, 08:35 AM
Sounds like y'all are gonna be great divers. Congratulations. I really like your attitude :thumb:
Thank you, sir!
While doing our second PPB dive, our divemasters had us circling just above the benches on the platform, trying to stay about 2 - 3 feet above it, as if we were swimming above a reef. He would then point to one of us and have us swim between the bench and the platform ("NOT under the platform, guys, you're not ready for that.").
So, here we were, circling around, seeing some swim under the bench and I wondered if this is what it would be like when we go to Grand Cayman or Cozumel....seeing people all around me, swimming this way and that. About this time, what popped into my mind? A Jimmy Buffett song. I had fins to the left, fins to the right..... I just had to smile at the thought.
:dork2:
We can't wait until next month when we can go again. My wife and I have already started planning what we want to do on each dive (hover practice, staying together as we swim about the platform, etc.).
Have a great day, y'all!
nelsonrl
May 17th, 2011, 09:54 AM
Congratulations. You are now officially addicted. My wife and I always seem to end our dive trips with a conversation about where do we go next. We actually started this addiction as a way to kind of force ourselves to go to places where we could completely disconnect from work and everything related to it. We could not have found anything we enjoy more and that accomplishes that goal. I just tell my boss that if I take my computer or blackberry on the trip I will have it with me every minute of the trip and since they have not supplied a case good to 80 feet for a notebook, it seems to work better to leave it at home.
Insta-Gator
May 17th, 2011, 01:53 PM
Cayman is not like that, especially if you like to shore dive and do your own thing. For the most part it's always been peaceful and calm and mostly just our dive group of four or six divers. You'll love it.
