SYDSIDE
Registered
Hi Folks
My name is Claus. I'm a 33 year old, German born Ozzie living in beautiful Sydney. In working life I'm an IT geek (oops..I mean Specialist Consultant). My home, in the Beach suburb of Manly, is a 100 meters walk from a well-known dive site (Shelly Beach), so I guess it made sense to get into diving. I've also snorkelled regularly since I was 5. My Dad was once a typical dive-mad German, but he had a nasty OOA on a solo dive when I was young and nearly died. Since then hes only snorkelled and has not exactly encouraged any of my moves in to SCUBA.
But Ive wanted to get into it for years and finally made to big jump a few weeks ago. I decided that the only way to go was with my own gear (Im a large guy, so rental stuff was never comfortable). I made the same committed, in the purchase of my gear, as I did with my car In the name of safety only the best quality available is acceptable (the airbags and construction of my former car saved my life in a 1998 accident).
But in some ways I think Im nuts, as I've just blown away (on credit) nearly 6K on the gear. I praise (or blame) Scubaboard on my gear choices, although I tried-out everything myself, it was the endless gear-debates on this board, that influenced most of my choices. So (right or wrong) I've ended up with the following:
*SeaQuest Pro Unlimited BC (wanted the best and paid through the nose for it!)
*Scubapro MK25/S600 (that was easy, as most people agreed its the best).
*Uwatec Aladdin Air Z Nitrox (no backup gauges - will abort and surface if it ever fails and may consider backup if I ever go Tech).
*Gold Tag Heuer professional series watch (Had it for years and is a good timer back-up for the computer)
*SeaQuest Air-source integrated Ocy/inflator (I must have read 1000 posts before finally deciding to approve an AirII type Ocy - I'll add a DIR bungee Ocy rig if I ever go Tech).
*Oceanmaster Z2 Mask with Optical lenses
*Oceanmaster snorkel (for choppy weather) Apollo folding snorkel (for BC pocket on calm days)
*Tusa Xpert Zoom split fins
*Custom-made 3mm Wetsuit and a custom Lycra Body suit that is yet to be collected in Phuket (Great price- www.hotwavephuket.com).
* Pentax Optio 430RS 4 Megapixel Digital Camera with Pentax Underwater Case (a great camera, which I purchased for a European trip last year- but was quite peeved at needing to pay $600 extra for the UW casing)
*Various safety gear items.
With my newly acquired certification card, next week, Im driving 400km up the coast to an awesome dive site called Fish Rock (www.fishrock.com.au) to check out the most southerly tropical coral gardens in the world. But thats only practice (badly needed) for the big event a 10 day liveaboard in Thailand and Burma in February.
I guess the main reason that Ive joined this board is the share the excitement with other people who can also validate my insane spending discissions. I certainly need the validation as most people (especially my darling wife) usually exclaim You spent how many #%@# thousand dollars to go see fish? (although I dont hear her complaining when she gets taken to the tropical locations that have the best diving).
Anyway, great to be part of the group.
PS/ If anyone is visiting (or living in) Manly, Im always looking for a dive Buddy.
My name is Claus. I'm a 33 year old, German born Ozzie living in beautiful Sydney. In working life I'm an IT geek (oops..I mean Specialist Consultant). My home, in the Beach suburb of Manly, is a 100 meters walk from a well-known dive site (Shelly Beach), so I guess it made sense to get into diving. I've also snorkelled regularly since I was 5. My Dad was once a typical dive-mad German, but he had a nasty OOA on a solo dive when I was young and nearly died. Since then hes only snorkelled and has not exactly encouraged any of my moves in to SCUBA.
But Ive wanted to get into it for years and finally made to big jump a few weeks ago. I decided that the only way to go was with my own gear (Im a large guy, so rental stuff was never comfortable). I made the same committed, in the purchase of my gear, as I did with my car In the name of safety only the best quality available is acceptable (the airbags and construction of my former car saved my life in a 1998 accident).
But in some ways I think Im nuts, as I've just blown away (on credit) nearly 6K on the gear. I praise (or blame) Scubaboard on my gear choices, although I tried-out everything myself, it was the endless gear-debates on this board, that influenced most of my choices. So (right or wrong) I've ended up with the following:
*SeaQuest Pro Unlimited BC (wanted the best and paid through the nose for it!)
*Scubapro MK25/S600 (that was easy, as most people agreed its the best).
*Uwatec Aladdin Air Z Nitrox (no backup gauges - will abort and surface if it ever fails and may consider backup if I ever go Tech).
*Gold Tag Heuer professional series watch (Had it for years and is a good timer back-up for the computer)
*SeaQuest Air-source integrated Ocy/inflator (I must have read 1000 posts before finally deciding to approve an AirII type Ocy - I'll add a DIR bungee Ocy rig if I ever go Tech).
*Oceanmaster Z2 Mask with Optical lenses
*Oceanmaster snorkel (for choppy weather) Apollo folding snorkel (for BC pocket on calm days)
*Tusa Xpert Zoom split fins
*Custom-made 3mm Wetsuit and a custom Lycra Body suit that is yet to be collected in Phuket (Great price- www.hotwavephuket.com).
* Pentax Optio 430RS 4 Megapixel Digital Camera with Pentax Underwater Case (a great camera, which I purchased for a European trip last year- but was quite peeved at needing to pay $600 extra for the UW casing)
*Various safety gear items.
With my newly acquired certification card, next week, Im driving 400km up the coast to an awesome dive site called Fish Rock (www.fishrock.com.au) to check out the most southerly tropical coral gardens in the world. But thats only practice (badly needed) for the big event a 10 day liveaboard in Thailand and Burma in February.
I guess the main reason that Ive joined this board is the share the excitement with other people who can also validate my insane spending discissions. I certainly need the validation as most people (especially my darling wife) usually exclaim You spent how many #%@# thousand dollars to go see fish? (although I dont hear her complaining when she gets taken to the tropical locations that have the best diving).
Anyway, great to be part of the group.
PS/ If anyone is visiting (or living in) Manly, Im always looking for a dive Buddy.
glad you decided to join and don't worry about the $6 k you will forget about it when you dive
