A note: If you came here looking to follow the process from beginning to end, you need to read from the bottom up.

August 20, 2006: Certified! (Or certifiable?)

This was it, the big weekend! It's a totally fulfilling feeling, getting to this point.

I set out yesterday morning to Joe's Falling Rock Quarry (I think that's the name of it, anyway) to touch my fins in the water of my first actual open water experience. We met our instructor at 10, and after a few instructions (and actually, after another group... there were two of them, and I was in the second one) we hopped in. It was a totally different experience than the pool, of course. Visibility was a major issue, and I see now why being good at controlling buoyancy is such a big issue. Every time somebody would kick some stuff up, it was GOODBYE visibility. We got through day one, though... a lot of the skills we did in the pool, we now did in open water, and as long as you keep your head clear, it was no problem. Visiting the thermocline (the line in the water where the temperature drops abruptly) was a new and strange experience the first time that I did it, but once I adjusted, it was just a part of the experience.

Day 2 (today) and dives 3 and 4 was the real defining moment. Our instructor took us down to some really neat stuff they have sunk in the quarry... a cabin cruiser that's upside down, a couple statues in the water. More activities that we had done in the pool, and some compass stuff that we hadn't. Then on dive 4, our instructor had us all at our 15 foot safety stop, and he came around and started shaking our hands. Could it be? It was! We had made it!

I had topped off my tank at the dive shop the night before to be ready for this moment... and now being a Certified Open Water Diver, I of course wanted to do a trip on my own. I still suck air like a vacuum cleaner, so I ditched the tank from the morning's class dives and pulled out a fresh, full tank for my first venture out on my own. Well, with my buddy, but you get the idea. We went out and checked out a police cruiser that's on the bottom of the quarry, another boat, and several fish. (Going eye to eye with a bluegill is a really interesting experience...) My class dive buddy Frank and I went all over, looking at all the cool stuff there, basically until my air reached the point where I had to come out. (He, of course, had a lot more left than me.) Turns out our first dive on our own had been close to an hour. I must have been having a really great time, because it didn't seem nearly that long to me.

I'm there! It's been a fun journey, of course, but now the real challenge... finding people to go with and places to go. I've heard some good places around here, which I'll readily document, but it's gonna be a few weeks. I can't wait. It really is a whole new world, and the feeling of being down there is unreal. Hopefully, this is just the beginning of a great new horizon for me.

August 11, 2006 (two days after) Night 4 of dive class

The last night of dive class was surprisingly easy. We took the last, 50-question test, which I actually only missed one question on. Then it was off to the pool, where we did some snorkel skills, took off BC and weight belt in the water, good stuff like that. I also decided to try that falling-back entry again, and apparently I still made a pretty good splash, even though I bent my legs this time... my instructor got another pretty good laugh out of it.

We actually finished early, and since we still had the pool (we did, anyway, after we successfully won a battle for space against some water aerobic women, who DIDN'T pay for the pool) the instructor let us practice skills some more. I did a ton of buoyancy stuff, practiced the heck out of fin pivots and hovers.

It's now a week from the end of this whole process, and I'm now starting to think about what I'm going to do with this new skill once I've gotten my certification dives out of the way. I really want to stay in good practice. There's a dive club locally that I've heard keeps you in the water, so I may join that. I really need to find ways to dive places that don't cost that much... and I think there are a good number of those locally. Laurel Lake, Green River Lake, I already mentioned them... just gotta find somebody to go with. Hopefully, I'll be able to rope my ol' pal Patrick into it.

And then there's training beyond what I already have. I think it's a given at this point that I'll be shooting for my Advanced Open Water certification next summer, if not possibly before, so that I can get a taste of some new skills. I'm really dying to try out wreck diving and some search and recovery stuff. Advanced certification lets you go deeper safely as well, which couldn't hurt.

It's a costly hobby, that's for sure. I'm finding some good alternatives for gear that brings that cost down, but it's still not cheap. Nonetheless, my resolve remains intact. Having gotten mask, fins, snorkel, and wetsuit, my instructor tells me that my next big investment is a dive computer. (Good to get acquainted with the same one so you know it well, instead of renting all the time.) Before that, though, I'll probably go ahead and get a couple smaller things, like my save-a-dive kit, dive knife, and probably a separate, wrist-mounted compass away from my computer. Just want to have those separate. Then, of course, it would probably be cool to have a watch I can dive in, as well as use in day-to-day stuff. Told you it was a costly hobby.

So anyway... around this time next week, I'll be reporting how open water dives went... and I'm sure it will be great. Finally getting that PADI card in the mail is going to be like getting a college diploma. Actually, I've probably put more work into those than most of my college stuff. :)

August 9, 2006: (two days after) Night 3 of dive class

I can't believe tonight is my last night in the pool! First things first, though... I have to report the events of my third dive.

I got a real compliment from my instructor, actually. We were doing some swimming around, sort of a 'free time to practice skills' thing, and my instructor snuck around behind me and turned my air off. (This isn't like a joke or something he was trying to put over on me, it was a part of an earlier exercise.) I signaled 'out of air' and he turned it back on. When we got out for the evening, I told him I didn't know he was going around doing that. He said he didn't do it for everyone, just for me, because he knew I could handle it. I consider that high praise.

Not to say I'm a perfect diver... in fact, I comically messed up the first assignment of the evening. We were practicing a sort of falling backwards entry-- basically, turning around with your back to the water, bending your legs, and dropping in. I did all that except the bending the legs part. So a 250-lb guy with 45 lbs of gear basically did a giant backwards flop into the water. My mask came off (luckily I was holding onto it) and, to quote my instructor, I "got the ceiling wet." The splash must have been a spectacle to see.

We did a lot of buoyancy exercises, which I found to be incredibly cool... being able to hover at a certain depth continuously really gives you a feeling of weightlessness. I got the hang of that pretty well, I think. It's one of the most important skills you need (to keep from dropping into a reef or something), so I'd like to think I'm well on the way to being a pretty good diver. Or maybe I'm just deluded. :)

I'm signed up for the certification dives already. I'm pumped to finally get finished with the course and get into my own dives... I wanna hit Green River Lake, where I grew up, and I also hear that Laurel Lake is a good local spot with some great visibility. The quarry in Lagrange is first spot for cert dives, though, and rest assured I'll report how that goes.

One more night in the pool. Shoo. It seems to have passed so quickly. I still love it, though... no fervor has been lost for the sport yet. Open water, here I come!

August 3, 2006: Night 2 of Dive Class

Night #2 was even better than the first night, I'll have to say. One thing I'm definitely going to have to work on, though... I'm an air hog. One of the girls in our class ended up with 2000 psi of air left last night... I ended up in the red well under 500. I guess I'm definitely getting my money's worth on the air, anyway. Gotta work on that, though. We practiced the free-flowing regulator last night, and I did it like 4 times... so that certainly ate up a lot of the air. Had a good time either way. We even got 30 minutes in the pool just to swim around and practice whatever skills we needed to, which was awesome. I finally got to spend some time just swimming in my fins... which was surprisingly the only thing I haven't gotten to do much of yet.

Once again, the only problem to report came outside the pool... I had a major fight with my regulator, getting that crazy thing attached correctly. Finally got it on and figured out.

Haven't said much about my dive master... he's been really great. His style is pretty laid back, which leaves freedom even for stupid questions. (Not that I would EVER ask one of those...) Plus, he's an EMT, he dives for dead bodies and stuff... lot of great stories to tell, I'm sure. Definitely not a guy who only gets to the pool when he's teaching... he does this stuff all the time.

Alas, it's 4 days until my next class. However shall I survive? I'll have to swim some laps in the pool at lunch today.

Conversation started up last night among the students as to why folks are taking this class. Future dives and all that. One guy is an engineer, taking it for work (who's paying for the class, grr). A housewife who's taking it for fun. One guy who's going on a cruise and needs it to dive when he gets to the bahamas. Then there's another engineer who'd not taking it for work, just for kicks. And me, of course... taking it because I'm looking for a new frontier to blaze. It's always interesting to hear what brings a group of people like that together, especially for something that you can't just walk in and do. Then of course, I'm totally jealous of folks who have a job that includes diving... I may have to consider a career change. :)

The new bag was perfect, by the way. It was super easy to just throw everything in and run after the class was over... let me once again recommend large canvas laundry backbacks to everyone out there listening.

August 2, 2006: The Cheapskate Takes Some Shortcuts

Haven't been to class yet, but I have dropped in to talk about gear. Again. Yes, again.

The way I see it, there are two types of people in the world... those who brag about how much money they spend, and those who brag about how much money they save. And maybe those who don't brag at all... but let's not mess up my rare line of thought. I'm that second guy... the cheapskate who waits until the stuff goes on clearance. Anyway.

I discovered at my first class that my gear bag needs to be in a backpack. For my own uses, anyway. You have a BC and regulator to carry, you have a tank... that stuff can pretty much take 2 hands. For first class, I had all my stuff in a duffel bag... the one that just has handles on it. So I decided, it's time for a backpack. No more multiple trips to the van for me.

I was at my friendly neighborhood Meijer today, where it just happens to be "Back to School" craze season. I though, surely I'll be able to find something easily under those circumstances. And indeed I did... lots of really stylish, and pretty small, bags for anywhere from $20 - $50. And did I mention I was a cheapskate? No way, said I. We shall not pay these prices for this little impish backpack.

I looked at a couple other options, most of which were in the sporting goods, until I thought maybe my ideal bag might lie in the laundry section. I pictured a simple mesh bag, nothing fancy, and was by this point just trying to get something lighter, perhaps. In the laundry section, what to my wandering eyes should appear... a laundry bag made of canvas, a HUGE one that holds up to 2 loads (or 2 fins, whichever come first), with a handy little pouch on the front that will be ideal for my save-a-dive kit and any manner of tools that I get. (Case in point: that pouch was as big as some of the backpacks in school supplies.) It was no small joy to see that it also had shoulder straps, completing the short list of needs I had.

I lucked out on hangers too... shelling out $10 for a hanger that's just for a wetsuit is not high on the cheapskate's priority list, but I still want to take care of my stuff... I found heavy plastic hangers that are as wide as my shoulders, and I got 3 of them. $2, and if you hang them together, they're at least as deep as the wetsuit hanger. We'll see how that comes out... if I make a mistake and ruin the suit, you may learn from my mistakes.

Second night of class is in three and a half hours! I hope I don't explode from the excitement...

August 1, 2006: First Night of Class

Last night was it! One of those very monumental days, as I see it. It was the first time I ever put a regulator in my mouth, fins on my feet, and a mask on my face, and submerged to breathe in a swimming pool.

Before I go any farther with that, let me again sing the praises of the Oceanic Mako mask. Not only did it make a great seal with my face, but I was reminded of the importance of getting a good mask by the guys in my class. They got the super-cheap kits that had mask and snorkel in them (this isn't an insult to those guys) and quickly found that they had difficulty clearing their ears because of an inset nosepiece... consequently, they couldn't pinch their nose much at all, and had difficulty with their ears all night. My advice as pertains to that: if you must cut the budget, cut it on the fins (they're way more expensive anyway) and by all means, cut it on the snorkel. Get the optimal experience with your mask, for a wide array of reasons, not the least of which being, that's the thing you're going to notice problems with the most often. And now I put away the soapbox.

After a brief classroom experience, we headed out to our local YMCA (young man, there's no need to feel down) to do some swimming, treading, and eventually, some diving. I have to say, even as excited as I was to get into the water, I still had a few irrational apprehensions left over. What if I just can't do it? What if I find out I hate it after all? Luckily, those were all put to rest as soon as we got in the water in full gear. Breathing through the regulator felt as natural as breathing regularly. I didn't feel panicked even when we did the exercises with no air, taking off mask and regulator underwater... it was all a lot of fun, truly.

The only difficulty I had during the course of the evening was actually when I was out of the water. Attaching my tank to my BC became a real headache because I was trying to get a strap that needed adjusting over the tank, but still tried to convince myself I could do it without adjusting. After that troublesome hurdle had been jumped, though, it was all smooth sailing. Or floating, I should say. I can already sense a real love of this sport in me.

I'm already giving thought to more certifications... I'm totally fascinated by shipwrecks, but I'd also like to push this thing as far as I can. Getting a Master Diver certification is the dream now, but I know (mainly by virtue of class cost) that's a few years away yet. But let's not get too far ahead of ourselves, right? I just got wet 12 hours ago, after all. Let it come as it will.

My certification dives will happen the weekend of the 19th and the 20th, which means I'll be a card-carrying scuba diver on the 21st. I can barely contain my excitement. And I can hardly wait until tomorrow night to get back into the water. Yippee!

July 27, 2006: Trying Out Mask Clearing On My Own

My first class isn't until Monday, but I just had to try out one particular line of thought that I was having trouble wrapping my brain around. When buying my mask, I was told not to worry with a purge valve, as it was very simple to clear a mask of water, and also, in the words of my future dive buddy Patrick, "It's just one more thing to leak." So I took his advice blindly, bought a mask with no purge, and today tested the theory. To my amazement, the dive community is right, it works.

At the risk of looking like a dork, I took my mask to the Gold's Gym pool. (I've been swimming lots of laps to make sure I'm optimally prepared for my dive test.) I took a deep breath and pushed myself underwater, then flooded the mask. Holding the top of the mask against my head, I blew out through my nose and... voilà! The mask was clear! I have to say, I'm still a little amazed at the physics of it, but I probably don't need to devote any more space to that simple principal than I already have.

And the swimming thing... the open water certification requires swimming 200 meters... which is next to nothing, really... but I want to make sure I'm not at the bottom of the class. I've been swimming 800 meters at lunch almost every day, and I can tell a difference in my swimming proficiency just since I've started. My goal is to be able to swim the whole thing continuously on my stomach... you can swim it any way you want for the test, but I'm just like that, I guess.

Anyway, I've had my gear wet now at least... the Mako mask held up VERY well, even in 4 feet of water... it didn't leak a bit. Here's to taking the advice of people who have been doing a given activity longer than you. Perhaps tomorrow, I'll try the fins out in the pool.

Other progress I haven't reported... reading through the book is coming along fine. I still have a chapter to finish and a test to take before Monday, but no worries. I'm still fascinated enough by all this stuff that the drive to finish strong is still in me.

July 20, 2006: Getting the Gear

I picked up my wetsuit yesterday! The Oceanic Ultra 3/2 is now mine. I tried it on, of course, and it's a great fit. On that note, let me just say a bit about sizing... the size charts aren't necessarily always accurate. I'm 6'5", 260 lbs, but I have a moderately athletic build. By the size chart, going by height and weight alone, I would have been in a 3XL or even possibly a 4XL. Unless you factor in waist size... and that's really what it is. This suit fits me like a glove (a very hot glove), even though my weight is higher than the scale. So if you're a new diver looking at a wetsuit, let me encourage you to go by the height and waist/ chest size before you go looking at the weight. That's the advice of the day, it worked for me.

The Mako mask also came in yesterday, a great fit and a fantastic looking mask. I owe Patrick a great debt of gratitude for pointing me in the direction of the Oceanic brand in general.

I can already see that I'm going to need a second alternative for exposure coverage in the summer. That suit is so stinkin' hot... I tried on yesterday and sweated for ten minutes AFTER I took it off. Given, I haven't been in the water yet, but I'm thinking I'm gonna be needing trunks and a rash guard for a lot of my June and July dives. Or maybe I'll totally change my mind after I, you know... get in the water. :)

To combine both my enthusiasm for diving and my enthusiasm for graphic design, I've designed a little diving logo. Don't know if this one will be something I use to identify myself or anything... but it's on a sticker, and if you're a dive enthusiast, you can order one for yourself from CafePress by clicking here. I didn't make any markup for this one, so it's all for fun and not to make me rich. If you'd RATHER make me rich, just send me money directly. :)

July 13b: Answering the Exceed question

I emailed Exceed Wetsuits about that surf vs. scuba issue on their suits... basically saying that I thought their suits were super-fly but I was concerned they weren't suited for diving needs. The vice president of the company (yeah, it's a small company, but still..) emailed me back and assured me that, indeed, "We at EXCEED are big divers and love to get wet when we can. I get emails everyday from divers about how they love our suits. I am not aware of any websites that have reviewed our suits though. We use the best materials for a great fit. All the suits are extremely stretchy and comfortable. Our suits are made foremost for Scuba. This is 90% of our market."

So I'm pretty impressed with their designs AND their dedication to answer questions for potential customers. Plus, he fully addressed that concern. I already sprung for the Oceanic suit (which I most certainly do not regret) but it looks like, sometime in the near future (and by near, I mean a year or so from now) I may give them a shot as well. Never can have enough wetsuits, right? :)

July 13, 2006: A bit more about gear.

This post may be boring for any non-divers out there, but for those who may be at the point I'm at when writing this entry, I hope this helps.

I've got all my gear in hand or on order, which means I've waded through much information and a ton of gear to come up with what I've decided to buy. Being a tightwad, but wanting to get gear that I won't have to replace anytime soon... those were my big deciding factors. On to the details.

Through this whole process, I've discovered a couple companies that I really (though having yet to use their equipment) seem to stand out. ScubaBoard.com has been a tremendous help. It's an online message board where divers both seasoned and new can come together and share every aspect of the diving world, including one board that features discussions with some manufacturers. That section of the board, just by looking at the number of posts on that board, you get an idea of three makers off the bat who converse well with their customers, and on that front, it's Zeagle, Oceanic, and Mares. This was pretty important to me; I like to feel like I'm buying from a company that gives a rip whether or not I'm satisfied with their product. These three instantly moved to the top of the pile. I looked around at what they had to offer and prices, and found a few almost indistinct differences. First, I took Zeagle out because they're mostly in the BC game, and don't dabble much in other areas. (I'm not planning on buying a BC anytime soon, but they look like a good choice for that.) That left me with Oceanic and Mares.

My local dive shop (LDS) is an authorized dealer for both those lines. I went in and tried on the Mares Avanti Quattro ABS fins and one other pair that was way more expensive. The guy in the shop told me that while the Mares fins weren't the best for speed (which I don't think is an issue anyway), they're a good all-around fin. I came back after and found out that the stabilizing and channeling system those fins offer is rather unique, and makes them a good buy. So I was good to go. Paid a little extra at my LDS than I would have online, but the extra advice and trying them on made it worth my money.

I bought a snorkel while I was there too... I don't even remember the brand, but it's a large bore snorkel and it has the drop-away mouthpiece. I don't plan on using it much, so that's all the space I'm gonna give for that. My best advice to new divers: don't blow the budget on the snorkel.

You have to have a mask, fins, and snorkel for the class... so the mask was the last of my required gear that I bought. My future dive buddy directed me toward the Oceanic Mako mask, and after playing around with the decision for about a week, I decided to go with his suggestion. I ordered it from my LDS for a couple reasons... one, they're matching the internet price I found, and two, them being an authorized dealer means I can take it back there if something falls off. (And of course, it helps, you know, keep them in business and all that.) The Mako seems to be a good, meat-and-potatoes sort of mask, and my dive buddy assured me that his was highly reliable. I considered a couple more, even got close to buying the Cressi-Sub Big Eyes, mainly because visibility is a big issue for me. My DB pointed out, though, that having a mask that's opaque black up the sides can amount to tunnel vision, so I went back to the Mako. Looks like a good choice... but I'm looking forward to getting in the water so I can actually give an accurate report of its reliability.

A wetsuit was my next purchase. I didn't have to buy one of these for the class, but I wanted to because, frankly, the thought of renting one, sort of grosses me out. "There are two types of divers: those who pee in their wetsuits and those who lie about it." 'Nuff sed. At any rate, I probably spent more time researching wetsuits than anything else.

I found one that I really, REALLY liked the look of-- the Exceed Execute. It's the coolest suit that I've seen by far. In the end, though, I moved away from it mainly because the company's fairly new and seems to specialize more in surfing than diving. I gave consideration to the Mares Tropic (mainly because of the brand), Neosport by Henderson (because it was a 2-piece option), but finally settled on the Oceanic 3/2 Ultra. Why? I had read a lot of entries on ScubaBoard praising Oceanic, and at this point, am not seeing too much reason to look elsewhere. The price was the same on all 3, but the look (hey, I'm a graphic designer) and features of the Oceanic suit put me over the top. I again looked to my LDS, because the price match puts them on par or even below the internet price, and I'll get it sooner.

So that's where I am with gear. Hope this has helped some folks out. I'll say that I haven't gotten gloves or a hood yet, and those items are probably going to be necessities before my first open-water dive, so I'll keep you updated.

On the extended view... I don't plan on buying a BCD, tank, or regulator really soon. BCD, maybe in a couple months if I can afford it. Tank, possibly never. My DB says he always rents his. We'll see how it works out... I hope to be able to dive often, but if that's not possible, renting is far cheaper. I haven't researched BCDs much at all, so I'll be updating this blog when I find out who I think is endorsable. It's something I'd like eventually, just so I can get one with built-in weight pockets, but those things can be pretty dang expensive.

That's all for now...stay tuned for more hopefully useful info.

July 10, 2006: The decision is made.

A page has turned. I'm adding actual, unique adventure to my life.

I've been reading Wild at Heart by John Eldredge, and it's sparked the realization of a need I have, and didn't realize I had until I gave it some thought. It's the need for adventure. The need for something to chase after, something that's hard to do and yet accomplishable.

To fill this empty spot, I've chosen diving. No, not jumping off a board and doing some flips and stuff. Strapping 50 pounds of gear to myself, jumping into 100 feet of water (or 60, as the first certification will provide), and puttering around.

It's opened a whole new realm of possibilities. Not just the certification, the levels you can achieve and all that, but the possibility of doing something that not everyone does, and that requires discipline and training. Something mildly dangerous, but just safe enough to keep Heather from worrying to death about me. I start my Open Water Diver's Certification in 2 weeks... and on this here blog, I hope to document the process of new eyes opening, new experiences felt.

Thus far, it's a lot of book stuff. I have 3 chapters to read and a video to watch, that basically goes over all the fundamentals of water physics and the gear you need to operate in the water. It's a lot to remember, but I just keep thinking about that payoff. Someday, hopefully not too far off, I'll be diving a shipwreck or a reef and thinking, Yeah, this was worth it.

Also in the works is actually getting my gear. I have to have a mask, fins, and snorkel for the class... so I'm trying to do as much research as I can to make a good decision about what to get. I have a friend that's a certified diver that's helping some, and he pointed me in the direction of the Oceanic Mako mask, which I've got on order from my local dive shop. Looks like a winner in terms of utility, ease of use and durability. I got a pretty cheap snorkel (the low end of the high end, I guess you could say) because I don't plan on doing much actual snorkeling, and adding features is something I'd rather do on the gear that I'm using more. Still, it's a good one, has a bottom purge and a splash guard and all that. Just enough to fill the bill.

I splurged just a little bit on the fins. Mares Quattro is my choice (in blue, by the way), the guy at the shop says they're good for puttering around, but not for absolute speed. Pretty much 'zactly what I needed.

Now I've got my eye on a wetsuit. I'm an artist, so I'm of course looking for something a little above average, and I happened across the Exceed Execute suit... and it's flippin' awesome. Utility and beauty, for sure. I'm waiting for Leisure Pro to pick up my size, and I'm still checking the reliability of the brand, but it's looking like that's gonna be my suit.

So that's where I am. My fins have yet to touch water, but I'm shopping. I can't wait until I have something else cool to report.