There was a cute thread going on the local forums here so I decided to borrow the idea and kick off a similar thread here:
1) Tell us about the very first time you were under water
2) Tell us about your most recent dive.
I'll kick us off.
My first dive
My very first time under water was in the swimming pool of the university I attended in 1984. My uncle was a marine biologist and an experienced diver and he worked at the university. He helped some of us from the student union get a "dive club" going. None of us, however, could dive so we hired a local dive shop to provide training for the club and I was chosen to be one of the first 6 "guinea pigs".
The fact was, however, that I had never considered diving. My uncle sort of ... well ... forced it on me (for which I am eternally grateful). I grew up in the mountains and while I had seen many Jacques Cousteau films I had never seen diving equipment up close.
The first class took place in a classroom next to the pool. When it came time for the dive we went to the pool to get geared up. And there they were..... 6 scuba sets, larger than life (larger than on the TV), lined up neatly along the edge the pool. We were told to choose one and I chose the second from the left. My first lasting impression was the smell of it. The rich smell of neoprene, of the rubber flippers, of the salt water that hadn't been totally washed out of it, the silicone of my brand new mask that had never been used. The smell seemed to fill the entire room, which was immense with an olympic sized race pool and a deep pool with a diving tower. It was like swimming in a stadium full of this overpowering "scuba gear" smell.
We pulled the gear on and got in the pool. I stood in chest deep water while the instructor helped us get the gear all tight and ready to go. Mask on.... head zooming with anticipation, the smell the gear still fresh in my mind.... I put the regulator in my mouth, tried it, felt the air rush into my lungs, seemly as spun magic from this .... contraption.... like a pump .... then leaned over so my face was in the water.....
AND BREATHED!
slowly, carefully.... but most most conscious breath I've ever taken. It was as if my entire head was envoloped in an enormous bubble or like I wasn't even under water. A million thoughts went through my head but the one that stuck was "OH MY GOD IT WORKS".
And I was hooked. Not a little bit.... hooked for life. I knew right then and there that scuba diving was going to define me in some way. My uncle told me it would but I didn't believe him..... It wasn't going to be like learning how to ski, it was going to be a powerful experience that would change my life....
My most recent dive
Anno 2009 I'm a diving instructor. I still love the smell of neoprene. A week or so ago I bought a new wetsuit for in the pool and "caught" my wife with her nose in it, smelling it. She was embarassed and giggled when I saw her .... I *totally* understood. Last week I stood on an escalator 1/2 metre behind a woman wearing terrible perfume but with the richest and most scrumptious natural body smell you could possibly imagine.... ten THOUSAND times better than the perfume she was wearing.... I had to step down one step because despite her terrible choice of perfume I felt like burying my nose in her neck and falling in love with her right then and there ..... this is what you get for having a good nose and this is what the smell of neoprene does to the diver in me. I want to bury my nose it in and inhale the experience (I'm probably sounding very weird by now.....) but nothing makes me feel happier than having a new suit.
I took my new wetsuit to the pool (getting to the point) to see how it felt. I did some OW skills.... Set removal, replacement, weightbelt removal replacement, hovering, mask removal replacement .... all hanging in mid water, to see how this suit compared to the old one. The disappointment is that my feet stick out a bit in front of me when I hover. It's a matter of centemetres but it feels odd for the time being. I also need to carry 1kg of weight which is irritating because in Holland we don't have 1/2 kg blocks and I would like to have a weightbelt that looks symetrical.... I also spent about 1/2 hour blowing bubble rings. Looking for the best place in the pool to do it so the circulation of the filter pumps doesn't break the bubbles up. I found the perfect spot. In the deep end of the pool on the left hand corner beside the ladder. This is the only spot in the pool where you can pop a bubble ring from the bottom and it reaches the surface unhindered.
Ok. next?
R..
1) Tell us about the very first time you were under water
2) Tell us about your most recent dive.
I'll kick us off.
My first dive
My very first time under water was in the swimming pool of the university I attended in 1984. My uncle was a marine biologist and an experienced diver and he worked at the university. He helped some of us from the student union get a "dive club" going. None of us, however, could dive so we hired a local dive shop to provide training for the club and I was chosen to be one of the first 6 "guinea pigs".
The fact was, however, that I had never considered diving. My uncle sort of ... well ... forced it on me (for which I am eternally grateful). I grew up in the mountains and while I had seen many Jacques Cousteau films I had never seen diving equipment up close.
The first class took place in a classroom next to the pool. When it came time for the dive we went to the pool to get geared up. And there they were..... 6 scuba sets, larger than life (larger than on the TV), lined up neatly along the edge the pool. We were told to choose one and I chose the second from the left. My first lasting impression was the smell of it. The rich smell of neoprene, of the rubber flippers, of the salt water that hadn't been totally washed out of it, the silicone of my brand new mask that had never been used. The smell seemed to fill the entire room, which was immense with an olympic sized race pool and a deep pool with a diving tower. It was like swimming in a stadium full of this overpowering "scuba gear" smell.
We pulled the gear on and got in the pool. I stood in chest deep water while the instructor helped us get the gear all tight and ready to go. Mask on.... head zooming with anticipation, the smell the gear still fresh in my mind.... I put the regulator in my mouth, tried it, felt the air rush into my lungs, seemly as spun magic from this .... contraption.... like a pump .... then leaned over so my face was in the water.....
AND BREATHED!
slowly, carefully.... but most most conscious breath I've ever taken. It was as if my entire head was envoloped in an enormous bubble or like I wasn't even under water. A million thoughts went through my head but the one that stuck was "OH MY GOD IT WORKS".
And I was hooked. Not a little bit.... hooked for life. I knew right then and there that scuba diving was going to define me in some way. My uncle told me it would but I didn't believe him..... It wasn't going to be like learning how to ski, it was going to be a powerful experience that would change my life....
My most recent dive
Anno 2009 I'm a diving instructor. I still love the smell of neoprene. A week or so ago I bought a new wetsuit for in the pool and "caught" my wife with her nose in it, smelling it. She was embarassed and giggled when I saw her .... I *totally* understood. Last week I stood on an escalator 1/2 metre behind a woman wearing terrible perfume but with the richest and most scrumptious natural body smell you could possibly imagine.... ten THOUSAND times better than the perfume she was wearing.... I had to step down one step because despite her terrible choice of perfume I felt like burying my nose in her neck and falling in love with her right then and there ..... this is what you get for having a good nose and this is what the smell of neoprene does to the diver in me. I want to bury my nose it in and inhale the experience (I'm probably sounding very weird by now.....) but nothing makes me feel happier than having a new suit.
I took my new wetsuit to the pool (getting to the point) to see how it felt. I did some OW skills.... Set removal, replacement, weightbelt removal replacement, hovering, mask removal replacement .... all hanging in mid water, to see how this suit compared to the old one. The disappointment is that my feet stick out a bit in front of me when I hover. It's a matter of centemetres but it feels odd for the time being. I also need to carry 1kg of weight which is irritating because in Holland we don't have 1/2 kg blocks and I would like to have a weightbelt that looks symetrical.... I also spent about 1/2 hour blowing bubble rings. Looking for the best place in the pool to do it so the circulation of the filter pumps doesn't break the bubbles up. I found the perfect spot. In the deep end of the pool on the left hand corner beside the ladder. This is the only spot in the pool where you can pop a bubble ring from the bottom and it reaches the surface unhindered.
Ok. next?
R..
unless you get a job,witch I could not do.Just started highschool.
