SW Iowa noobie

[StSomewhere]

Hi, I'm finally registered after picking an available screenname (who knew reefshark would already be taken? ) I've been lurking here for a few weeks, mostly to learn and to get a feel for the place.

I'm from the southwest corner of Iowa but my wife, kids and I all love Florida.

I've had my c-card for about a little over a month after wanting to learn to dive for at *least* the past 20 years. I finally did my first real openwater dive in Key West about four weeks ago. 6 ft seas with 10 foot swells is apparently considered undive-able, but that was my first dive (right smack between Ivan and Jeanne). :11: In spite of some real buoyancy problems and a panicked diver (he freaked when he saw a reef shark -- what I hoped to see, but didn't), I managed to get a real taste of reef/ocean/boat diving and absolutely love it. I bet reef diving is an absolute *BLAST* in calm seas.

Anyway, I have a new Oceanic Probe BC with the older style inflator (not ready for the whole BP/W + DIR concept just yet, but I'm in awe at rebreathers!) and have lots of other questions about regs, computers, nitrox, steel tanks, DIN vs. Yoke, etc. Hopefully I'll learn enough here to be able to ask questions semi-intelligently.

Now I'm headed over to the Mid-West Muck Divers forum to see if they have any of those new tshirts left...

 

[DandyDon]

Howdy!

And welcome to SB - the biggest, the best, the fastest growing, and the friendliest! YOu had an interesting Baptism? Be sure to check our our New2Scuba!

Sizing a photo for your profile or Avatar can be a challenge; I'm a fumbling amateur, but I get the job done, if you'd like any help? PM me if I can help you learn your way around; that is - click my username to the upper left, then follow the prompts to send me a "Personal Message."

don

 

[Nomaster]

Welcome,

You've been around here a while, so you probably know most of the stuff in my stock message. And you answered my question about where you dive among the corn. Well, I didn't know!

Now for my stock message, which is still under construction:
This is a great place to meet people, talk about diving, and get information on just about any aspect of diving -or other subjects sometimes- that you can think of. Roaming through the forums is great help for me.
When you post a question, be as sure as you can that it's in the right forum or you'll probably find it moved.
The folks here are passionate about their diving, some about their specialty, so the reading can get very interesting, sometimes very hot.
Don't forget, if you haven't already done it, to fill out you profile as completely as reasonable, it'll save you being asked and having to repeat the information often.
Enjoy!

Tom

 

[Dan Kom]

Welcome to SB!

 

[baitedstorm]

Heya and welcome to the Board!! You'll have to come back down and give Florida another go-round. Those conditions you had were pretty bad, but it sounds like you still had loads of fun. Congrats on finishing your certification :cheering:

Cheers,
Vickie

 

[headhunter]

Welcome to ScubaBoard! :happywave

Wow! If you had a great time in those conditions, I guess it is safe to say that you're here to stay!

Dive safe!

Christian

P.S. Due to the high volume of new posts in the Introductions and Greets forum, it's not always possible to keep up with all the new posts here. So, please help me out and send me a PM if you post anything you want me to read or repsond to in this forum.
almtree: :sunny

 

[Matt the Aquaman]

Hi there stsomewhere,
Welcome to Scuba Board - the greatest online place, the fastest growing, and the nicest! You can meet a lot of helpful people here and it’s an awesome place to get answers about scuba diving. If you ever want to chat feel free to PM me. Take care and safe diving from Matt.

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

 

[StSomewhere]

Thanks all. Yes, I will certainly give the Keys many more go-rounds. Topside at KW is such a blast, regardless of dive conditions.

What it came down to was that I was determined to enjoy the experience, and the DM on the boat was really top notch in that regard. My first experience with the reef was so amazing, I'm glad I didn't miss it. Gives me motivation for planning the next trip!

But I did figure out why no other dive boats on KW were going out that day.