(Go ahead with the obligatory Muff/Dumpster cracks and get them out of your system)
I was needing another bag to pack my cold weather gear for hunting, and in one of my sea bags I dumped out all my collected SCUBA gear.
I started diving in '95 while in Minnesota so I could have an excuse to travel to someplace warmer to escape the winter, but I haven't been diving since '97-'98.
I'm kicking around the idea of getting back into the sport and was wondering if anyone else on the board dives...
I do
Actually if I could figure out a way of making a living by diving I would drop my current job in a heartbeat. I've been diving for over 10 years now.
One of the nicest and easiest diving location in the world I know of is Key Largo Florida. I think it's ideal for getting (back) into SCUBA, and it's one of the few diving destinations you can take non-diving family members with you.
I read somewhere that there's an old flooded ICBM silo in Texas that you can SCUBA dive in. That must be one of the weirdest diving sites in the world.
you guys should check out the research diver program at the old Aquarena Springs...this lake is absolutely gorgeous...
http://users2.ev1.net/~bob1957/AQUAR...%20Springs.htm
We used to sneak in there from the ice plant when I was in college and it was still Aquarena Springs...we were the reason for the city ordinance they passed about not being able to swim within 100' of the glass bottom boats...we woulld snorkel in there...then swim up under the glass bottom boats and moon them...
Last edited by CosmicCowboy; 12-08-2004 at 06:09 PM.
AggieHoopsFan is....I don't know that he visits the Club much, though...
SW knows I'm a diver. She's sticks to snorkeling.
Yum-Yum HAIR PIE!!!!!!!SW knows I'm a diver. She's sticks to snorkeling
Any Divers On The Board? Isn't it to cold to be divin' in???
Last edited by rl64tx; 12-08-2004 at 06:57 PM.
wet suits
unless water temps are in the 80s/90s ya need to wear one anyway to keep from getting hypothermia...its amazing how cold you can get in 70 degree water on a 45 minute dive without one...
oh yeah...I still have my card but haven't dived in a long time...
Oh yes.
Props to Spurswoman for remembering that. Yep, I'm a PADI Assistant Instructor (too broke to do the instructor cert.), got about 550 logged dives, have assisted in the certification of 502 divers to date, also do underwater photography.
The missile silo is one of those dives you do to say you've done it. It can also be very tricky and very dangerous. You're diving in a perfect cylinder and it's very easy to get disoriented in either direction (horizontal or vertical). Plus, the water's about 55 degrees so it's damn cold to begin with. It's alright, I've done it once but I doubt I'd make the drive to do it again (long drive to BFE). Save your money and go someplace warm
Aquarina's sweet, and if you are going to be in the central Texas region it's probably one of the best diving values you can find. The only trick is the certification course, which requires you to pass some pretty stout buoyancy tests including:
- swimming under a PVC pipe grid about two feet off the bottom, without touching the bottom
- swimming through an obstacle course of rings at different depths (can't touch the rings)
- picking up an object that weights probably 20 lbs. and moving it from one place to another while maintaining proper buoyancy
It's also a little tricky because the water is "fresh", but contains a lot of dissolved minerals, so the buoyancy factor is somewhere between freshwater and sal er (tricky to get your weighting right which is absolutely essential for the buoyancy tests).
If you want to get back into diving after being out for a while, I'd recommend taking a refresher course to brush up on your skills (plus some things have changed since '98) before venturing back out anywhere.
Good cheap "close" trips would be Cozumel or Cancun (with the added benefit of lots to do on land as well).
The last three straight years me and some friends from A&M have gone to the Bahamas in May on a liveboard (www.blackbeard-cruises.com), get a lot of diving in during a week, looks like it's going to be Mexico in May this year though.
I've made it to Dive Master under PADI + a few speciality course from IANTD for advanced Enriched Air... and then found I have no special interest in becoming an instructor so now I just do the refresher courses every two years to maintain my rescue diver status.
My financial black hole is underwater video, spend much more on it than I dare to admit to my wife.
Do you have pictures somewhere on the net that we can see them? I've often said I'm going to post a few of my movies on-line but never did it - maybe this thread will provide for the motivation.
I figured as much, still pretty unique dive site!The missile silo is one of those dives you do to say you've done it. It can also be very tricky and very dangerous. You're diving in a perfect cylinder and it's very easy to get disoriented in either direction (horizontal or vertical). Plus, the water's about 55 degrees so it's damn cold to begin with. It's alright, I've done it once but I doubt I'd make the drive to do it again (long drive to BFE). Save your money and go someplace warm
AHF
You might also want to consider Bonaire instead of Mexico. I made that trip back in '95 and it has to be one of the best dive sites on the planet.
I'm still kicking around the idea of getting back into it, but since I'm a gadget nut, I'd be afraid of all the new "gee whiz" stuff I'd just have to get. When I was into it, Suunto was just coming out with the wireless rig that fits into your spare HP port and transmits to a wrist computer. I can only imagine what they've come up with now.
, I have enough bow hunting crap right now to fill a tackle box that I don't need 3/4 of.
I did read an article a few years back about diving the Andrea Doria and how that is the equivalent of climbing Everest. That would be an interesting dive to make (after a few years of practice).
What muff?
Oh yes.
Why do women like divers?
They go down often and stay down longer
Why do women like divers?
They go down often and stay down longer
Who could possibly find fault with someone like that?
:pWho could possibly find fault with someone like that?
Why do men like women divers?Why do women like divers?
They go down often and stay down longer
Because they go down often and stay down longer and are used to swallowing a little salt during a dive.
I'll give it to you 1369, you saw it coming.
Isn't that what this thread was about? Oh!
See if you can get to this
http://www.scubaboard.com/gallery/sh...00/ppuser/6746
That's my photo gallery on Scubaboard.com. UW Photography is my black hole financially... no wife though to get pissed about it
The Andrea's an awesome dive but you really need to be up on your diving skills for that one, they've had a few folks get killed down there and the currents are a nightmare.
This is probably my favorite photo right now...
But I've started doing a lot of black and white...
Great pics.
Where'd you dive the Corsair?
Thanks!
Corsair's off the southeast shore of Oahu, about a mile from Diamondhead.
AHF
Excellent pictures! I like both the colour and BW ones! But you can find tons of pretty colour pics, B&W somehow focuses more on the subject and have more character. The sunken Corsair with the two divers disappearing in a cloud of fish is just awesome!
Has any of your pics been published? Do you participate in compe ions/festivals?
Thanks Slomo! I don't know what it is about the black and white ones, they seem to capture the mood and spirit of the object better than color pics.
Haven't really done any contests or anything, submitted a couple to the UN photo contest just for the of it (a girl I was dating at the time twisted my arm, and the winner does get 30 grand), doubt I'll win though, there's pros out there who shoot photos for a living that trump anything I could do.
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