Dusting off that old C-card
#1 Guest_PlatypusMan_*
Posted 13 October 2005 - 09:28 AM
Was motivated to get back into the sport after taking a cruise and diving in the Caribbean. Asked myself "Why not pick up where I left off?"
Now I have ongoing training, a raft of various C-Cards making an impressive lump in my wallet and--thanks to SD.com---a whole lot of new buds to go diving and correspond with around the world; all things I lacked in the past.
How about you? Did you dive, stop, then take up the sport again?
What was your motivation to do so?
Platypusman
....the extreme monotreme.
#2
Posted 13 October 2005 - 09:40 AM
First thing we did when I got rid of the wife, horses, rabbits, goats, sheep and farm was take my kids down to the Key's. They are both certified now but only seem to dive when dad is paying.
By all that is wet, I do hereby swear, (politely), and attest, upon pain of never diving again, (real or imagined), that I understand and affirm, that I agree to the above.
_________________________________________(log in name signature)
Signed and Dated
#3
Posted 13 October 2005 - 10:02 AM
Just thinking - if my ex would have "bought the farm" I could afford to do a lot more diving now.Took a 15 year break when my ex and I bought a farm . . .
Every existing thing is born without reason, prolongs itself out of weakness, and dies by chance. - Jean-Paul Sartre
I feel the urge, the urge to submerge! -ScubaHawk - Raptor of the Deep !
WHO DAT!!!!
#4
Posted 13 October 2005 - 10:03 AM
DSSW,
WWW™
#5
Posted 13 October 2005 - 10:05 AM
One thing I've always been curious about is what people think when they return to the sport?
Do you feel you can jump right in?
Do you feel that so much has changed that you need to recertify?
Do you feel that its like riding a bike and you just need more practice?
Or does it all boil down to how long you were away from the sport and how long you were active in it before you dropped out?
Great question!
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#6
Posted 13 October 2005 - 11:25 AM
Did I feel as if I could jump right into it? No, but then I didn't exactly become an expert the first time. I took a refresher course from a dive shop that wasn't as close as my LDS, but I could get in on a week night, which turned out to be a jump in the pool while I am teaching an open water class and refresh yourself. I walked away from that thinking so I know pretty much nothing. I signed up for an advanced open water class with my LDS and that gave me enough dives and information to feel pretty good about my diving skills to try to pursue SCUBA.
MNJoe
"just your average Joe from Minnesota, also known as Keith"
#7
Posted 13 October 2005 - 01:20 PM
You forgot the rest of that sentence, "... where the cash used to be."Now I have ongoing training, a raft of various C-Cards making an impressive lump in my wallet ...
"Love is blind but lust likes lacy panties" -- SanDiegoCarol
"If you're gonna be dumb, you'd better be tough." -- Phillip Manor
"If I know the answer I'll tell you the answer, and if I don't I'll just respond cleverly." -- Donald Rumsfeld
#8
Posted 15 October 2005 - 02:56 PM
PADI say that if you can persuade a new diver to buy gear then he'll be hooked. Well, I've bought gear for lots of pursuits, but I still only do them when I want to. When I wasn't tied to a dive centre I mix-n-matched a whole range of sports in the available time/money, such as diving (of course), skydiving, mountain biking, skiing, kayaking, etc. I have certs for all of these and more but limited time and money, so I might well take long breaks from particular activities without "giving them up". I see divers here who've basically had the same experience - often it's family commitments which make them stop diving for several years, even though they had bought gear, then when they can they get back to it.
As with most of my posts these days this one is getting a bit "rambling". Still, hopefully you know what I mean. Lots of my one-time enthusiastic diver friends in the UK have had the same experience.
#9
Posted 15 October 2005 - 06:41 PM
This one is right up my alley. I'll touch on the original questions as well as some of the other responses.
I certified back in 1994. Made a couple of dives, got a promotion at work, and then couldn't get back to the water. Took a refresher around 1998 but time and money constraints kept me out of the sport. I decided to pick it up this year after becoming single again (psuedo-marriage). My motivation for getting back into it was that I have always wanted to dive wrecks, and I had the time and a few bucks to finish off that dream of mine. Hopefully I can make it stick this time. I also now have all my own gear which really helps. Renting gets expensive.
Wreckwench tossed some good points into the mix:
Do you feel you could just jump back in?
Not at all. Diving is a skill sport. Bad mistakes can kill. Jumping back in, unless you were a fairly proficient diver, could be lethal. There are rewards for being patient
Do you feel that so much has changed that you need to recertify?
To be honest, I need so many certifications to get where I am going, I never worried about it. I was far more interested in gaining skill, than gaining certifications. I wasn't all that impressed with my OW Cert class anyway so I don't feel I want to go that route again. I knew less than nothing when I took OW, so didn't know what I was missing.
Do you feel that its like riding a bike and you just need more practice?
Perhaps had I been a very skilled diver in the past I might feel this way again. From a physical skills perspective, I was clearly starting all over. From a knowledge and understanding of the sport, I felt like I had never been away. Having kept up with the sport and trends, I was able to jump back right back in WAY ahead of where I had stopped physically diving.
Oh, SCUBAHAWK... that was hilarious!
#10
Posted 08 December 2005 - 09:23 PM
One of our 'den mothers' at work has several hundred of my photos in a random pix screen saver, and I think it's suckered a couple of folks into going diving. Think 'subliminal advertising' for the dive industry...
#11
Posted 05 March 2006 - 06:34 PM
One of the great things about this sport is that you are almost never too old for it. I have found that each time I come back to diving I have a stronger desire to do it much better than when I left it. It's sort of like learning it all over again, but with the benefit of experience and wisdom. Often things I never thought much about the last round suddenly become obvious.
Coming back to the sport also makes the changes in equipment and dive practices more obvious. A lot of the equipment I got certified with in 1972 has now been banned.
My big question now is weather to get more into diving here in New Jersey. It's mostly about wrecks here, which are great. But, they are all in the 90-200ft range. The water is low 50 deg f. year round, (you have to dive dry), and most boat operators require extra 40cu. ft. pony tanks, lift bags and lines, lights, and emergency signal floats as standard safety gear. At some point it seems more like an ordeal than a sport dive. Everytime I start thinking about it, I end up going south with my skinsuit and sunblock instead.
Anyway, good to see you back.
BB
When you make fish laugh, they can't bite you.
#12
Posted 06 March 2006 - 12:45 AM
My big question now is weather to get more into diving here in New Jersey. It's mostly about wrecks here, which are great. But, they are all in the 90-200ft range. The water is low 50 deg f. year round, (you have to dive dry), and most boat operators require extra 40cu. ft. pony tanks, lift bags and lines, lights, and emergency signal floats as standard safety gear. At some point it seems more like an ordeal than a sport dive. Everytime I start thinking about it, I end up going south with my skinsuit and sunblock instead.
Anyway, good to see you back.
BB
I hear you on this stuff. Life isn't that much different in the Great Lakes. One operator that I like to use will check for an advanced card and read log books to verify recent cold water dives.
The gear that you mention is pretty much standard in cold water wreck diving. If it feels like an ordeal, then maybe you are the sane one by going South .
#13
Posted 06 March 2006 - 08:22 AM
I did this. I got certified as a marine biology undergrad and logged almost 200 dives between 74-77 with my initial Y/NAUI certification since I had a student job of retrieving box core samples as part of an offshore rig study being conducted by the university.Just wondering how many folks are like me--I orginally certed with PADI O/W back in (ick!) 1982 and after diving for about a year stopped doing so on a regular basis.
Personal matters then intervene, and I ended up moving away from the ocean, and ultimately, as a single parent working my way through grad school. No way did I have the money or time to dive during those years. Even when I did finally get out of school, I was so busy getting my career going (assistant professor in a university is a very time-consuming thing - 5 jobs for the price of one, and not very well-paid to boot) that I did not resume diving.
It wasn't till I dumped being a professor and went into the non-profit, then private sector that I had the money and time to dive again. It had been so long since my first certification, that I got recertified under PADI, and I have about 120 dives or so under that certification. Went ahead and did AOW and Nitrox certifications, too, all with my daughter and now fiance. I don't feel like I want any more training at this point, except maybe dry suit, as there are places that I would like to dive that would benefit from me having this training.
#14
Posted 03 July 2006 - 02:07 PM
Dave
#15
Posted 05 July 2006 - 08:19 AM
Turned 40, went with some friends to Plya del Carmen-did a refresher and back in the water I went. I was soon at Scubatoys spending lots of money on gear!! For those that have been diving with me now know of my obsession!!!!!!!!!
Great Topic!!
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