Got certified today! And froze.

[Neilwood]

How can you forget about SB's classifieds! Oh, the humanity!

Oops - guess that comes from being over here on the other side of the water. Virtually nothing ever comes up for sale over here so I tend not to look.

 

[Marie13]

You're forgiven

 

[Doby45]

Prior to diving dry, when my buddy and I were diving at the quarry and it would be cold we would go into the shower house and turn the hot water on and funnel it down the front like @dumpsterDiver was talking about. Could easily get two 45min dives in a day at about 46* and in the 50s topside.. that was also with a 5mm suit. But gone are THOSE days!!

 

[Fin Finder]

It will get better.
Diving kills the part of your brain that senses cold.

 

[Chip Elliott]

Why..in Gawd's name is your shop doing cert dives in that water temp? We stop ALL O/W certification dives at 57 degrees...anything below that makes the student regret it. Not to mention the dexterity issues involved with a new frozen student trying to clear masks in hoods and 7mm gloves... it's just a recipe for a lost diver imo.

Diving is supposed to be FUN...freezing your azz off and regretting it is NOT how ya turn a new diver on and keep em in the sport....jmo.

Bubs

It was partly my fault. I have been in class early October, and I did NOT want to go over the winter with just the pool sessions because I knew I would basically just have to start all over again. We had everything set but then our instructor's Mom had a terrible medical emergency and in the middle of that his wife came home and told him they were through. It is sad because he is a really nice guy. So we kept getting delayed due to personal reasons so my LDS finally got another instructor to pick up where we left off and take us through the class again. He was very thorough and we learned a lot from him, but it took time to get us "ready" again. So I feel pretty confident that I got a good initial training, both instructors were firm but fair, both very professional and thorough. But I did NOT want to wait, nor did the other student. So we did it.

I've warmed up though.

 

[Chip Elliott]

Congratulations. I was surprised at less than 50F water temps. in CT until I noticed you were at a lake and not the Sound. I just dived today here in Nova Scotia with both air & water exactly 50. Was the 7 mil wetsuit you wore a farmer john? That's what I wear and usually can do 2 dives comfortably at 50 or a little less unless it's this time of year with usually much colder air. In winter I can go all winter doing just one dive in a day at our house on the ocean. If you stay wet, I advise using the "lobster claw" mitts instead of the 5 mil 5 fingered gloves. These keep hands amazingly warm -- even in temps. below 40... though the rest of you not so much. I spend 7 weeks in Westchester NY each summer and have dived pretty much all the places on the CT Sound shore. Pleasure Beach near New London and Hammonasset State Park are about the best of a poor lot. We usually do 2-3 months on the FL panhandle after Xmas, where I may wear the wetsuit, and odd time the shorty. Not many locals that time of year diving...."Too cold on the Tundra of Florida".

I was wondering if they made 20mil gloves!

 

[Chip Elliott]

It will get better.
Diving kills the part of your brain that senses cold.

HAHAHAHA Cold? What's that?

 

[Chip Elliott]

Diving Wet When It Is Cold - SCUBA KNOWTES
Congratulations!

Here are a few tips for your next dives.

Pete

Thank you Pete, a good article with pointers I can use.

 

[Lorenzoid]

I got certified to dive Great Lakes shipwrecks I've been reading about for something like 25 years, not to look at the fishies.

I can understand this now, but for a long time I had assumed you people up there did that kind of diving because it was convenient, not because you weren't interested in tropical reefs. When I was diving in North Carolina, a group of Canadians--a family, I think--were on the boat with me. I kind of figured they were in NC for some other reason than just a dive vacation, but nope, that's what brought them to NC--this was their vacation destination of choice. I asked, "You mean you don't want to take your dive vacation in the Caribbean?" "Nope," they replied. They said NC wreck diving is the kind of thing that appealed to them, and they had little interest in tropical reefs and boats full of goofy tropical resort divers. The teenager was wearing a drysuit, and this was in the warmer months. He said he always wears a drysuit. It kind of opened my eyes.

 

[Marie13]

I can understand this now, but for a long time I had assumed you people up there did that kind of diving because it was convenient, not because you weren't interested in tropical reefs. When I was diving in North Carolina, a group of Canadians--a family, I think--were on the boat with me. I kind of figured they were in NC for some other reason than just a dive vacation, but nope, that's what brought them to NC--this was their vacation destination of choice. I asked, "You mean you don't want to take your dive vacation in the Caribbean?" "Nope," they replied. They said NC wreck diving is the kind of thing that appealed to them, and they had little interest in tropical reefs and boats full of goofy tropical resort divers. The teenager was wearing a drysuit, and this was in the warmer months. He said he always wears a drysuit. It kind of opened my eyes.

You know they're hardcore if a teenager is wearing a drysuit!

I saw a sticker showing the Great Lakes that sums up my thinking perfectly: Unsalted and Shark-Free