Sauerkraut
Guest
It was July 2009. I was starting my first semester of college at Fullerton College. As i looked through my class catalog I came across a scuba class. Not thinking much of it, i continued looking through the book.
A couple days later, i was still looking for 1 more 3 credit class to add, and i just decided to jump in and do it. I had never been diving before, or snorkeling for that matter. So, i was naturally a little apprehensive.
The class moved at a great pace. And after the very first class, I knew this was going to be something I loved. The curriculum lasted the entire semester (a month) and i had 2 classes a week. On the weekends the DM, Rhett Price, offered beach dives at Laguna, and even provided all the necessary equipment.
At the end of the class, we got to go on a boat dive on the Bottomscratcher out of San Pedro. Naturally, i was excited. We arrived at Isthmus Reef and finished getting ready. When the time came for us students to start jumping in, i could swear i could hear bagpipes. I looked to see if there was someone playing, or if it was just a ghost from Davy Jones Locker. The captain had played us off. I think i saw a video on youtube of the same thing for another class. The dive went well, aside from
me getting wrapped up in some line on the surface.
Back in Fullerton a couple days later we had to take our final. It consisted of both a written and skills test. I was naturally nervous, it sounded like a lot of people had flunked the skills test before. Soon it was my turn to jump into the pool. I pointed my fins over the edge of the pool. Checked my mask, checked my air, looked straightforward and stepped in. Right when I hit the water I knew I had already messed up. I felt stupid, I had forgot to put my reg in my mouth. I looked embarrassed and cursed under my breath, before putting the reg in my mouth and descending. I was determined to make up for that mistake. I felt really confident in my skills underwater, especially buoyancy, which a lot of other students were having trouble with. Not to my luck, and not to sound disrespectful, but I was paired with one of the students who had not done too well in the class. We started our test.
Mask clear - No problem
Reg Clear- Check
Buddy Breathing - Check, though i had to correct a couple times, which gave me extra points.
and so on and so forth. When we got to Octo-Transport is when things really went down hill. I literally had to correct about every movement she made. From letting go of my BC, to not switching sides, to actually leading.
At the end of the test i was feeling pretty low. I was sure i had failed.
But, to my surpise, I had passed! With excellent marks, besides my early fault, and the couple drops of pool-water that were still in my mask from the clear test.
The girl i was partnered with, wasnt so lucky. But, i was now a NAUI certified O/W diver with 5 dives under my belt.
And thats my story. I havnt been diving since Catalina in July, but really want to get back out. I tried joining a dive club. I went to the local club house/diveshop, payed my $20 membership fee. Then never saw any of the members again. I guess its my own fault for not attending the meetings. Too be honest, it was just hard to get into the club by myself, esspecially with most members being babyboomers, no offense of course, and me being 19 at the time. My buddy from class that i had dove with on all our class dives had moved to NJ, and none of my friends or girlfriend wanted to learn. So, as of now, still buddyless, and clubless. Looking forward to posting with the rest of you So. Cal. bottom dwellers. Thanks!
A couple days later, i was still looking for 1 more 3 credit class to add, and i just decided to jump in and do it. I had never been diving before, or snorkeling for that matter. So, i was naturally a little apprehensive.
The class moved at a great pace. And after the very first class, I knew this was going to be something I loved. The curriculum lasted the entire semester (a month) and i had 2 classes a week. On the weekends the DM, Rhett Price, offered beach dives at Laguna, and even provided all the necessary equipment.
At the end of the class, we got to go on a boat dive on the Bottomscratcher out of San Pedro. Naturally, i was excited. We arrived at Isthmus Reef and finished getting ready. When the time came for us students to start jumping in, i could swear i could hear bagpipes. I looked to see if there was someone playing, or if it was just a ghost from Davy Jones Locker. The captain had played us off. I think i saw a video on youtube of the same thing for another class. The dive went well, aside from
me getting wrapped up in some line on the surface.
Back in Fullerton a couple days later we had to take our final. It consisted of both a written and skills test. I was naturally nervous, it sounded like a lot of people had flunked the skills test before. Soon it was my turn to jump into the pool. I pointed my fins over the edge of the pool. Checked my mask, checked my air, looked straightforward and stepped in. Right when I hit the water I knew I had already messed up. I felt stupid, I had forgot to put my reg in my mouth. I looked embarrassed and cursed under my breath, before putting the reg in my mouth and descending. I was determined to make up for that mistake. I felt really confident in my skills underwater, especially buoyancy, which a lot of other students were having trouble with. Not to my luck, and not to sound disrespectful, but I was paired with one of the students who had not done too well in the class. We started our test.
Mask clear - No problem
Reg Clear- Check
Buddy Breathing - Check, though i had to correct a couple times, which gave me extra points.
and so on and so forth. When we got to Octo-Transport is when things really went down hill. I literally had to correct about every movement she made. From letting go of my BC, to not switching sides, to actually leading.
At the end of the test i was feeling pretty low. I was sure i had failed.
But, to my surpise, I had passed! With excellent marks, besides my early fault, and the couple drops of pool-water that were still in my mask from the clear test.
The girl i was partnered with, wasnt so lucky. But, i was now a NAUI certified O/W diver with 5 dives under my belt.
And thats my story. I havnt been diving since Catalina in July, but really want to get back out. I tried joining a dive club. I went to the local club house/diveshop, payed my $20 membership fee. Then never saw any of the members again. I guess its my own fault for not attending the meetings. Too be honest, it was just hard to get into the club by myself, esspecially with most members being babyboomers, no offense of course, and me being 19 at the time. My buddy from class that i had dove with on all our class dives had moved to NJ, and none of my friends or girlfriend wanted to learn. So, as of now, still buddyless, and clubless. Looking forward to posting with the rest of you So. Cal. bottom dwellers. Thanks!
