Excited about starting classes

[tyki]

Hi Gang,

I've been reading the board for a couple of days and about to be overwhelmed with the wealth of information and knowledge I have found.

My husband and I decided that our anniversary gift to each other this year (25 years) was to look into scuba classes. The kids are finally grown up and its our turn to play. We have been going to the indoor pool every day for the last week and a half to build up our stamina and break loose from being couch potatoes. Ohio water isn't very condusive to outdoor swimming at the moment. This Friday marks the beginning of our Open Water Certification course.

We have been devouring the book and tapes and are eager to get in the water. We are signed up for an intensive weekend certification course. Will accomplish everything except the OW dives this weekend. Then when we go down to Ft Lauderdale for a family wedding at the end of March we plan to get our Open Water dives completed.

The more we read and see the more excited we get.

Looking forward to getting to know all of you better over time.

tyki

 

[ericfine50]

Welcome. As you will soon see, diving is great.

Have fun,

Eric

 

[AllenP]

Welcome! As you know, this is a great site. I checked out your home page, and especially liked "Our Newest Hobby Adventure". I couldn't get the Scuba links to work, though.

We are about the same age and I only began diving last year. I am sure you will have no problems. Be sure to check out some of the threads in the new to diving section. There are some great tips on mask clearing, etc. The key to success in your training, IMHO, is to relax. Everything is much easier if you stay calm and take your time. I can't imagine doing OW in one weekend! My class was 7pm to 10:30pm and ran for 9 weeks! But it sounds like you are preparing ahead of time. You might want to ask you instructor what you might do to prepare, also.

Here is a link you might like: http://www.subaquatics.com/ohiodiver/sites.html

You are close to some good sites in Ohio. Cold though, in the summer about 50 degrees F at 50 feet.

You might want to check out Portage (Bowling Green), Gilboa (west of Findlay) and maybe Plum Run (between Jackson and Cincinatti) or Circleville. I've never been to Circleville.

Diving the quarries is fun, cheap, cold (did I already say cold? ) and a good way to gain experience for those trips you are planning.

 

[tyki]

Thanks for the encouragement AllenP. We have gone through the book work in advance, as well as the videos. We start Friday night, getting paperwork done, and I assume written tests. Then Saturday morning bright and early we show up with mask, fins, and snorkel and hit the pool for a full day (gotta check the calendar but I think it is 8 AM till 10 pm with a lunch and dinner break thrown in), then do it again on Sunday. That will complete the pool work and the academics. Then we need the Open Water dives which we will do by referral when we go to Florida at the end of March. We were told we needed to go through the entire book prior to the class, it is being run as an Executive Training session, compressing a 6-8 class session course into the weekend.

Thanks for the comments on the web page. I need to work on it a bit more, what is there so far is what I threw together yesterday, guess I should disable the Scuba links till I have surfed and found some to put in there. It's definitely a work in progress, but not bad so far for an hour's worth of effort.

tyki
ready to get wet

 

[Mario S Caner]

Hello there tyki, welcome to the boards. You and your S/O have made an excellent choice in deciding to get certified, so congradulations!

 

[Tom]

My wife and I did the same thing for our 20th about a year and a half ago. We love it. We've decided, no more birthday presents. No more Christmas presents. Whatever we would normally spend goes towards dive trips.

Well, I did get her a new mouthpiece for Valentines Day.

Tom

 

[Dee]

I love to see such enthusiasm in new students! The weekend classes are very intense. Be sure to let your instructor know, immediately, if you're uncomfortable at any point in your training. I've seen students hesitate to say anything because they didn't want to hold up the class. That's what the instructor and divemaster are there for.

You're gonna love it. My husband and I started diving during our just after our 24th anniversary. You wouldn't believe how much closer you'll get!

And we're like Tom and his wife...no more presents unless they're dive related, just dive gear and trips!

 

[DiverInAk]

What a great way to celebrate your 25th! My wife and I have been trying to figure out where to go (diving) for our 20th this year.

Make sure you have a diveskin or 3mm suit or something. Even in an indoor heated pool, you can get chilled after several hours.

Have a great time!

 

[kyleterry]

Congratulations!

you will love diving. The quarries are not bad, and they are great for working on your skills.

I am in Columbus. Who are you getting certified through?

 

[tyki]

Class starts tonight at the Miami Valley Dive School, it's a PADI shop near us. We will get the academics and pool sessions this weekend.

Our next step is to find a Dive Shop in Ft Lauderdale/West Palm Beach area to do our OW dives with to complete the certification via referral. We hope to get the referral O/W dives done when we go down at the end of March for brother-in-law's wedding.

We fly down on 29 March, the wedding is on 31 March and we aren't flying home until 4 April, so hoping to get the dives in Sunday,or Monday, with Tuesday as a possible alternate. That way we should be ready to fly home on Wednesday.

tyki