All dressed up and nowhere to go (or nobody to go with!)

[Mouthbreather]

I've been certified for three years now, have collected gear piece by piece, and am moving pretty slowly on gaining experience. 'Tried to make a buddy out of my husband this weekend and that was... well, really pretty disasterous. We got out to the buoy, and he wanted no part of going under . 'Makes it harder to take time out for the drive to the coast - I'm in Sacramento, and it's 3.5 hours and plenty of $$ to Monterey.

I've done the advanced dive training, been to Channel Islands on a liveaboard once, and we did do a couple of dives in Eilat. Also have little potential for a lot of travel, and, again, don't really have a buddy. Sigh.

I'll look into clubs, and all, but my question is more of a pragmatic sort: If a person only dives 2-3 times a year, how often do they need to do equipment maintenance? Would it make more sense to sell everything (except the wet suit!) and rent everything else when the time comes?

And, then, sheesh, would I have to do a refresher course every ding-dang time before I go out? I know there's gotta be divers out there who aren't racking up dives like all the rest of the hard-core... yes?

-Mouth Breatherl

 

[TSandM]

Mouth Breather, PM darkpup about Sacramento area diving. The answer isn't to sell your gear or take refresher courses -- It's to dive more often!

 

[mred]

do not sale your equipment. IF you can not dive more often, the specific answer is you should take your equipment in at least once a year prior for maintenance and servicing. Make sure you wash and store your gear properly after every use. To second TSandM ... dive more often if at all possible.

 

[DandyDon]

Yeah, it's good to own and know your own gear, especially the two most expensive parts - the BC & Reg. Depending on warranty requirements and number of dives between, you might be safe to alternate between servicing one year and testing the next, but talk it over with experts on our equipment forums...

If you haven't yet, click Forums above and start going thru the list - looking for those of interest to you, especially your local dive club. Always good to try a Search before starting a new thread, tho - click here for Search help, and be careful about posting Threads & Replies before reading the Sticky threads at the tops of most forums. PM me if I can help you around here..

don

 

[Jim Lapenta]

Also might be time to find a new hubby.

 

[PePaw]

Also might be time to find a new hubby.

If you would please include a photo in your profile, we'll get to work on your problem.

Welcome Aboard !

 

[sasquatcher]

Personally, I would keep your gear and take great care of it; maintaining it regularly. There will probably be a time where diving opportunities start opening up to you, and you'll be glad you still have that good gear you know and trust and don't have to fuss with renting and such.

I occasionally meet couples in which one person has diving in their blood and other one doesn't like getting too wet. Somehow, some of these couples seem to work it out pretty well and still travel together. Others somehow let this separate their lives bigtime. It's a tough thing. I do feel pretty bad when going on vacation and a lone diver is asking for a dive buddy because their spouse is somewhere else.

Anyways, I got hooked up with some nice folks on DiveBuddy There are a lot of people on that site who's supportive spouse just won't dive with them and are looking for a good diving partner.

 

[magnetic]

I live in Napa, Ca and I am just getting the diving bug, hitting Roatan for 16 days starting May 4th. When I get back with my advanced open water, I will be making several dive trips to the Coast with a good friend who is a scuba instructor (owned a dive shop in Hawaii, now in med. school. ) Send me a PM and I will give you an email and perhaps you could join us.

 

[Mouthbreather]

Also might be time to find a new hubby.

Well, it's confirmed... This is a tough crowd!

You all have me convinced...I'm keeping the gear, and maybe occassionally wearing it all around the house if it's been too long between descents .

Thanks all...for your input and the welcome. (I'll work on the photo...don't think it'll help the buddy thing much, though!)

-MB

 

[Peter_C]

Anyone who wants to come dive the North Coast with us is welcome too. We do a monthly club dive, and then a few more in between. We are not really a club, just use the board to keep in contact, and there are no dues etc. On May 5th we are diving at Still Water Cove, which is an easy entry/exit. The dives there tend to be shallow going down about 40 feet. We have a great family that joins us from Davis even. You can check out the forums here www.northcoastdivers.org