My first dive!

[PADI-SoCalDiver]

eggman131 once bubbled...
Ok, I know this will be a bit boring for all of you vets, but it's my first dive so I gotta do this! First dive only happens once!

On Wednesday I head out with my cousins and some friends on a pretty sweet 35-footer out of Plymouth Harbor (MA). I'm a little more nervous than I thought I'd be because these guys have a ton of experience, I knew it'd be cold, and that a poor guy just died there last week. Also had the hood and gloves, which was new for me. Of course, a little nervousness is a good thing cause it kept me on my toes.

When we first got in the water my mask was a little leaky because I didn't realize you have to be careful with the hood or straps end up askew. Got that fixed and we head over to the bow. My cousins were great about telling me what to expect in terms of bottom environment, dive time, etc. I especially appreciate my cousin's last words before descent, despite all the training: "Brian, we're gonna be at 30 feet. If the @#$% hits the fan, just surface." Perfect.

So we head down the anchor line, and things are great. The viz was about 10 ft. and the temp was about 50. They immediately start lobster hunting while I just kind of check things out. I was surprised that we didn't see any fish for the whole dive, save for some very small ones. I was semi-impressed by the huge crabs and giant starfish, as well as the old lobster traps and kelp-covered rocks. I just sort of kicked around and kept pretty close to my buddies. They landed about 4 smallish bugs.

About 40 minutes in I'm down to 1000 psi and getting pretty damn cold. At this point I'm thinking it was pretty cool, first dive, but nothing overwhelmingly impressive. Which was fine. I was a bit spoiled because I'd done an intro dive on the reef in Australia (tough to top). So we're about ready to surface when my cousin decides to check out just one more rock. He sees something so they both get down in there with a prod stick trying to coax him out. After a good 2 minutes they finally get him, and I just about lost it. Yes, I know things look bigger underwater, but even still, these guys had just wrestled out a SEVEN POUND MONSTER! :wacko: Involuntarily I shouted into my regulator, three times, "Holy @#$%, Holy @#$%, Holy @#$%!!" THAT was something!

We surfaced, warmed up and cracked open a beer. Needless to say, everyone was impressed and I had myself a great memory for my first dive!

Thanks!

Congratulations