I open the package, slowly but deliberately. It is well packaged. The attention-to-detail that went into the packing and presentation is incredible. Out comes the body, tail, spares kit, then the charger and instructions/DVD. Like a child out of a candy store tearing into his bag of treats, I tear through the owners envelope to get the DVD and watch it before I decide not to assemble or attempt to balance it just yet but instead schedule a scooter dive with some friends who will show me the ropes.
This is my first scooter. Months ago I had my first (and only) scooter dive on a Dive-Xtras Sierra at Ship Rock on a deco dive from 130'. I loved it! There's a certain liberation that comes with not having to kick and to be able to cover much more ground. Ship Rock suddenly became a very small dive site. I began to imagine how much smaller Dead Man's Reef would become from shore, also! No more fighting the current at Point Dume! This little thing was short, nimble, and FUN... F-U-N-N... FUNNNNNNN! I think I might have heard Farnsworth calling me once or twice while I was down there! I had to have one!
Everything comes in two's... what I get, my wife also gets another! I almost bought a used Sierra + extra body/battery then would have just added a tail. But my wife warned me that unlike my one-time-purchase non-DUI drysuit that I eventually replaced with a DUI one, the scooter was indeed one-time and there would be no "upgrade" in my future. So eventually I decided against the Sierra and that a mini-Cuda would be in my future (and hers). Since these things never come up used, new it must be.
As I wrote the check for the first scooter (still do not yet have the 2nd) my wife gives me "the look" as she claims #1 as her own.
I book the final 5 spots on a local dive boat I've never used before to a trip through the La Jolla kelp forests and the following day we arrive. While we wait to start boarding the captain coughs up some attitude about our 5 scooters and starts to become rude about it. The boat is full, I get it, maybe there would be space, maybe there wouldn't. Simply saying so would be enough, but rude, inconsiderate, piss-poor sh!t fit genuine jerk-off first class a$$h0le belligerence is just uncalled for. Sure I could have called and arranged it (or not) in advance but I didn't simply because I never had to before on any other dive boats nor did any of my com padres (when bringing doubles, stages, and deco bottles which take up more space than the scooters did)
So we packed up and headed towards La Jolla shores instead (I did get a full refund a few days later) and ditsied about in the shallows (20-30') for a while. Wow! What fun! And work (getting this thing through the surf). My wife absolutely loved the experience (she used a Sierra) and mentioned that it won't be long before I'm writing a check for my own scooter since this one will be HERS! The following day I head out on a boat at Dana Point with two friends and we all take our scooters for a solid trigger-happy hour in the kelp beds at the pinnacle. I swapped the mini-Cuda for a Sierra at one point under water and did not notice too much of a difference except the thrust on the Cuda is greater as-is the speed. I used a wet suit and slung my 80 stage bottle on my side rather than my back and I absolutely loved (LOVED) how it felt and the resulting profile in the water. I did this because I dived off a small inflatable and didn't want to deal with a tank on my back for entry into the boat.
A few thoughts:
-> The mini-Cuda is only 7 lbs heavier than the Sierra but walking from the parking lot through the surf and back, it really feels like 20 lbs.
-> My wife would likely favor the Sierra on land and surf but I can see her eventually downgrading me to the Sierra if we had one and the other.
-> I don't do much travel, and don't expect to travel with the scooters much (based on past behaviors) but the Sierra would definitely travel better.
-> It is a pain to keep the team when there's all Sierras and a Cuda.
-> I don't regret getting the Cuda for one moment at all
That said, I borrowed a Sierra for the next 3-4 weeks to let her evaluate whether she'll prefer it over the Cuda. It's her choice in the end! Well, she claimed this one already as her own, the next one is my choice what I want!
This is my first scooter. Months ago I had my first (and only) scooter dive on a Dive-Xtras Sierra at Ship Rock on a deco dive from 130'. I loved it! There's a certain liberation that comes with not having to kick and to be able to cover much more ground. Ship Rock suddenly became a very small dive site. I began to imagine how much smaller Dead Man's Reef would become from shore, also! No more fighting the current at Point Dume! This little thing was short, nimble, and FUN... F-U-N-N... FUNNNNNNN! I think I might have heard Farnsworth calling me once or twice while I was down there! I had to have one!
Everything comes in two's... what I get, my wife also gets another! I almost bought a used Sierra + extra body/battery then would have just added a tail. But my wife warned me that unlike my one-time-purchase non-DUI drysuit that I eventually replaced with a DUI one, the scooter was indeed one-time and there would be no "upgrade" in my future. So eventually I decided against the Sierra and that a mini-Cuda would be in my future (and hers). Since these things never come up used, new it must be.
As I wrote the check for the first scooter (still do not yet have the 2nd) my wife gives me "the look" as she claims #1 as her own.
I book the final 5 spots on a local dive boat I've never used before to a trip through the La Jolla kelp forests and the following day we arrive. While we wait to start boarding the captain coughs up some attitude about our 5 scooters and starts to become rude about it. The boat is full, I get it, maybe there would be space, maybe there wouldn't. Simply saying so would be enough, but rude, inconsiderate, piss-poor sh!t fit genuine jerk-off first class a$$h0le belligerence is just uncalled for. Sure I could have called and arranged it (or not) in advance but I didn't simply because I never had to before on any other dive boats nor did any of my com padres (when bringing doubles, stages, and deco bottles which take up more space than the scooters did)
So we packed up and headed towards La Jolla shores instead (I did get a full refund a few days later) and ditsied about in the shallows (20-30') for a while. Wow! What fun! And work (getting this thing through the surf). My wife absolutely loved the experience (she used a Sierra) and mentioned that it won't be long before I'm writing a check for my own scooter since this one will be HERS! The following day I head out on a boat at Dana Point with two friends and we all take our scooters for a solid trigger-happy hour in the kelp beds at the pinnacle. I swapped the mini-Cuda for a Sierra at one point under water and did not notice too much of a difference except the thrust on the Cuda is greater as-is the speed. I used a wet suit and slung my 80 stage bottle on my side rather than my back and I absolutely loved (LOVED) how it felt and the resulting profile in the water. I did this because I dived off a small inflatable and didn't want to deal with a tank on my back for entry into the boat.
A few thoughts:
-> The mini-Cuda is only 7 lbs heavier than the Sierra but walking from the parking lot through the surf and back, it really feels like 20 lbs.
-> My wife would likely favor the Sierra on land and surf but I can see her eventually downgrading me to the Sierra if we had one and the other.
-> I don't do much travel, and don't expect to travel with the scooters much (based on past behaviors) but the Sierra would definitely travel better.
-> It is a pain to keep the team when there's all Sierras and a Cuda.
-> I don't regret getting the Cuda for one moment at all
That said, I borrowed a Sierra for the next 3-4 weeks to let her evaluate whether she'll prefer it over the Cuda. It's her choice in the end! Well, she claimed this one already as her own, the next one is my choice what I want!
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Tough swim, but worth it! 
