Congratulations on quite an accomplishment! I've been diving for 47 years and can't even come close to matching that... but then, I don't have enough fingers and toes to count that high anyway!
14,000 dives!!!
- Thread starter Fred R.
- Start date
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Cooooool !
1_T_Submariner
Contributor
Wow that is a huge amount of dives. Congrats.
Do you feel uncomfortable on land ?????
Do you feel uncomfortable on land ?????
OP
Fred R.
Contributor
Thank s to all of you for the kind words.
For those who are wondering Ill fill in a bit of info;
I started diving in the early eighties, 81 to be more precise. Sometime around 1986 I realized as many addicts before me have done, that the only way I was going to support my addiction was to start selling the product, so I opened my first dive operation. 1992 found me in the Bahamas with a license to do business and a work permit.
I dived hard in the early days of business. Some weeks I did 5 and 6 dives a day. I dived seven days a week, fifty weeks a year. When the weather kept the boat in the harbor, I dived inland. Grand Bahama has sixty miles of inland waterway, to say I have dived every inch of it is only a very slight exaggeration. When I had days of no customers, Id throw a couple of tanks in the car and drive around looking for water. My friends and I were into caverns and caves in those years, we found plenty. After trying all the known entrances, I would talk to the locals, they would point me to all sorts of holes.
Most years I did about 700 dives. Some years I got into the high 900s, but I havent broken the 1000 dives in a year mark, and I have no real interest in doing so any more.
I dont believe in burn out. Yes, some days I would rather sit on the couch and watch TV than go diving, but then I go diving and have a better time than if I hadnt. I study the ocean and its denizens. I practice my craft. I havent run out of subjects or interests. I love meeting, and hanging out with divers. Of course, you are not really hanging out with divers unless its a surface interval and someone is seasick, but that would start another thread. I do hope to have the chance to dive with all of you at some point, if I havent dived with you before, and by the way, Darnold9999, I think I did do a third dive on that tank, I had to take beginners around a piece of barrier reef.
The answer to how I got so many dives is pretty much the same answer the oldest man in the world gave when asked how he got so old. He said I didnt die. I keep diving. I wasnt that young when I started diving professionally, 26, I am 50 now. I was single most of my life, I got married two years ago November. Other than my closest family, pretty much everyone at my wedding was a scuba diver, half came in the week before and left after the wedding, half came for the wedding and stayed the week after. There was so much interest in diving, my bride-to-be tried to get me to take out the morning two dive trip on my wedding day, since the wedding wasnt until four.
Tonight I was out with some friends; I told one about today being my 14,000th. I said, Remember when we thought 5000 dives was a lot? He said, yeah, but that was so LONG ago!
I didnt mention on my original post; on the way back from the second dive, I saw what looked like a snorkeler about a mile from shore. There was some splashing going on, so I slowed down to make sure everything was okay. It turned out to be two loggerhead turtles attempting to mate. Well, one was attempting to mate, I am not really sure about the other one. I turned off the boat, my wife and dive master trainee put on their near empty tanks and headed over to get a picture. The turtles dived and continued the activity on the bottom. She may post the video. I almost killed myself laughing when I saw it. The male was too small for the female. When he lined up his mating parts, his flippers didnt reach over her shell to hold her and he kept sliding off. After bashing his face in the sand, he noticed the trainee and tried to mount him too funny!
For those who are wondering Ill fill in a bit of info;
I started diving in the early eighties, 81 to be more precise. Sometime around 1986 I realized as many addicts before me have done, that the only way I was going to support my addiction was to start selling the product, so I opened my first dive operation. 1992 found me in the Bahamas with a license to do business and a work permit.
I dived hard in the early days of business. Some weeks I did 5 and 6 dives a day. I dived seven days a week, fifty weeks a year. When the weather kept the boat in the harbor, I dived inland. Grand Bahama has sixty miles of inland waterway, to say I have dived every inch of it is only a very slight exaggeration. When I had days of no customers, Id throw a couple of tanks in the car and drive around looking for water. My friends and I were into caverns and caves in those years, we found plenty. After trying all the known entrances, I would talk to the locals, they would point me to all sorts of holes.
Most years I did about 700 dives. Some years I got into the high 900s, but I havent broken the 1000 dives in a year mark, and I have no real interest in doing so any more.
I dont believe in burn out. Yes, some days I would rather sit on the couch and watch TV than go diving, but then I go diving and have a better time than if I hadnt. I study the ocean and its denizens. I practice my craft. I havent run out of subjects or interests. I love meeting, and hanging out with divers. Of course, you are not really hanging out with divers unless its a surface interval and someone is seasick, but that would start another thread. I do hope to have the chance to dive with all of you at some point, if I havent dived with you before, and by the way, Darnold9999, I think I did do a third dive on that tank, I had to take beginners around a piece of barrier reef.
The answer to how I got so many dives is pretty much the same answer the oldest man in the world gave when asked how he got so old. He said I didnt die. I keep diving. I wasnt that young when I started diving professionally, 26, I am 50 now. I was single most of my life, I got married two years ago November. Other than my closest family, pretty much everyone at my wedding was a scuba diver, half came in the week before and left after the wedding, half came for the wedding and stayed the week after. There was so much interest in diving, my bride-to-be tried to get me to take out the morning two dive trip on my wedding day, since the wedding wasnt until four.
Tonight I was out with some friends; I told one about today being my 14,000th. I said, Remember when we thought 5000 dives was a lot? He said, yeah, but that was so LONG ago!
I didnt mention on my original post; on the way back from the second dive, I saw what looked like a snorkeler about a mile from shore. There was some splashing going on, so I slowed down to make sure everything was okay. It turned out to be two loggerhead turtles attempting to mate. Well, one was attempting to mate, I am not really sure about the other one. I turned off the boat, my wife and dive master trainee put on their near empty tanks and headed over to get a picture. The turtles dived and continued the activity on the bottom. She may post the video. I almost killed myself laughing when I saw it. The male was too small for the female. When he lined up his mating parts, his flippers didnt reach over her shell to hold her and he kept sliding off. After bashing his face in the sand, he noticed the trainee and tried to mount him too funny!
Blackwood
Contributor
No matter how you slice it, 14000 is a big number.
Here's to 14000 more.
<- well, close enough
Here's to 14000 more.
<- well, close enough
dive_lover88
Contributor
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wow congrats. Cool story too
diverrex
Contributor
Congratulations Fred. I've heard good things about you, and thought maybe I get to Grand Bahama and dive with you some day. After reading your posts now I definitely want to dive with you. I look forward to it!
Congratulations, Fred!
Way to go! 14K in dives! Jesus.....
Buoyant1
Contributor
Congrats! I'm right behind you with .....um...66 
(someone should link this thread everytime someone posts "should I log my dives"!)
(someone should link this thread everytime someone posts "should I log my dives"!)
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