New to the sport

[MSFD923]

Hello everyone. My name is Chuck and I am 35 years old, married with 3 kids, two of those from aprevious marraige. My wife and I are new to the sport of SCUBA diving and are very excited at the possibilites of seeing things we would never see except on TV. We are currently in our 2nd week of a 3 week school being held at SCUBA and Archery Center in Hot Springs Arkansas. My oldest kids, Ryan age 12 and Megan age 11 are both certified as open water divers as of last year. Due to our expecting our baby boy, Brett age 9 months, we were unable to take the class with them at that time. We have a trip to Key West planned for Father's Day weekend in June. This will be our first real dive trip. We are very excited about this and look forward to many dive trips in the future. I hope my time in this SCUBABoard site will teach me much more than any class can and develop some much needed friendships along the way as well.

 

[kent_1848]

Welcome to the board. There is tons of info here, and everyone is very willing to help you out with any questions, all you have to do is ask. Good luck on your certification, and have fun on your trip.

 

[Lil' Irish Temper]

Chuck,

I see your a dispatcher with the Police/Fire. You might want to check out our Public Safety Divers Forum There maybe something you might like in that forum.

Welcome to ScubaBoard

Irish

 

[Firefyter]

Welcome to the board. I was in Hot Springs April 22-24, and I looked all over town for a dive shop. I knew there was one there, but couldn't find it. My wife was doing the bath and massage thing, so I had time to kill. Maybe next time I'll find it...lol.

Again, welcome to the board, look around, and don't be afraid to ask questions or comment. The search feature is great for frequently asked questions, but feel free to ask if you don't find what you're looking for.

Also, this is a great place to find dive buddies. There's always somebody going diving up in your area, so don't be afraid to join in.

 

[MSFD923]

WOW!!! I didn't expect such a quick response from anyone... Thank you guys for the welcome and well wishes. I must say that I was a bit leary of doing this because I smoked for 18 years and am considerably overweight so naturally I am not in the best physical shape. I figured I'd have a hard time with the swimming stuff before we started the pool work but much to my delight and surprise, I had no trouble at all. Now comes the hard part; getting used to all that gear and the breathing underwater and the pressure changes and not freaking out about something that may not be just perfect. But, I will always have a good dive buddy in my wife so for that, I'm thankful and confident that all will be well. My kids did it. How hard can it be, right?
Anyway, we're looking forward to the trip and hopefully many more to come. Finally, something I can do with my kids besides play XBOX. There is a wierd story behind our even taking this class that I will get into another day.

I will check out the public safety dive forum thingy, also. Thanx for the heads up on that.
Have a great day and a safe dive.

 

[Matt the Aquaman]

:sunny Hello Chuck,

Welcome you to Scuba Board –One of the most informative and dedicated boards on the net. You can meet a lot of helpful people here and it’s an awesome place to get answers to your questions regarding scuba diving. If you ever want to chat feel free to PM me. Take care.

-Matt- almtree:

Click here to greet a new member!
No experience needed and it feels great!​

 

[MSFD923]

FireFyter, next time you guys are here, let me know and I'll get ya there. It's kinda set off the road behind a strip mall out on the west side of town near Lake Hamilton. It's called "SCUBA and Archery Center". Thanx for the welcome and stuff, too.

 

[danialagua]

Hi Chuck,
Welcome!

 

[murphdivers286]

Welcome to the board Chuck. I hope you have a fun trip. Don't forget to give us a trip report when you get back.. Here are some links to help you along.

Click here ---->[red]Basic Scuba Discussions[/red]

Click here ---->[red]New Divers & Those Considering Diving [/red]

 

[scubajoe]

Welcome to the board!

Joe