Plans for 2017?

[CAPTAIN SINBAD]

What is everyone planning for 2017? This is the time when I sit down and make a rough plan for what the coming year should look like. These plans never materialize in their entirety but give a general direction in which my diving usually heads. For the year 20017 I plan (hope) to do the following. If anyone else out there is planning any of the following then lets exchange notes. We may end up on the same charter.

1. Great Lakes wreck dives: I would like 2017 to be the year of my Great Lakes initiation. I have been putting this off for a while now so this is long over due. Being situated in DC area this would have to be a weekend drive and dive trip for me so I will be limited to areas closer to me. I am looking towards St. Lawrence River / Thousand Islands and Lake Erie wrecks through Osprey Dive Charters. Let me know who is in. If we can get six people then we may be able to get our own Technical charter to go and dive the wrecks of our own choosing.

2. Ice dives: Planning to get together with my Canadian buddies for some ice dives on Toronto area.

3. Advanced Wreck Certification: I would like to be able to enter wreck beyond the light zone. I am hoping to complete Advanced Wreck penetration sometime next year. Thoughts and suggestions welcome.

4. Penetration dives in NC/NJ area: If I get my wreck penetration certification then I would like to do some penetration dives in the NC/NJ area. I like to enter real wrecks instead of artificial reefs so if there are any real wrecks worthy of penetration in this neighborhood that you guys would like to recommend then let me know.

5. Lake Jocassee: A weekennd of decompression diving in Lake Jocassee. This needs to happen between Feb and April sometime.

6. Practice Dives in Local Lakes (Millbrook and Pheonix): I will be meeting with my dive buddies to do a few practice dives in Lake Millbrook and Phoenix. This is just to drill come deco procedures, shoot bags and do mock gas switches / air share etc.

Let me know if anyone would be in.

 

[Doby45]

1. Cavern / Cave Intro: Second weekend of February buddy and I are getting our Cavern/Cave Intro done.

2. Chatterton AN / DP: October will be 15yrs with my gorgeous wife and for my gift she is getting me AN/DP with Chatterton and maybe wreck too.

 

[DustyC]

Spring trip to wreck dive in the Gulf, December ...somewhere.. with my wife. She's not a diver, but is doing a one on one 2 hour session with an isntructor in a pool next month, to see if she can cope with the issues that keep her from trying. So the december trip might be a dive trip for two. We were looking at the Keys, but they're just too expensive, so Riviera Maya is looking like an option. Unless I can find a deal to make the keys work.

 

[_Ralph]

Not to blow up a $1000 battery like this year.....

The rest is all diving.


_R

 

[TMHeimer]

Nothing out of the ordinary. Keep diving--should get to 700 dives in 2017.
Diving Dubai, I also did #500 in my 10th year, so we turtles are progressing at the same rate.
Jan. & Feb. we'll be back in good old Destin on the FL panhandle, so anyone interested in buddying up at St. Andrews, Pickens, etc. let me know. Hope to play some jazz clarinet there with Rusty at Club LA--where all us old fart snowbirds hang out.

 

[Marie13]

The big trip is a 3 day trip to dive wrecks in the Thunder Bay. National Marine Sanctuary in Lake Huron off Alpena, MI in late July. I'm organizing a small group. Looks like it will be mostly friends or diving buddies. This is a huge deal for me bucket list type trip.

Lake Michigan dives off Hammond, IN on DRIS' boat, to get ready for Alpena. Several times at least.

Hitting our local quarry a LOT (Haigh). Mermet at the end of January and perhaps another time or two, plus other quarries within 3-4 hours.

Just getting a heck of a lot of diving in. I'll also be doing my SDI Advanced rating with specialties of wreck, deep, night/low viz, and underwater nav.

I'm spending a lot of time in the pool this winter. Pool at the health club for laps with mask, fins, snorkel, and kick board for my kicks and to build up leg strength, as well as for cardio. This is the best exercise for me, per my doctor, due to sciatica and unhappy knees.

I'm also doing some private sessions with my instructors. I was in the pool with them on Saturday for nearly 3 hours. They said I'm greatly improved over my OW class and the last kick session (no scuba gear) we did about 3 weeks ago.

Also getting in the pool at a different LDS that has a pool on site and rents it out for $10/hour including tank. Doing that about once a month with dive buddies.

 

[Diving Dubai]

2017 Will hopefully be a busy year

Jan/Feb, Complete DM Practicals

April/May PADI IDC

August - Complete 500th dive (by 10 year anniversary)

Fingers crossed BSAC OW Instructor - if I can get a mutually agreeable date

With a bit of luck BSAC Advance Diver

Little chance of beating this years dive total of 150 fun dives (all approx 1 hour dive all over 66"), but 100 fun dives should be do-able

Hopefully a couple of vacations. I have 11 x 2 day overnight boat trips scheduled so far

 

[ajduplessis]

Cave diving, coelacanth expedition, more cave diving and not getting bent

 

[stuartv]

2. Chatterton AN / DP: October will be 15yrs with my gorgeous wife and for my gift she is getting me AN/DP with Chatterton and maybe wreck too.

It would be almost foolist NOT to go ahead and do the combined course with Chatterton. It only adds a small amount of time and money to the class to add Adv Wreck in. :-D

 

[Doby45]

It would be almost foolist NOT to go ahead and do the combined course with Chatterton. It only adds a small amount of time and money to the class to add Adv Wreck in. :-D

That's the thought process.