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Thread: My Diving Experiences

  1. #11
    Senior Member Tradd's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Teacher Terry View Post
    I grew up on a lake but don't like to be under water very far. I attribute that to my older brother holding me under against my will and feeling like I was drowning. so I know just what you mean about that. My sister had the gag reflex you mention so could not wear top dentures and had to get all implants.
    I learned to swim as a teenager via a class at the Y. The regular parks and rec dept swim lessons when I was 5 or 6 just didn't "take" for some reason. Anyway, in the Y class, at the end of the first class meeting, they literally pushed you off the low diving board into the deep end. An instructor was down below with a bunch of kick boards floating around to grab onto. I think that's what got my fear going, more than anything else. Plus, I remember seeing a 20/20 story 25+ years ago about pool drains that had too much suction and would rip out the insides of kids who sat on them (there's wasn't an auto shut down on the system like has to exist now). Stupid thing, but it freaked me out. Still kind of does. Pools don't have these kinds of drains anymore, regulations don't allow them, but dang, why that has stayed with me all this time, I have no clue. Lakes (I've never been on the ocean, just stuck my toes in the Atlantic last year) don't have drains.

  2. #12
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    Well that's just abuse. You'd think the Y would know better. Wow.

  3. #13
    Senior Member Tradd's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Tammy View Post
    Well that's just abuse. You'd think the Y would know better. Wow.
    This was about 1982 or so.

  4. #14
    Senior Member Tradd's Avatar
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    Somewhere else I hang out online, that has a number of divers, suggested I check out a "Discover Scuba" class offered by a lot of dive shops. It's about an hour and you just get introduced to the basics, how you breathe underwater, etc. Might be something to check out just for the experience of it.
    Last edited by Tradd; 7-27-16 at 8:00pm.

  5. #15
    Senior Member Tradd's Avatar
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    I'm signed up for a Discover Scuba course in a couple of weeks. It's done in a pool. I'm actually really looking forward to it and excited to try it. My guy is very excited I'm trying this. I simply told him his talk about it piqued my interest, I did research, and decided to try it. He's great at answering questions. So who knows what will happen once I try it. At worst, I've tried something new. At best, I have another hobby!

  6. #16
    Senior Member razz's Avatar
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    Sounds like fun and that you are ready for a new adventure.
    As Cicero said, “Gratitude is not only the greatest of virtues, but the parent of all the others.”

  7. #17
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    Yay!

  8. #18
    Senior Member Tradd's Avatar
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    Intro class is tomorrow evening (got rescheduled from original date). I'm so looking forward to it. I'll have the instructor to myself.

  9. #19
    Senior Member jp1's Avatar
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    As someone who almost drowned at age 20 because I didn't know how to deal with an undertow in the ocean I also now have a fear of open water (I'm fine with pools) that didn't exist before. I have, however, done 2 intro to Scuba classes/dives while on vacation in a couple of tropical locations and have really enjoyed it. I know everyone is different but for me about 2 minutes after I get under the water I totally forget about it because there's so much to see.

    Good luck and hope you have fun tomorrow!

  10. #20
    Senior Member Tradd's Avatar
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    Took me about 20 minutes to get the underwater breathing thing down, and a bit more to get the buoyancy thing down, but once I did, I was cruising around the pool. They had to kick me out! I'm signing up for the certification class on Saturday! I'm glad I did the Discover Scuba class first, so I could get a taste of it, without being thrown into the deep end (so to speak) in the open water class (the certification class). The first pool day of an OW class was going on at the same time. There was a woman, a little older than me, so early 50s, taking the OW class with her husband. She was really scared. What really frightened her was the thought of going in the deep end and having to stay down, not being able to come up when she wanted. So, she was sent over to the instructor doing my Discover Scuba class. It was nice to have a buddy. She had the mask clearing down cold and I sort of stink at it.

    We stayed in the shallow end (no deeper than 5'), which was fine with me. When I got near the drop off for the deep end, it was almost like staring into the abyss! I have to admit I was somewhat scared at first, but I got over it.

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