Togalive
Contributor
Great news, I AM CERTIFIED! As is my father! 
Our final day of OW certification (Second day of OW diving, knocked out most everything on our first) consisted of about 15 minutes of coursework, and then our instructor took us on a great 45 minute dive that included a swim through the huge rubber "curtain" that is at Whiskeytown Lake, which is really awesome to see underwater! After a surface interval filling out all our C-Card paperwork, my father and I suited back up, eager to go on our first "solo" dive, deciding I would lead the dives since I tend to be a bit calmer and more comfortable in the environment. We began with a surface swim (a pretty long one at that) to a point that our instructor had suggested to us, but upon descending to about 15' in a nearby cove with plans of swimming to the point in question, my dad had some problems getting his buoyancy right, and as a result accidentally kicked up a lot of the sandy bottom. When visibility got to where I couldn't see the fins on my feet below me, I gave him the "Going Up" signal, and canceled that dive. So, we took the surface swim back to where we started and I took my dad on a dive to the same place we had been training at so he could work some more on his buoyancy, but it was still GREAT! While he did fin tips on the bottom, I had a whole posse of fairly large small-mouth bass which were extremely curious as to just what I was. Once the dad was good to go, we went around a bit in about 25 feet of water, and eventually I wanted to at least hit that 33ft mark, so we continued along the contour of the lake until we actually came across a sunken rowboat! The visibility was pretty poor for the lake, and the water was cold, so we had no desire to investigate the barely visible bow of the boat that was pointing up through the murk, and had no desire to potentially get snagged on it on our first dive. So, we steered right a bit, and continued to follow the contour until eventually we hit the 35 foot mark and when I checked my dad's air, he was at 1,000 psi, so I signaled for us to turn around and follow the contour directly towards shore. Surprisingly, we ended up directly on top of the very spot we had started from, so I was proud of that Also, my depth gauge (rental gear) didn't work, so we had devised a pretty good hand signal system of my asking for depth from my father, and also signaling back to him how far we would descend to. In the end, after 45 minutes of bottom time, we both surfaced with smiles on our faces! He had about 700 psi in his tank, I had 2000 in mine (both down from 3,000 psi), but it was an excellent first official open water dive
My next goal, perfecting my hovering I got it most of the way during our pool dives, but I would like to really be able to be completely "weightless" and stationary in the water column. When at depth im not using any air in my BC, just my lungs, to control my up and down movements, but I would like to get that same effect when in midwater. Once i've got that down, and a few more dives under the belt, I'm looking to get AOW certified, and then perhaps Deep Diver, who knows!
Also, If anyone is in the Redding, CA area and is looking to get certified or pursue more advanced classes, I firmly believe I had the best instructor I could have had. Doug from Howell's Dive Shop was patient enough to allow my father to take a break when he got worked up over not being able to clear his mask, and had an enthusiasm for the sport, and the opportunities it can provide you with, that really was inspiring to a young diver such as myself! He told us stories from his ventures all around the world as a diver, taught us how to take our first breathes in a completely foreign environment, and took us through the first steps of what is sure to be a lifelong adventure for both my father and myself! If your reading this Doug, It was an honor being your student
Anyways, I will make sure to post up plenty of photos over my next dives, but until then....
Happy diving!
Toga (Happily PADI Certified Open Water Diver)
"If a journey of a thousand miles starts with a single step, mine started with a C-Card"
Our final day of OW certification (Second day of OW diving, knocked out most everything on our first) consisted of about 15 minutes of coursework, and then our instructor took us on a great 45 minute dive that included a swim through the huge rubber "curtain" that is at Whiskeytown Lake, which is really awesome to see underwater! After a surface interval filling out all our C-Card paperwork, my father and I suited back up, eager to go on our first "solo" dive, deciding I would lead the dives since I tend to be a bit calmer and more comfortable in the environment. We began with a surface swim (a pretty long one at that) to a point that our instructor had suggested to us, but upon descending to about 15' in a nearby cove with plans of swimming to the point in question, my dad had some problems getting his buoyancy right, and as a result accidentally kicked up a lot of the sandy bottom. When visibility got to where I couldn't see the fins on my feet below me, I gave him the "Going Up" signal, and canceled that dive. So, we took the surface swim back to where we started and I took my dad on a dive to the same place we had been training at so he could work some more on his buoyancy, but it was still GREAT! While he did fin tips on the bottom, I had a whole posse of fairly large small-mouth bass which were extremely curious as to just what I was. Once the dad was good to go, we went around a bit in about 25 feet of water, and eventually I wanted to at least hit that 33ft mark, so we continued along the contour of the lake until we actually came across a sunken rowboat! The visibility was pretty poor for the lake, and the water was cold, so we had no desire to investigate the barely visible bow of the boat that was pointing up through the murk, and had no desire to potentially get snagged on it on our first dive. So, we steered right a bit, and continued to follow the contour until eventually we hit the 35 foot mark and when I checked my dad's air, he was at 1,000 psi, so I signaled for us to turn around and follow the contour directly towards shore. Surprisingly, we ended up directly on top of the very spot we had started from, so I was proud of that
Also, my depth gauge (rental gear) didn't work, so we had devised a pretty good hand signal system of my asking for depth from my father, and also signaling back to him how far we would descend to. In the end, after 45 minutes of bottom time, we both surfaced with smiles on our faces! He had about 700 psi in his tank, I had 2000 in mine (both down from 3,000 psi), but it was an excellent first official open water dive My next goal, perfecting my hovering
I got it most of the way during our pool dives, but I would like to really be able to be completely "weightless" and stationary in the water column. When at depth im not using any air in my BC, just my lungs, to control my up and down movements, but I would like to get that same effect when in midwater. Once i've got that down, and a few more dives under the belt, I'm looking to get AOW certified, and then perhaps Deep Diver, who knows! Also, If anyone is in the Redding, CA area and is looking to get certified or pursue more advanced classes, I firmly believe I had the best instructor I could have had. Doug from Howell's Dive Shop was patient enough to allow my father to take a break when he got worked up over not being able to clear his mask, and had an enthusiasm for the sport, and the opportunities it can provide you with, that really was inspiring to a young diver such as myself! He told us stories from his ventures all around the world as a diver, taught us how to take our first breathes in a completely foreign environment, and took us through the first steps of what is sure to be a lifelong adventure for both my father and myself! If your reading this Doug, It was an honor being your student
Anyways, I will make sure to post up plenty of photos over my next dives, but until then....
Happy diving!
Toga (Happily PADI Certified Open Water Diver)
"If a journey of a thousand miles starts with a single step, mine started with a C-Card"
