New to Forum

[miked]

Welcome to the board!!
You'll find that it's a fun and informative place to be.
Many good people hang out here-with lots of good ideas, and sometimes "bad" jokes!
Good luck diving
miked

 

[plongere]

Gosh thanks everyone for the welcome. We are overwhelmed. We already had some great adventures,including our dive boat being swamped and sinking underneath us, losing all our money, passports and credit cards. I was really upset until my wife pointed out that we were sitting on a beach in Tahiti (yes there were topless bathers around), the water temperature was 82F, we were safe, the kids were back home and the worst thing that could happen is that we would be stuck in Tahiti. (insert heavy sigh here)

What did occur is that we met some wonderful people including fellow divers and people of Tahiti. The young lady who rented us our car at Eurocar, offered us money from her own purse so we could get some dinner. The director of the hotel who was Italian, took us to the gendarmerie (police station) and translated for us. What a hoot, English to Italian to French and back again. Somehow we got it all done with a lot of help from a lot of great people we wouldn't have met without the "misfortune".

We are new to diving and have found a great community. Traveling and meeting new people seeing new worlds both over and under the waves. Heck we even made our local paper on our last "cert" dive.

Thanks again for the warm welcome. Jim and Donna

 

[scubakat]

Wow that sounds like a serious adventure!

nice!

-kate

 

[scubabunny]

Hafa Adai plongere!

While you are globe-trotting, stop on Guam and say hi!

 

[ScubaBurt]

Hi Plongere,
Welcome from the other side of the US. Sounds like you are now a scuba junkie like the rest of us. Boy, I bet resting on that topless clad beach in Tahiti was a real bummer to your trip(I'm green with envy about now). Sounds like you met some really friendly locals in you time of distress. That's a side of dive trips that is a definite bonus. You will meet and make new friends with each trip. Diving is the common thread but the divers/locals you meet make the trips wonderful. Makes you forget the small inconviences like, boats sinking under you(you have already passed that test), lost luggage, uncooperating weather/airlines/hotels, all the things that are like sand in you sandals.
Flo(wife) says that she is glad to see another husband/wife diving team. We have enjoyed the learning experience associated with diving. You will learn something new everytime you dive. Don't stop with Open Water, get as many dives as you can and continue your learning with additional classes/certifications. It will increase you knowledge and respect for diving and make you a better diver. The divemasters you encounter on future dive boats will thank you.
The SCUBABOARD family is your extended surface time friends. I have only met one board member(JoeWR) however, I feel that all the board members are family/friends. Hopefully, with the future creation of Neptunes Diver International(NDI, the new dive club being formed on ScubaBoard) we will have something to recognize other members; pataches, tattoos, tank cover, dive bag, etc. The board has a vast amount of knowledge available or just an answer to your questions. Good Luck and look forward to hearing about your next trips.
Burt & Flo

 

[plongere]

Acutally Guam is on our list. My wife and I also ride motorcycles and one of our best friends is from Guam. We would like to arrange a trip with him to see the island. If we get to go, we'll be sure to drop you a line and maybe we can dive together! tkx

 

[plongere]

My wife and I do everything together. We have riden over 100,000 miles on motorcycles all over the western US. We plan to take a lot of courses, as a matter of fact we have our DAN oxygen training scheduled for next weekend and a photography class scheduled for November. We also teach First Aid and CPR and are doing this for our motorcycle association and now for local dive shops as well.

We often kid each other that somewhere along the line we lost our individual ID's and somehow became JimAndDonna.

I think the idea of a SCUBA group with this board is a great idea! Count us in and thanks for the comments. I hope you and Flo have as much fun as Donna and I.

 

[ScubaBurt]

Hi Jim,
I know what you mean about the lost ID(No, YOU are not lost Iguana Don). Flo and I have been together for 10 years of dating(off,on,off,on,off,on)and 28 years of marriage. That adds up in a hurry. We have been diving for four years and have become the ultimate buddies. We almost have a "seventh" sense underwater. Most of the time sign communication is only used for clarification. Spooky, huh? Maybe we will run into you two on some of our next dive trips. As the Neptune Divers International(I still think we should have been Neptune Underwater Divers International, then we could say we are members of the "NUDI CLUB")we have alot of friends/family all over the world. Hope to meet them all someday. See you then.
Burt

 

[plongere]

Well we just completed our DAN O2 training and signed up for Advanced OW to beegin later this month. Still looking for a transfer to Hawaii, but who knows. Until then, 54F and loving it!

 

[joewr]

Plongere,

We met in a different section of the Board, but I forgot to introduce myself: I am the Joewr so graciously alluded to by ScubaBurt, whom I met some time ago in Cozumel. Actually, JoeandBarbara met BurtandFlo (I like that, Burt!). And, Flo probably does not know this, but she is now quite famous worldwide!

That is because I describe Barbara and me as "candy as_" divers: i.e., we only dive in warm water. And as I have told lots of folks on dive boats, "A diver named Flo described our philosophy quite acurately when she said, "If there are not palm trees there, I don't dive it.""

Well, at any rate, welcome and keep on enjoying. However, warn us about where you will be: I want to avoid sinking dive boats and lost passports!

Joewr...wondering if Plongere got that name in French Tahiti--or in the French Quarter of sunny Seattle?