Did you take a hiatus?

[Osvidar]

Thanks for routing me to this "club" after seeing my oldest diver post.

My hiatus was courtesy of an aversion to cold water and the USAF's tendency to put me inland.
I've corresponded with Sam Miller - he taught at my Instructor course in ~'71 - That was in Southern California toward the end of my hyper active stretch from '65 - '75.

Anyone out there marry a classmate or as in my case a student? I'm trying to get her back into SCUBA - she still loves to snorkel.

 

[drbill]

I've had breaks in my SCUBA diving in every decade but the current one. During most of those years I free dove instead of SCUBA. Having a real job was also a factor, but I've learned the folly of that and now that I'm a dive bum I foresee no real breaks until I hit the nursing home.

 

[garyfotodiver]

From 1976 to 1994 - no diving. Reason 1: most of my gear was stolen. Reason 2: My girlfriend/wife was (is) petrified of the idea that humans can survive underwater.

However, recently she said to me that she regrets not learning to swim and dive when we were younger.

 

[farsidefan1]

Haven't been since Roatan in May and it's KILLING ME. No trips planned till November - shoulder surgury cancelled my July Coz trip. I certified 2 1/2 yrs ago and haven't gone without more than 3 months till now (I only count ocean diving, if it's not tropical don't call me).

 

[WOODMAN]

I certified back in the mid 70's, (when NAUI classes resembled Navy Seal training...) but then basically quit, as diving in Minnesota really sucks. Then came wife, kid, career, etc., and 25 years sort of slipped by. The interesting thing is that my dear one is really an ocean gal, and periodically would comment on wishing she could visit the Great Barrier Reef sometime. In early 2001 she mentions it again, and I thought- why not? Daughter is off on her own now, and we sure are not getting any younger. So, I told her that if she could certify as a diver, I would take her down under. She grit her teeth, and went for it. She had a few issues with diving that needed to be worked through, but she did it, (I took a refresher alongside her, just for fun), and in late August of 2001 we flew to Australia. We did a tour with Mike Ball on the Spoilsport, and that was the gate opening in the dam. We try to go at least 2-3 times a year to somewhere warm and sunny, and have been on most of the liveaboards around the Bahamas. Our co-workers look at us as if I was Captain America and she was Wonder Woman, and say things like "you actually dive with SHARKS?" We try to educate where we can, and try to raise awareness of the plight of our oceans whenever the opportunity arises, but it's an uphill battle, as I am sure most of you know. But, we continue to fight the good fight, and will keep on diving untill, as the gun lobby says, they have to pry my cold, dead mouth off the regulator. Woody (and Judy)

 

[joystershell]

I was certified in 1974, in Massachusetts, at the tender age of 14. Not a lot of gear options for a young lady back in those days. Anyway, moves to New Jersey, Pennsylvania, St Louis, Texas, West Virginia and Pittsburgh left me high and dry, until I moved down to Florida in 1987.

The rest is history, I'm a Fish!!!

 

[drbill]

I've taken extended periods off since I started using SCUBA in 1961. Most of the time it was because I had a "real" job and didn't have the time to dive. However, I've dived in every decade and even when I wasn't doing down on SCUBA I was free diving.

 

[Paladin]

I learned to dive when I was eleven, 1965-66. Dived with a bunch of old ex-Navy divers until 1976, when the guy who taught me passed away and I lost access to his compressor. By that time, the rest of the guys had either died, quit diving or had moved away. I was high and dry until a dive shop opened up just a half dozen blocks from me. A written test and a quick checkout dive and I had my Basic Scuba Diver c-card. A year later, the shop folded from lack of local interest. By the late '80s, my BSD card was almost worthless because of changes in the certification merry-go-'round. In 1992, I finally went to an old friend who had a shop an hour's drive away and he gave me a quick check dive and gave me my OW card. A year later, my wife and I divorced, I got full custody of my son and daughter and, as a single parent, no longer had the time for diving. My last dive was in 1995. I stored my stuff in a closet and spent my efforts on trying to survive.

I remarried in '96 and in Sept. '98 my youngest son was born. Back in the Spring, my boys started expressing an interest in SCUBA, so I dug out the old gear and got it back in shape. To get myself back in the groove, I started diving in the rivers near my house and a couple of times at Summersville Lake and Twin Quarries. A couple of weeks ago, I helped my cousin bring his boat up off the bottom at Smith Mountain Lake in VA.

The vast majority of my dives have been in freshwater rivers and lakes not too far from home. I've done a few shore dives from beaches in NC and SC when on vacation, but have never been on a charter. I want to do that next summer but it will be uncharted territory for me. After years of solo diving using the bare minimum of gear, I'm having to play catch-up in order to put together the necessary gear for that endeavor. I'm not going all out and buying all the new bells and whistles, though. Just the minimum necessary to be allowed to dive from a charter boat.

 

[D_B]

I've had breaks in my SCUBA diving in every decade but the current one. During most of those years I free dove instead of SCUBA. Having a real job was also a factor, but I've learned the folly of that and now that I'm a dive bum I foresee no real breaks until I hit the nursing home.

I've taken extended periods off since I started using SCUBA in 1961. Most of the time it was because I had a "real" job and didn't have the time to dive. However, I've dived in every decade and even when I wasn't doing down on SCUBA I was free diving.

two posts the same ... DrBill fits right in here! ... not that I dont ;-)


Sorry, had to do it

 

[AfterDark]

I slacked off in the early 90's after my last dive buddy moved away, I had personal issues that took up my spare time and one day I realized I hadn't been diving in a long time and just thought "well I'll get back to it soon". Our kids sent us to Aruba on our 25th anniversary in 1995. I packed up my reg and BC went to Aruba and dove my ass off. This year I decided that it was time to get back into the ocean. I got my gear together and serviced and was going to do my "1st" the following weekend. During that week I tore my rotator cuff in the gym so now I'm waiting for the spring. The doc says by then I should be ready to resume diving. I'm going to FL next month, I can't believe I'll be there and not dive!:depressed: