Nikolai
Contributor
The underwater world has always held a special attraction to me. As a child, I grew up with the adventures of Jacques Cousteau and whenever one of his shows was on you couldnt pry me away from the TV. Throughout life this fascination has never left, though for some reason it always seemed to be something out of reach to us mere mortals. As life goes on, childhood dreams get put by the wayside and the daily grind of life takes precedence.
Fast-forward 35 years to 2007:
After many vacations to tropical destinations and going on snorkel boats and such while having to watch the divers on board disappear into the depths while I watch from above Ive finally had enough. This year Diana and I are taking a vacation to Maui and I am not doing this without diving. Little do I realize how much this decision is going to change my life.
August 9, 2007:
After several weeks of classroom and pool sessions, today is the big day: my first open-water dives. Needless to say, I got no sleep at all the night before. The ride out to the Isthmus at Catalina is amazing. I cant even describe how calming to me it is to just sit on the bow with the spray in my face and just look out into the open sea with nothing but the whisper of the wind in my ear and the low throb of the engines as my companions. To this day I cherish these moments when I can get away from everyone else on the boat and just enjoy this serenity. I love being at sea.
Finally we have arrived at our dive spot for the day. Now comes the amusement of gearing up. What seemed so easy while dropping your gear into the pool and swimming into your rig now becomes a real balancing act and surely a source of amusement to the boat crew. A boat full of students with no sea legs, no clue, and no idea they assembled their regulators without slipping off the bungee holding their tanks against the seats The perfect setup for comedy. Finally it is time to dive!
After quite some time floating on the surface in some decent swells and quite a bit of chop, I must admit to being quite intimidated. This is actually kinda scary and Im starting to doubt myself at this point. But we all must suffer on as each person is drilled on the surface on basic mask clearing, regulator removal and retrieval, and ear clearing before we are led down the line one at a time. I am first in line. Just getting a couple feet under, I instantly forget all about the surface and all doubts evaporate. I totally forget about any concerns as I settle into an opening in the kelp as Garibaldi swim up to say hi. I will never forget these moments as the rest of the class is being led down the line. The sight of the kelp forest rising above me with the sun beaming through and nosey Garibaldi all around me leaves me speechless. This was the first hit of the crack pipe. Im hopelessly addicted and a couple of weeks later and I have the card to prove it!
Hawaii was everything I hoped for but once I got home I had to figure out how to feed my addiction. As we all know, cracks more fun when ya got someone to share it with. My problem is I know no other divers. After some searching I come across a dive club out of Laguna and do several beach dives with them. While I do appreciate the opportunity to dive, it makes me uneasy diving with this group. Buddy procedures and looking out for each other are foreign to them. And this is from a group that promotes itself as being perfect for new divers and encourages them to join up. The last straw was finding myself alone and ditched by everyone, buddy included, on Deadmans reef at 60 with around 15 dives under my belt. I make is safely to shore and never once dive with this group again. Buddy-less again.
Nosing around the internet looking for local resources leads me to something called Scubaboard. Hmm interesting. After some nosing around I find the Beach Crabs. Damn these guys are far away from me but real active. Sadly my first experience wasnt the best as the person I met up with from this board the first time took me on a 1000 yard dash and led me into a full blown panic attack while basically ditching me. This was a turning point in my diving. If left to be I very well might have quit diving, I was very freaked out. I posted my experience in the new divers forum, while not mentioning names, hoping maybe my tale would be helpful to someone else new. I never in my wildest dreams expected the response. This was the moment I got to see the real diving community. I couldnt believe the support that was given to me by everyone or by the numbers of PMs from people offering to dive with me and encouraging me to stick with it. To all of you who were part of this: I cant thank you enough, you made all the difference.
The next year of diving is just wonderful. As I become more a part of the Beach Crabs, and meet more new people and dive more new spots, I learn what a great thing it is to be a diver. I have seen many cool things and met many great new friends and realize my childhood dreams that always seemed so far out of reach and only accessible to those special few like Jacques Yves.
It seems appropriate that my year has come full circle. September 6, 2007 marked my return to Catalina for the first time since my certification dives and get to finally make it to the dive park. I also get to finally dive with a great diver named Dave (dwaters) who I first met around dive 10 or so but have never actually dove with, and his buddy Dan (venom.) It just seemed appropriate that my 1-year anniversary diving marked my return to Catalina, where it all started for me, diving with someone I first met early in my diving career and who really represents well the kind of great people I have met over the year.
I cant possibly list everyone whos made this past year so special but I especially must thank:
Scubaboard without which I would likely have met hardly anyone.
Rick Guerin (riguerin) and Kim (divekim) - for stepping up and helping me after my panic attack dive and really making the difference for me personally.
Rick (Rickster) For also being one of the ones stepping up to offer support and for everything you have done for the dive community and myself. Without your efforts I might not have met a lot of the people that I am now proud to call friends.
Jeff and Christina gave me a great first real dive with the Beach Crabs and are great people, if they had scared me off I woulda likely never dove again with you guys.
Ren for being one of my first consistent dive buddies and being the kind of diver I could be comfortable around and allows me to start to get myself together rather than worry about who Im diving with getting me in trouble.
Erika for being a good buddy and for toughing it out with me on some dives in such crappy vis that everyone else sat out the dives. Some of our dives have gone a long way to improving my confidence.
Jamie, for being a great friend but also being a great dive buddy.
Dave and Dan, for being great guys and great dive buddies, and especially for inviting me along to Catalina for the perfect dives with the perfect people to end my first dive year.
Year 1 Summary:
Total Dives : 70
Total Bottom Time: 49hours 17minutes
Number of new friends: Countless!
This first years been amazing with a lot of dives that will always be special to me. You only get to experience something for the first time once. The second time may well be better but it will still never be your first time. This year I got to experience my first kelp forest, first oil rigs, first wreck dives (Yukon), first night dives, first time seeing fascinating creatures including rays (manta, bat, thornbacks, spotted eagle, and many I dont know the names) , sharks (white tip, black tip, gray reef, leopard, horned), many nudis that I wont even try to name, numerous species of eels and lots of different fish species I have no hope of naming!
Year 2 Goals:
Fast-forward 35 years to 2007:
After many vacations to tropical destinations and going on snorkel boats and such while having to watch the divers on board disappear into the depths while I watch from above Ive finally had enough. This year Diana and I are taking a vacation to Maui and I am not doing this without diving. Little do I realize how much this decision is going to change my life.
August 9, 2007:
After several weeks of classroom and pool sessions, today is the big day: my first open-water dives. Needless to say, I got no sleep at all the night before. The ride out to the Isthmus at Catalina is amazing. I cant even describe how calming to me it is to just sit on the bow with the spray in my face and just look out into the open sea with nothing but the whisper of the wind in my ear and the low throb of the engines as my companions. To this day I cherish these moments when I can get away from everyone else on the boat and just enjoy this serenity. I love being at sea.
Finally we have arrived at our dive spot for the day. Now comes the amusement of gearing up. What seemed so easy while dropping your gear into the pool and swimming into your rig now becomes a real balancing act and surely a source of amusement to the boat crew. A boat full of students with no sea legs, no clue, and no idea they assembled their regulators without slipping off the bungee holding their tanks against the seats The perfect setup for comedy. Finally it is time to dive!
After quite some time floating on the surface in some decent swells and quite a bit of chop, I must admit to being quite intimidated. This is actually kinda scary and Im starting to doubt myself at this point. But we all must suffer on as each person is drilled on the surface on basic mask clearing, regulator removal and retrieval, and ear clearing before we are led down the line one at a time. I am first in line. Just getting a couple feet under, I instantly forget all about the surface and all doubts evaporate. I totally forget about any concerns as I settle into an opening in the kelp as Garibaldi swim up to say hi. I will never forget these moments as the rest of the class is being led down the line. The sight of the kelp forest rising above me with the sun beaming through and nosey Garibaldi all around me leaves me speechless. This was the first hit of the crack pipe. Im hopelessly addicted and a couple of weeks later and I have the card to prove it!
Hawaii was everything I hoped for but once I got home I had to figure out how to feed my addiction. As we all know, cracks more fun when ya got someone to share it with. My problem is I know no other divers. After some searching I come across a dive club out of Laguna and do several beach dives with them. While I do appreciate the opportunity to dive, it makes me uneasy diving with this group. Buddy procedures and looking out for each other are foreign to them. And this is from a group that promotes itself as being perfect for new divers and encourages them to join up. The last straw was finding myself alone and ditched by everyone, buddy included, on Deadmans reef at 60 with around 15 dives under my belt. I make is safely to shore and never once dive with this group again. Buddy-less again.
Nosing around the internet looking for local resources leads me to something called Scubaboard. Hmm interesting. After some nosing around I find the Beach Crabs. Damn these guys are far away from me but real active. Sadly my first experience wasnt the best as the person I met up with from this board the first time took me on a 1000 yard dash and led me into a full blown panic attack while basically ditching me. This was a turning point in my diving. If left to be I very well might have quit diving, I was very freaked out. I posted my experience in the new divers forum, while not mentioning names, hoping maybe my tale would be helpful to someone else new. I never in my wildest dreams expected the response. This was the moment I got to see the real diving community. I couldnt believe the support that was given to me by everyone or by the numbers of PMs from people offering to dive with me and encouraging me to stick with it. To all of you who were part of this: I cant thank you enough, you made all the difference.
The next year of diving is just wonderful. As I become more a part of the Beach Crabs, and meet more new people and dive more new spots, I learn what a great thing it is to be a diver. I have seen many cool things and met many great new friends and realize my childhood dreams that always seemed so far out of reach and only accessible to those special few like Jacques Yves.
It seems appropriate that my year has come full circle. September 6, 2007 marked my return to Catalina for the first time since my certification dives and get to finally make it to the dive park. I also get to finally dive with a great diver named Dave (dwaters) who I first met around dive 10 or so but have never actually dove with, and his buddy Dan (venom.) It just seemed appropriate that my 1-year anniversary diving marked my return to Catalina, where it all started for me, diving with someone I first met early in my diving career and who really represents well the kind of great people I have met over the year.
I cant possibly list everyone whos made this past year so special but I especially must thank:
Scubaboard without which I would likely have met hardly anyone.
Rick Guerin (riguerin) and Kim (divekim) - for stepping up and helping me after my panic attack dive and really making the difference for me personally.
Rick (Rickster) For also being one of the ones stepping up to offer support and for everything you have done for the dive community and myself. Without your efforts I might not have met a lot of the people that I am now proud to call friends.
Jeff and Christina gave me a great first real dive with the Beach Crabs and are great people, if they had scared me off I woulda likely never dove again with you guys.
Ren for being one of my first consistent dive buddies and being the kind of diver I could be comfortable around and allows me to start to get myself together rather than worry about who Im diving with getting me in trouble.
Erika for being a good buddy and for toughing it out with me on some dives in such crappy vis that everyone else sat out the dives. Some of our dives have gone a long way to improving my confidence.
Jamie, for being a great friend but also being a great dive buddy.
Dave and Dan, for being great guys and great dive buddies, and especially for inviting me along to Catalina for the perfect dives with the perfect people to end my first dive year.
Year 1 Summary:
Total Dives : 70
Total Bottom Time: 49hours 17minutes
Number of new friends: Countless!
This first years been amazing with a lot of dives that will always be special to me. You only get to experience something for the first time once. The second time may well be better but it will still never be your first time. This year I got to experience my first kelp forest, first oil rigs, first wreck dives (Yukon), first night dives, first time seeing fascinating creatures including rays (manta, bat, thornbacks, spotted eagle, and many I dont know the names) , sharks (white tip, black tip, gray reef, leopard, horned), many nudis that I wont even try to name, numerous species of eels and lots of different fish species I have no hope of naming!
Year 2 Goals:
- Improve buddy diving/team diving skills and awareness.
- Improve and streamline gear configuration. Time to sip the Kool-Aid and see if I like the taste.
- Work more on dive/gas planning and become less dependant on diving my computer.
- Become rescue trained so I can actually be of some help to my buddies if needed.
- Start drilling safety skills that I have neglected since certification.
- Dive more!
Ive learned alot from doing those dives with you. Looking forward to diving with you Soon Again.
