Anyone still have fun diving?

[MXGratefulDiver]

On Saturday the crabbing season opened. We got up at 4 AM and pulled into the entrance to Kayak Point State Park at 6:15 ... 45 minutes before they opened the gates. The line was about 1/4 mile long to get in. By 8 AM we were in the water, surrounded by about 200 boats and well over a thousand crab pots. Vis was about 6 feet, and the Tulalip tribe had pretty well wiped out the crab population before the season opened. We managed a 60-minute dive and bagged just two crabs each.

It was great!

Sunday we did a three-tank dive in the San Juan Islands. Again we were up at 4:30 and on the road by 5:30 for an 8 o'clock departure. As we approached Anacortes the fog settled in, and our much-anticipated dive sites had to be scrubbed for something safer and closer to shore. One of those was OK, but the other two were real disappointments. On our second dive the current took us away from the dive site and across a shallow-silty bottom. In a 58 minute dive about all we saw were a couple of dead crabs ... and I suspect they died of boredom.

We had an awesome time!

Yesterday we were up at 4:30 again ... this time hoping to catch the 6:30 ferry to Whidbey Island for a day at Keystone Jetty. Arriving at the ferry terminal at 6:03 we watched the 6 AM ferry pulling out as the lady at the toll gate informed us that there was only one ferry running, and that we'd be on the 7 AM departure. As we pulled into line, the mandatory July 4th rain storm started spattering the windshield. Despite predictions for perfect weather we watched in dismay as the sky grew darker and the rainfall intensified. Mother Nature even provided some natural fireworks to celebrate the day. Fortunately by the time we got to the park, dressed, and were making our way down to the water the sun broke through the clouds and it turned into a beautiful day. Our foursome were the only divers at one of the most popular dive sites in Puget Sound ... for the entire day!

It was unforgettable!

There's probably been some dives when I didn't have fun ... but at the moment I can't recall when ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[Melicertes]

Just the smell of neoprene gets me excited. :sappy:

Yeah, isn't it just awesome how you can tell that someone's probably a diver by the way their car smells?

 

[limeyx]

I admit I'm new here. Since joining a couple weeks ago, I have found a ton of fabulous information, insights and other things to improve my diving ability, all of which help feed this new addiction. However, one thing I find glaringly missing on these boards is anyone, except for a few newbies, expressing any shear joy about a dive. Oh, there are 1200 posts about wheather or not to tip, wear your mask on your head, perform the Warhammer, or if your LDS should be in business. There are numerous threads about bouyancy control, SAC rates, and whether you should dive tech/DIR/rec. We are all full of questions about if everything we do at every step of a dive is "correct" (an impossibility given the number of opinions about what "correct" is). But rarely do I see a post from anyone just letting everyone know about a great dive. Have divers become so complacent about what we do that the joy of being underwater is gone?

That's a really good point. I have fun every single time I dive.
I usually catalog my experiences elsewhere though

 

[limeyx]

by the way, i was thinking all the tough hard *** serious people around here still strap on all their super high tech gear and equipment just to go under water just to

LOOK AT ALL THE PRETTY LITTLE FISHYS AND CORALS. HOW CUTE.
...

true, but looking at the pretty fishies (which I love to do) is (relatively) easy.
The gear etc. is to make sure you can come back safely and discuss it!

 

[TSandM]

You know, I was reading this thread and smiling, and thinking about the dives I've done (which aren't that many yet). There've been a few that couldn't be characterized as a great deal of fun, but most of those were in the very beginning, when I was so BAD at it that the dives were frustrating or even scary. Since I got past that, there have only been a handful that have been disappointing, in terms of not living up to what I hoped from the dive. But some of those have been absolutely awesome . . . Not for what we saw, but for who I was with, and how much I enjoyed diving with that person. Even when the sea withholds its bounty, you get to share the experience of looking for it, and wonder of getting to be there at all.

When I audited Peter's Essentials class, Joe Talavera was talking about the pillars of diving, and the last one was Community. He pointed at me and dherbman, and said, "You two -- you went diving together today, right? And you're still together? How much of the day were you actually DIVING?" And he had a great point. Diving brings people together to share the experience of lugging gear, getting dressed, getting into the water, spending a little time UNDER the water, and then spending a lot of time putting everything away and going and getting something to eat and/or drink and TALKING about what you just did. It's a great sport!

 

[merxlin]

I've read through all the great responses and think some may have misunderstood my question. I was at no time voicing that I wasn't having fun. Far from it! I am addicted. The wife's only glad that it isn't another Harley. Even though she doesn't dive or snorkel (and gets horribly sea sick despite every remedy known to man) she is going to Little Cayman with me in August. I was just missing dive reports (in riding we call it "bench racing") and the like where people expressed the joy. I think I get it now, but hope some of you have rediscovered the fun of reliving some of your dives. Here is a perfect example from NWG!

>>>On our second dive the current took us away from the dive site and across a shallow-silty bottom. In a 58 minute dive about all we saw were a couple of dead crabs ... and I suspect they died of boredom.

We had an awesome time!<<<<


Thanks again to all and I look forward to being part of the community here for some time. Now I need to go practice my buoyancy control.......

 

[nyprrthd]

Thanks again to all and I look forward to being part of the community here for some time. Now I need to go practice my buoyancy control.......

Just make sure you don't do it while you're on your Harley!

 

[merxlin]

Just make sure you don't do it while you're on your Harley!

:lol: That there is a d@mn fine tip! Noted! And besides, HD is definately not DIR.

 

[Gatistrufi]

Its true, no dives ever bad, cos either way you learn from it. Just the other day i took 2 AOWD on a boat dive, our pick up arrived 3mins late, drove 13km/hr on the motorway... clients starting to freak out a bit by then, got taken to the wrong center, missed our boat... got taken to the dive site in another boattold to make a short dive and to surface to the other boat... ofcourse clients were happy in the end to be in the water, after changing tanks 3 times,and reminding the skipper for spare tanks and weights... 2 tanks at 150bar, so well as you imagine we were all a bit stressed out. Got into the water, thought how cool it was gonna be, got to 12m where an opening starts for like a big cave, viz was ok, we go in go look at the wall, check the madona statue at the botm, took some pics of the clients there, was good to see some smiles! Slowly we made our way to the top of the cave into one of the iar pockets, a bit weird going up, my torch died out... as the torches for the clients were on the other boat... so at 4m depth, its suddenly thw fresh water layer, wow, big temp diference, but stil we have a laugh in the air pocket some more photos, and it was awesome floating down and off out into the blue again... All the other clients on the boat were a teeny weeny bit annoyed with us, met a strange guy who thought women arent good enough to dive... guess there will always be some, in the end did one of my best briefings and dives after, feels kind nice to show that women can dive, and we do know what we speak about:blinking:
The 2nd dive, we well worth it, nice dive at the point of an island, stayed around 17m, saw tons of octopus, some pretty big ones, the return was funny on the corner where the boat was anchored it was teeming with damselfish,was so fun, and then just to top it off, around 100 mediteranian baracudas at 6m depth, so you can imagine 3 different dive centers, all of us wanted to stay down.. wed been told to surface by 1pm, a 40min dive,nah, so we made 2 "safety stops" so that we werer the last up, it was amazing jsut flaoting in the blue surrounded by baracudas...

 

[BurBunny]

However, one thing I find glaringly missing on these boards is anyone, except for a few newbies, expressing any shear joy about a dive. ... But rarely do I see a post from anyone just letting everyone know about a great dive. Have divers become so complacent about what we do that the joy of being underwater is gone?

We definitely love to dive. And express the sheer exhileration frequently. But I think the grumbling and bickering you see here is due to the frustration because when we're here, we're not diving! We're too far removed from our last nitrogen fix. Catch us immediately post dive and you'll see a far different animal.