The Reward Of Diving With Purpose

[RayfromTX]

My wife and I fell in love with diving from the first bubbles and we jumped in with both fins. We had no intention of becoming scuba divers and in fact we turned one discover dive into two and into a two tank boat dive in Cozumel before we even considered getting certified. We came home from that trip and signed up for an OW course and bought a set of gear. That was 15 months ago.

I wanted to make sure we knew what we were doing so that we could be safe and competent divers as I figured I would be more comfortable if I wasn't worrying that something might go wrong. It was a journey. We have been to Cozumel 4 times and Bahamas once and done many dives at our local lake. We have switched to BP/W and cleaned up our gear configuration while getting our buoyancy and trim sorted and our finning cleaned up. We have studied and trained and took our AOW from a tech instructor that took us farther than the minimum requirements by a comfortable margin. I have put together a nitrox fill station at our home so we can dive all weekend without trips into town and worrying about who is filling our tanks and with what.

All this has led up to this most recent dive trip which was far and away better than I would have imagined even a few months ago. Some have wondered why we pushed so hard to become better divers instead of just drifting along and watching the pretty fishes. Why dive the local lake to depths that no light penetrated from above and taking the time to gas plan our dives and navigate each turn to plan? Why work so hard to become a cohesive buddy pair.

I can understand why now. This last trip to Cozumel was amazing(overused word). We were comfortable in the water, like really comfortable. Walking down a country lane comfortable. We communicated well. We didn't have any "what were you thinking" moments. OK we had one.

I am the luckiest man alive. On the last day of a 14 day trip, Kimberly wanted to stay another week. She was always ready to dive. She wants to get tec training, sidemount training, trimix training, drysuit training and DPV training. I would say I've created a monster but this is as much her idea as mine. Heck she had to talk me into the discover dive because I didn't want to go down a new path that led to the ocean.

On this trip we were so comfortable that our air lasted a long time even when we were working. We hunted, we explored, we did new things and we made new friends and dove with old friends. We organized old friends to come back to Coz and dive with us. (getting the band back together)!

All the hard work, that was fun at the time, but still hard sometimes, paid off. We are Scuba Divers!

How has your hard work paid off?
How has Scubaboard helped you to excel as a diver at an accelerated pace.?
What are you grateful for?

 

[Trailboss123]

Nice post and way to get the ball rolling. I hope this turns into the entertaining thread I think it can be.
My answers will be forthcoming. Need some time to gather my thoughts. And if I don't post in the next day or two-- feel free to call me out! I have a lot happening right now and might get distracted, but I like this post.

 

[Compressor]

This a very warm and nice story about diving.

 

[DiverDownD3]

I've got to say I'm jealous of those of you who dive with your wives. I think my favorite dive I have done was a shallow reef while my wife did a discover dive in Puerto Rico. She enjoyed it, but didn't mention anything once we got back. I would never push her into it unless she absolutely wants to. Recipe for disaster.

As for me, I am the type once I start a hobby I am going to completely immerse myself into it. I'm going to learn all that I can. There are many of you on here, who have helped more than you know. I don't create a lot of new threads with my questions, but I have spent countless hours searching and reading old threads.
I pretty much went into BP/W from the start, I got rid of a lot of stuff I thought I needed, and I have a configuration I have become very comfortable with. I'm starting my journey into underwater photography and finding new and interesting challenges doing that.
I am grateful for a lot of things. I am grateful that I have a job, that grants me the financial capability to dive. I am grateful for the wonderful friends I have made on here and those at my LDS who have answered question after question, who have mentored me (Jon Belisario and Bobby Purifoy at Olympus Dive Center are awesome people). I think I am most grateful for where I live. I live where people spend hours or even days trying to get to just so they can go dive. For me, I am 15 minutes away from a boat that will take me to WWII wrecks and sand tiger sharks, for me it doesn't get much better than that.

 

[TMHeimer]

I like threads of this nature, as we all have a story, though mine is not as interesting. I took OW because we moved from Manitoba to the coast of Nova Scotia. I had no interest diving in cold dark northern lakes. Now I dive in the cold ocean.
My only aim was to drastically improve my ability to add perfect specimens to my shell collection. Then came the card collecting. Well, the courses were interesting and I had the money--even for the dreaded PADI MSD. Then I got interested in the DM idea, which I did for 4 years. It was nice to get a foot back into education as a retired teacher for many years. I met a lot of interesting students (and instructors). Now I usually do simple shore dives. Sometimes in the N. Gulf of Mexico as snowbirds. Here at home I rarely find a decent northern shell, but also do some poke spearing of tasty (and somewhat stupid, they look right at you) flounders and occasionally get a meal of scallops. Many dives accomplish none of those things and I still feel like I've done something. Maybe it's the OCD too. You start doing something and it becomes habit.
I've read often that after one becomes very comfortable with diving procedures it is a good idea to find other things to keep you interested--anything--like photography, wreck penetration, DPV, whatever.

 

[Compressor]

Agree with all of you above. We need more threads like this which emphasizes the positives and wholesome healing properties of diving.

 

[txgoose]

Here to watch the thread!
1a) I have a new hobby with my wife as well. Priceless.
1b) I hovered and backed up and turned in the shallow end of the pool without my hands skulling. (I wish it was more common. I have regressed a bit)
2a) Tons of general information.
2b) Some very helpful and detailed regulator maintenance information.
2c) Huge push to keep my excitement up during the drab months/long SI.
3a) Mainly the wife thing. We're still learning. And absolutely still learning how to communicate underwater. But to have this to share is a pretty sweet gig.
3b) The views!

 

[Marie13]

I just keep plugging away. Lots of diving, lots of swimming (2000 yards/1.1 miles/1.8 km, 3-4 times a week) to get in better shape.

Progressed a lot over the past year, by sheer stubbornness. Start my SM fun Saturday (pool dive).

I can now frog kick in splits, and I'm still alive!

I've got my training path mapped out, and I just ignore the naysayers who seem to dislike long-term planners and going about things slowly and methodically.

I use the gear that fits *me* and don't really give a flying fig if someone doesn't like my splits or the fact I'll be SM'ing HP80s.

It may be another year or two (or longer) before I dive salt, warm water. I don't really care. All I want is in my back yard (Great Lakes wrecks). Cold doesn't bother me.

 

[JamesBon92007]

Well, I started scuba diving because I couldn't stay down long enough just holding my breath. My first free-diving experience was when I was 11 and they dropped me into about 80 feet of water at Los Coronados Islands, Mexico. I was instantly hooked. I scraped up enough to get a mask and snorkel and found a fin on the beach at La Jolla. I hitchhiked to La Jolla Cove every day during the summer and spent most of my day snorkeling, free-diving, and spearing fish. When I was 16 I got my scuba certification. Eventually I got my future x-wife to take a class and we did a lot of shore diving and eventually got a boat and started going to Catalina. Fast-forward to today: my girlfriend went along on the boat at Cozumel and wondered why I was so anxious to jump into 70 feet of water and always came back grinning ear-to-ear. I carefully selected a Discover Scuba course for her at Playa del Carmen. She did the Discover Scuba. Two days later she cancelled our trip to the Maya ruins so she could go scuba diving again. That was a little over a year ago. Then we went to Puerto Vallarta and she got certified. Before we left we already had booked a trip to Cozumel and Isla Mujeres. As soon as we got back she booked another trip to Vallarta. We took a two week break before going to Cozumel. Somewhere inbetween the Discover Scuba and Vallarta she did another Discover Scuba at Cozumel.

She may not be quite the monster that RayfromTX's wife has become but I feel the same way about my situation.

I've always felt comfortable underwater--it's as though I belong there.

 

[Cowfish Aesthetic]

I am the luckiest man alive. On the last day of a 14 day trip, Kimberly wanted to stay another week. She was always ready to dive. She wants to get tec training, sidemount training, trimix training, drysuit training and DPV training. I would say I've created a monster but this is as much her idea as mine. Heck she had to talk me into the discover dive because I didn't want to go down a new path that led to the ocean.

I've got to say I'm jealous of those of you who dive with your wives.

I have a new hobby with my wife as well.

She may not be quite the monster that RayfromTX's wife has become but I feel the same way about my situation.

Having a dive-buddy/spouse combination is an awesome gift. I'm not sure what I'm going to do when I lose mine to a nine-month hiatus in the coming year (hopefully). She was initially reluctant, but has turned into a capable and competent diver well beyond my expectations. Now I just have to convince her that she really wants to dive in water that is not warm in places that are not the Caribbean.