OK, so here's the story:
I started diving in 1976 when I was growing up in South Florida. Was certified PADI OW in 1977, dived my butt off for several years as a teenager. Moved to Cleveland when Mom and Dad called it quits. Lake Erie didnt hold my interest. Applied to colleges near the ocean and moved to Virginia Beach in 1981. Started diving again. Became a NAUI Instructor in 1984. Dropped out of college (dumb move!) to run a dive shop. Became a captain. Bought a dive boat. Dived my butt off again. Certified a bunch of people. Did all that "technical" stuff.
Years went by and I changed career paths (good move). The dive shop went bust in the late 80's (poor management, bad economy). With the shop gone, I started to lose the crew of guys I used to dive with. Put the boat in storage and hung up my fins in 1992. My new career treated me well. More years went by. Diving became something I talked about, not did. The past began to fade
Last summer my nieces decide they would help me by cleaning my library. As they dusted the books, they found my old photo albums from when I was diving. They saw pictures of the boat, the dive shop, a bunch of underwater pics and then they ask me "Uncle Drew, can you teach us to dive?" "Well girls," I said, "Lets wait until you are a bit older. Ask me next summer when you turn 12, maybe we can take a class together. Almost to the date, one year later: "Uncle Drew, we're 12 now and you PROMISED to teach us to dive!" "No," I said, "I didnt promise that Id teach you but I'll find someone who can." Two weeks later I take them to an intro lesson at the LDC that used to be my main competitor. Of course the girls LOVE it and practically jump up and down asking "PLEASE Uncle Drew, PLEASE can we take the class?" Must be in their blood. How can I say "NO" to puppy dog faces? So, I climb in the pool, put on the gear and let the instructor give ME an intro lesson for more motivation.
I forgot how smooth and relaxing things can be underwater. 15 years roll back in less than 30 seconds and I feel a click. Why the hell did I give this up? 10 minutes later we surface and the instructor looks at me and asks "have you done this before?" My nieces are all smiles. Hes fat but he can still DO it, I hear one politely whisper to the other. Ahhh, the honesty of modern youth.
So, next Monday, the two 12 year olds and I (God help me) are signed up for an SSI Open Water course at the LDC. 15 years of no diving is just too LONG to go without another course. I'll be curious to see how much things have changed given that it now appears I'm "old school." The class is for 2 weeks, 3 nights a week, 3 hours a night plus certification dives. That's about 60% of the OW course hours I used to teach back in the 80s. Interesting.
This weekend, as "Ernesto" blew by, I pulled all my old dive gear out of the attic and realized that now I'm the guy with the 20+ year old gear who I used to tell "buddy, do you REALLY want to trust your life to gear THAT old?" Looks like it's time to SPEND some money...
Anyway, I thought it would be cool to post my adventures with these kids over the next year, so I'll be returning with stories and pictures to this thread as soon as I get them.
Now, I just gotta remember what I did with my boat...
