40 Years Certified This May - Jumping In Again

[BubbleGator]

Hey Y'all. I had a fantastic NAUI course in 1976, and dove occasionally at resorts. I dove the shallow sculpture garden at Isla Mujueres last summer, and got the bug again when I took a refresher course to do it.

Plus, the SCUBA Gods want me to dive. I was driving to work and saw a tank and harness on the street on trash day. It was an old steel 72 Nemrod/Seamless tank, made about when I was getting my cert, and I saved its poor self from death by scrap. I am getting it a hydro and visual - and maybe a tumble, although it looks clean, as I just got Nitrox certified I want to use it and get it O2 okey-doke. Part of that is sentimental, part of that is I do not look to do much deep diving, and I think most of what my old bones will be doing can usually be done in 71 cf of air.

I have been lurking and learning from y'all, and enjoying the chatter. I will be the old guy with the new gear and old tank. : )

 

[Ting Tong]

Welcome

I am glad the bug bit again so to speak. So I guess things have changed since 1976.

 

[tkaelin]

Welcome back. Happy diving. My cert in 78 YMCA. Diving stronger than ever!

 

[BubbleGator]

I have a double cert as well. The Gainesville Dive Shop owners were both YMCA and NAUI certified. NAUI gave me a card in 76, but not the YMCA folks, if I recall. I might have my old YMCA paper certificate somewhere. I don't think they can be verified by the YMCA anymore - that a geezer took a course when Carter was President. lol Fortunately, NAUI looked up my info and cut me a replacement card...and strongly suggested I take a course again. Of course, they were absolutely right. I'm sure every dive organization agrees that an old cert does NOT equal 'right to jump back in the water', nothing has changed, like riding a bicycle.

 

[Dive Right In Scuba 2]

Welcome to SB and back to diving!

 

[BubbleGator]

Welcome

I am glad the bug bit again so to speak. So I guess things have changed since 1976.

Oh, just my no longer sinking like a rock when I hit the water due to me being low body fat and high muscle mass.

....and every dang thing else you could imagine. Oh. And diving at 50 feet with 38% oxygen will be different. That will make the tequila the night before feel as if it never occurred. Right.......I mean, right???

 

[USdiver1]

Welcome to SB and back to the tribe of active divers. I was certified by PADI in 1977, and have been diving ever since. You'll find that most equipment used today is very similar in nature to the equipment you had back in 1976, with a few exceptions: BCs are no longer of the horse collar variety, most second stages are plastic, as are fins, computers have replaced analog gauges in many instances and gear comes in more colors (although thankfully not as many colors as in the 1980s). Besides that, there has been a lot of degradation in coral reefs, the oceans are much more polluted and lion fish have taken over the Caribbean. Such is life.

 

[iamrushman]

howdy and welcome from south Florida....it's great that us old bold divers are still blowing bubbles...