REintroducing myself at last...

[ClayJar]

Buy a house, spend a year gutting and rebuilding it, start working on your Instructor course, and then have just about everything stolen (in *two* burglaries)... It's a recipe for falling off the side of the world (somewhere on the other side of "Here be monsters"). Still, life goes on, eh?

So, it is with great apologies, a wonderfully refilling Bucket-o'-Hope, and perhaps just a bit of relief that I would like to *re*introduce my too-long-away self to my dear friend ScubaBoard and all those present.

I am ClayJar, now a NAUI Instructor, living in the Baton Rouge, LA, area and teaching primarily through Underwater Adventures here. Three months ago, I finally got a monthly Pool Fun Dive night started here, and I look forward to posting and reading and diving again (perhaps not to the extent that I used to, but relished all the more because of that).

 

[Jim Lapenta]

Welcome back!

 

[Jax]

I am ClayJar, now a NAUI Instructor, living in the Baton Rouge, LA, area and teaching primarily through Underwater Adventures here. Three months ago, I finally got a monthly Pool Fun Dive night started here, and I look forward to posting and reading and diving again (perhaps not to the extent that I used to, but relished all the more because of that).

That sounds fascinating; what do you do for it?

 

[Teamcasa]

Welcome Back Clay!

 

[ClayJar]

That sounds fascinating; what do you do for it?

Well, let me see. We do it at an olympic-size 7-8' deep 50-meter lap pool and a 17' deep diving well. (Unfamiliar divers have to demonstrate mask clearing, buoyancy, and a few other things before they get to go to the "fun side".)

First, I have a bunch of swim throughs of various styles. I've got a square PVC "tunnel" frame (three connected 4-foot cubes) with four vertical 3-foot PEX hoops floating above it on various lengths of line. I've got two "towers" each made of a pair of horizontal 4-foot PEX hoops (one with a 3-foot hoop in the middle as a slightly constricted spot). The towers are each held down with about a five-pound weight, so they won't hold an entangled diver down, just in case.

Possibly more fun, I have a "toy box". I've got four Toypedos (and some mini ones, too), pool toys, waterproof cards, a rubber medicine ball (floats on the surface, sinks at the bottom), spoons, golf balls, laminated/scuffed-up cardstock "pool slates" and recycled tire pencils, some 1-foot hoops for target practice or slam-dunk contests (with the medicine ball), an "underwater frisbee" (just purchased -- I get to try it June 14th), and anything else we happen to come up with.

In addition to the swim throughs and toys, I also bring "serious" things in case people want to try them out or play with them. I have three or four dive computers, lift bags, dive flags, different fins, and whatever else we happen to bring along. The purpose of the pool fun dives is to have fun, but there's no better way to have more fun diving than to become a better diver.

Basically, even with all the water around, Baton Rouge is just about landlocked with respect to scuba (unless you like blackwater diving), so once I finished Instructor and mb finished Divemaster, I brought the concept to our shop owner. The shop was enthusiastic, and we've been having fun ever since.

 

[geogator]

What a fantastic idea ClayJar! This would be really cool for brand new divers to have available to them so they could practice & fine tune their skills in a fun environment in between actually going on open water dives or taking a formal class. Do you charge a fee for participating in this & if so, what? I'd think that if someone got certified through your shop they could have access to these nights for free with a nominal charge for equipment rental if needed. If they weren't certified through your shop, you could charge a nominal admission fee as well. If it got too popular (too many people showing up), then just have a sign up sheet with a limit on the number of participants. I wish there was something like that where I'm at, as I'm starting my OW class tomorrow & would love to have extra practice time either before my checkout dives or even afterwards.

 

[ClayJar]

Do you charge a fee for participating in this & if so, what?

Our shop charges $10 per diver, with BC/wetsuit/reg rental available for $10. (So, $20 if you don't have your own gear, or half that if you do.) It's cheap enough for an as-long-as-your-air-lasts night of fun, but it's enough to offset what expenses it creates. Any certified diver can stop by our shop and sign up.

You do have to be certified to come to Pool Fun Dive night, as I can't directly supervise every diver (as student divers would require). On the other hand, if their instructor invites them and comes along to supervise, our students awaiting checkout trips can certainly come too. I'm certainly planning to invite my students to the next one. They might even get in free, just because we like proto-divers :biggrin:

 

[Blackwood]

Sorry about your robberies.

Glad to "hear" your "voice" on here again.

Oh, and congrats on the home purchase and becoming an instructor!

 

[ClayJar]

Sorry about your robberies.

If my car didn't get totaled the same month, it wouldn't have been quite as bad. Thankfully, I'm a bike commuter (except for scuba and such). :biggrin:

Glad to "hear" your "voice" on here again.

Oh, and congrats on the home purchase and becoming an instructor!

It's good to be back, and you should see how much *ROOM* there is in the house. If I were closer to diving, I'd invite SBers over!

 

[baydive20]

Glad you are back!!! I asked Mark about you the last time I saw him in PC. We're doing Pelham next weekend if you care to join us