14 replies to this topic

[Latitude Adjustment]

Took a 15 year break when my ex and I bought a farm, it's hard to find a goat sitter so you can go diving!
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.

[ScubaHawk]

Took a 15 year break when my ex and I bought a farm . . .

Just thinking - if my ex would have "bought the farm" I could afford to do a lot more diving now.

[Walter]

When I was married, I almost stopped diving, only making 57 dives in 6 ½ years. At one point, I didn't dive at all for 1 ½ years. Prior to the break I had 891 dives under my belt. My first dive after the break was on the wreck of the Duane. I felt like I'd never been away. I didn't need motivation to get back to diving, I only needed the time. The entire time, I wanted to dive, but my family needed me to be there. Family comes first.

[WreckWench]

WOW! Great question. I guess I can't imagine how life er... I mean goats, chickens and horses can keep you from the water...but then I've never owned all those critters either!

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!

[MNJoe]

I was certified in 1987, logged 1 dive and that was it. It wasn't that I didn't want to dive, I didn't have the money and I also worked nights and weekends, which made it hard to get out with my LDS. Now I can afford to do some diving and am kicking myself for taking so long to do it.

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

[jextract]

Now I have ongoing training, a raft of various C-Cards making an impressive lump in my wallet ...

You forgot the rest of that sentence, "... where the cash used to be."

[peterbj7]

Interesting thread. PADI talk a lot about the sorts of people who dive, and how they spend their time and money. Pointing out that these days time is a much bogger constraint than money, and people have to be fed a continuous "buzz" to keep them interested in the sport. Obviously inclination is only one aspect - there's money of course, but also logistics, friends to do it with etc.

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.

[PerroneFord]

Wow,

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!

[Desert_Diver]

One of the guys I work with has a 3-digit PADI number (I'm guessing early-70s?). After seeing all of the photos from my trips, he finally decided to take a cruise with his wife this year. Even though I warned him that NOBODY would let him off the boat with only 8 dives in 30 years, he thought I was joking or insane. In (Belize?) he finally got a chance to dive, after a 4 hour refresher with one of the local instructors, but they still treated him like he had a resort cert, and he was a little distressed that a C-card isn't *forever*. I'm pretty sure the DM was watching him like a hawk the whole dive. Thankfully someone had some sense, as they were still using twin-hose regs when he last dove.

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...

[BubbleBoy]

I think a lot of divers have the on/off experience you have had. I was NAUI certified in 1972 and have been diving on and off for about 15 out of the 35 years since.

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

[Diverbrian]

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 .

[mantarraya]

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.

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.

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.

[tracker]

Certed in 1981, NAUI. All diving in Philippines the seven times in eight months the ship (Navy) pulled in. I joined SB and learned that things had changed in the last 25 years. Got re-certed this year, PADI. I remembered everything I learned 25 years ago, but, it was well worth the re-training as things have changed concerning safety, and of course, the equipment is a little different. I was suprised at how awkward I was this time around, but then again, it's been 25 years, and I never used a wetsuit before. I am hooked all over again and will always find time to dive. I have enough dives now that I am very at home under water. Dive safe.

Dave

[dustbowl diver]

Yup-got certified while in college. Did a few dives in some lakes-loaned my brother my basic gear so he could get his C-card. In the meantime-the lowing paying job followed by the the flood of bills from college, it became cheaper to play softball!!

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!!