Tell us about your most recent "first"

[ScubaDoobaDo]

We just returned from 2 wonderful weeks in Honduras (Roatan & Utila) and there were a lot of firsts... My first seahorse, my first swim w/wild dolphins, my first swim with whale sharks, my first swim w/a lot of Caribbean reef sharks, and my first all inclusive resort! It was the best trip of my life!

 

[Diver0001]

My most recent first is nowhere near as exciting.

For the first time since I started diving I'm totally bored with what I've been doing. I didn't do much over the winter (a first) and haven't even been able to force myself to haul the gear out to see what it looks like. I've seen all the local stuff a gazillion times and nothing I can think of seems worth the cost and work. I've seen all I can in the Missouri caves without really making a project out of it and that doesn't even seem worth it. I get blown out on the Great Lakes as often as not and still have 4 sets of doubles full of 18/45 that didn't get used the last time I got blown out. Even at that, 2 days of wreck dives with gas, lodging and charter fees costs us about a thousand bucks (for my wife and I) and these days there just isn't any broken boat that I want to pay a thousand bucks to see...and I've probably already seen it. I thought about forcing myself to do a local dive. I'd probably enjoy it once I was in the water but I'd have to dump all that expensive mix. On the other hand doing a dive where I need the expensive mix after not being in the water all winter probably isn't a great idea. I need to find something new to see or do underwater or I'm probably going to turn into a once or twice a year diver...if that.

How's that for a first? Should be in the whining forum huh?

Whoa...... back slowly away from the edge, Mike.

Why don't you take your tanks on a little holiday down to Mexico or something? You sound like you need some downtime.

R..

 

[Divesherpa]

Hey Ferrari,

WHen you stay dry for a long time you forget what it's like to be wet. Then you can rationalize why you don't have to dive.

This is utter nonsense. Listen to yourself homeboy, you are losing it!

Get your bum in the water.

My firsts for the week: Friday, guided at LBTS by a local (thanks Marvel!!), played with an octopus in the daytime on Saturday (first time in Florida), Sunday I skipped a great dive in the morning to sleep (made up for it in the afternoon). Monday, I helped 2 nitrox students with UW photography and had them photograph a Batfish (and Robinfish **nice job on that one "farfromwater"**), and yesterday was the first time that I herded a stingray to a group of divers.
I'm out of the water until Friday! Ouch

 

[voop]

Recent first? Hmm, I put my fins on a cattle-boat in Thailand last week. I'll write up my "experiences" from that in detail in either "whine and cheese" or "basic scuba discussions" later, but despite having been diving for longer than I care to admit, it was a first for me.

There were pro's and cons: the "pro" was that the i-responsible DM on board said "so you're an instructor, right, that means I'll just let you do your own thing and not follow the group". Yes, I do do solo-diving, but in general only in sites I know and with a tad more redundant equipment than just an AL80. Now, that still turned out to be a "pro" since the i-responsible DM then shephearded his flok out on a succession of subsequent dive-profiles which could only be designed to try and get as many as possible bent and/or OOA at depth. Clearly obvious once in the water, I waved goodbye, and did some saner solo-stuff (top-of-the-reef things -- uhh, pretty fishes ;-) ), and had a blast, only to return to the boat and look in awe to find the i-responsible DM trying to get his flok out of unplanned deco with what air they (and he) had left.

It later turned out that the flok consisted of fresh-out-of-OW-factory divers....somehow, they got away with only extreme post-dive-fatigue and only two OOAs -- and an explanation that "it's normal to be tired after a dive"...

Ohh, another first: I didn't go on the second day of diving as I had planned, but went to the beach instead -- I've never turned down diving before, but the beach seemed more fun than being an accessory to trying to bend people....

And a third first: I swore never to go back to that cattle-boat. Actually, I'd like to swear to stay off cattle-boats and make this "first" a "last" too, but that'd probably be pushing it a little...

Yup, I think the detailed report should go to "whine and cheese".....

 

[Juls64]

was diving with my son on April 17th. When the whole family dives, my son usually buddies with my husband and my daughter with me. This was the first time just my son and I went and dove for the day. He graduates HS in a few weeks then leaves for the Navy, so it was really special!

Julie

 

[Buoyant1]

Hmmm...saw my first shark (other than a Nurse shark) on my trip to KW last month..Appx a 5-6' Caribbean Reef Shark according to the DM.

I guess the other firsts were the first dives with my own equipment!

 

[DivePartner1]

I just finished my first dive trip with a long term dive buddy since we got married and had a daughter.

"Haul your gear, too? Isn't this the ultimate sport of self-sufficiency? . . . . Um, yes dear."

 

[Firebrand]

A couple weeks ago I had lots of "firsts." I met up with ReefGuy and we dove off Venice Beach. Here is the list of firsts from those two dives.

1. First time shark tooth hunting
2. First time scuba diving in saltwater
3. First time using a buddy line
4. First time finding something (shark teeth and fossils) outside of my AOW course.
5. First "purpose" dive
6. First time scuba diving on a reef
7. First time seeing a Mantis Shrimp (that was really cool by the way!)
8. First time diving with ReefGuy! (Thanks for the tips!)
9. First time drift diving
10. First time diving after my AOW course.
11. First shore dive
12. First dive longer than 30 minutes.
13. First time I've ever been to Venice Beach.
14. First time I found a megaladon tooth.
15. First solo dive (later that afternoon trying to find something my dad dropped in the water at his place - item was lost about four weeks before I could search, but I couldn't find what he lost.)

Boy, us newbies seem to have a lot of firsts to list!!!

 

[cfelliot]

Marvel,

Peeps?

Checkout the Bunnies:

http://www.keypad.org/bunnies/

Chuck

 

[rab]

Well at the GLWC Meet & Greet III, I made my first dive on the deep side of Gilboa thanks to diverbrian. Also the first dive towing a pony (thanks again, diverbrian) in order to comply with Gilboa's rules. Saw the flag down in the sump area. Unfortunately, it was not the first dive to put my Mosquito into DECO (that was in March), but since I keep the personal adjustment at P1, I wasn't worried. Upon analyzing the profile, I realized that I'm generally only ascending at 6m/min or less (and, yes, I've followed the thread about the "danger" of ascending too slowly).

-Rob