flybigjet
Contributor
Well, er.... hi?
Long time diver; just found this site upon recommendation of a dive mate on a recent trip.
I had no idea Scubaboard even existed. Go figure.
The (relatively) short bio--
Certified Open Water during college in the late '80's, with a lesson learned that Puget Sound is coldcoldCOLD, regardless of how much neoprene you wear. Dove for the past thirty years between trips, jobs and wars-- mostly warm water, with the (very) occasional foray into "Frell! It's cold!-- I'm an idiot for doing this!" Accumulated Advanced somewhere along the line in the '90's. Rescue was a reasonable next step a few years later. Gradually worked through various certs (Wreck, Deep, Search & Recovery, Boat, Nitrox) and finally got my Master rating about ten years ago. I really enjoy the more technical aspects of diving and would love to do some tec/mixed gas/rebreather/extended range, but since I would have no hope of staying proficient considering what I do and where I live, it would be a little too good of a way to borrow trouble I don't need. The wife would be *pissed* if I got myself killed being stupid while diving.
What else? I drive jets professionally for a living and spent 26 fun-filled years in the Air Force & Air Force Reserve driving Really Big Toys (retired now). The downside was that they threw more than a few wars and invited me, but the upside was that I got to occasionally dive in some truly unusual places that most people in the States will never get to.
I joined the forum as my wife and I are planning a Palau/Truk trip in January '17 (I like the wrecks and WWII history, she likes the coral and the fish). Reservation's have been made on the Odyssey, but I haven't quite figured out the exact logistics of getting there and what to do/where to stay/etc. in Palau. On the plus side, I have about a year to plan and get my act together. I've wanted to go for about 25 years (kind of a student of military history), but every time I would get serious, my dive partners tended to get married, lose their job or get their wives pregnant. Since I'm not getting any younger, my wife gave permission for me to plan the tip in celebration of my 50th birthday.
Yay, me.
Additionally, my wife's been out of the diving game for a fair while; I'm going to lug her down to Roatan again this summer to get her spun up for her Advanced and Nitrox and get her buoyancy and fin control up to speed. The grand plan was to bring her down this winter-- that part happened, but she's super-athlete girl and broke her damn fool ankle a month before we were supposed to go and had to have global reconstructive ankle surgery. A cast is not conducive to diving, but she sat on the boat and was a pretty good case study proving that being healthy and athletic will get you into trouble!
So, I'll be moseying around the site looking for dive gear (for her) and information on what to do and where to stay in Palau as well as recommendations on how to make the Truk portion of the trip truly epic.
I've already started a list!
Cheers--
R.
Long time diver; just found this site upon recommendation of a dive mate on a recent trip.
I had no idea Scubaboard even existed. Go figure.
The (relatively) short bio--
Certified Open Water during college in the late '80's, with a lesson learned that Puget Sound is coldcoldCOLD, regardless of how much neoprene you wear. Dove for the past thirty years between trips, jobs and wars-- mostly warm water, with the (very) occasional foray into "Frell! It's cold!-- I'm an idiot for doing this!" Accumulated Advanced somewhere along the line in the '90's. Rescue was a reasonable next step a few years later. Gradually worked through various certs (Wreck, Deep, Search & Recovery, Boat, Nitrox) and finally got my Master rating about ten years ago. I really enjoy the more technical aspects of diving and would love to do some tec/mixed gas/rebreather/extended range, but since I would have no hope of staying proficient considering what I do and where I live, it would be a little too good of a way to borrow trouble I don't need. The wife would be *pissed* if I got myself killed being stupid while diving.
What else? I drive jets professionally for a living and spent 26 fun-filled years in the Air Force & Air Force Reserve driving Really Big Toys (retired now). The downside was that they threw more than a few wars and invited me, but the upside was that I got to occasionally dive in some truly unusual places that most people in the States will never get to.
I joined the forum as my wife and I are planning a Palau/Truk trip in January '17 (I like the wrecks and WWII history, she likes the coral and the fish). Reservation's have been made on the Odyssey, but I haven't quite figured out the exact logistics of getting there and what to do/where to stay/etc. in Palau. On the plus side, I have about a year to plan and get my act together. I've wanted to go for about 25 years (kind of a student of military history), but every time I would get serious, my dive partners tended to get married, lose their job or get their wives pregnant. Since I'm not getting any younger, my wife gave permission for me to plan the tip in celebration of my 50th birthday.
Yay, me.
Additionally, my wife's been out of the diving game for a fair while; I'm going to lug her down to Roatan again this summer to get her spun up for her Advanced and Nitrox and get her buoyancy and fin control up to speed. The grand plan was to bring her down this winter-- that part happened, but she's super-athlete girl and broke her damn fool ankle a month before we were supposed to go and had to have global reconstructive ankle surgery. A cast is not conducive to diving, but she sat on the boat and was a pretty good case study proving that being healthy and athletic will get you into trouble!
So, I'll be moseying around the site looking for dive gear (for her) and information on what to do and where to stay in Palau as well as recommendations on how to make the Truk portion of the trip truly epic.
I've already started a list!
Cheers--
R.
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