how i met my first (dive buddy)

Dashrynn · Post by **Dashrynn** » Thu Sep 16, 2010 5:42 pm

I was thinking about a someone mentioning their first dive buddy and thought...hmm I wonder how everyone's first buddy dive/experience was.

I'll start by telling my story about mine. I met my first dive buddy through my command, I was already friends with him but never knew he was a diver til half way through my cert, when I told him I was gonna be a super bad a$$ diver. Then mildly he replied he was a diver from Florida and had only 15 dives.

Day after day passed we talked about all these cool sites we would dive, finally the day came that I finished my cert. We planned on diving a shallow place named rosario beach. We had heard that it sucked but, being adventurous we didn't care we wanted to explore and didn't care where (as long as it was safe).

Gearing up we showed no signs of fear, just happiness and anxiousness to dive into murky waters. Long dive short we found some rock formations, fish and help.

After the dive all we could say was wow that was awesome dude. His enthusiasm and common sense made those dives exciting but not the best dive of my life.

spudgunman · Post by **spudgunman** » Thu Sep 16, 2010 5:56 pm

I met her in a bar, later we were married

when it comes to dive fun.. it was about 12 hours before we flew out to the bahamas, I said I want to try and get dive c-card she said I was nuts. I started studying like a mad fool with PADI online

I contacted a dive shop that had good reviews and asked if we could do this.. the lady thought I was crazy but said if you can then we can

after that we flew out had a 6 hour layover on the east coast, study study.. know what your wife hates.. studying about things she didnt want to do while tired and cranky in the airport!

study study.

she passed the test about 2AM on sunday in the bahamas we woke up at 9am and did pool dives in true PNDN training I was open water by noon, Monday at 10am I was C-Card and we were OW diving on tuesday

I met Bob on the large nationwide scuba fourm while trying to learn what we didnt know sitting on my couch in the bahamas. Bob, who is my offical non wife first buddy, so far we havent gotten married we will see how the future goes ..ha

Blaiz · Post by **Blaiz** » Thu Sep 16, 2010 10:38 pm

I didn't know a damn soul who dove besides me. After moping around my LDS for four days after getting my OW, the dive shop guy suckered some poor bastard into agreeing to take me to some place called Rosario beach. The awesome part was my intro to scootering on my first open water dive! Less awesome was that my slightly loose neck seal let all that fast scootered water in.. brrrr. I still wonder how much he paid you for that, dash

Dashrynn · Post by **Dashrynn** » Thu Sep 16, 2010 11:00 pm

Blaiz wrote:I didn't know a damn soul who dove besides me. After moping around my LDS for four days after getting my OW, the dive shop guy suckered some poor bastard into agreeing to take me to some place called Rosario beach. The awesome part was my intro to scootering on my first open water dive! Less awesome was that my slightly loose neck seal let all that fast scootered water in.. brrrr. I still wonder how much he paid you for that, dash

Only the one time fee of $99.99 then there's battery fees and air and towing charges and and and stuff lol

Remember how he scolded me for taking u with me hahahahaha

LCF · Post by **LCF** » Fri Sep 17, 2010 12:02 am

Well, my first dive buddy was my husband, since we took the class together.

But my first real "dive buddy", in terms of someone I went on to dive with on a regular basis, was someone I originally met briefly at a ScubaBoard "Orca Bait" dive, although he wasn't my buddy and I hardly talked to him. But both of us went on to take GUE Fundamentals, me in November and him in January. One of my classmates was one of his good friends, and both of us apparently bugged Leigh all the time to get out and practice. Finally, he wrote to us and said, "I'm burned out on practicing, and both of you are driving me crazy, why don't you get together?" So we met for an ill-timed dive on an ultra-low tide at Edmonds Underwater Park, and everything we tried to do went haywire. It was a match made in heaven; we have since logged probably a hundred or more dives together, taken multiple classes and trips together, and will be cave diving in Mexico in November.

spatman · Post by **spatman** » Fri Sep 17, 2010 7:11 am

my first dive buddy was a friend i had known for years. we dived together a few times, until one day he had a problem underwater and freaked out. he bolted away from me and never looked back as i chased him to keep up. he eventually ran out of gas and corked from about 40fsw.

amazingly no one was hurt. for a few weeks after that event, i tried to talk to him about it and figure out what happened, and how to prevent it in the future. it seemed he really wasn't interested in knowing, and repeatedly shrugged me off. well, he's no longer my dive buddy and not really a friend anymore.

but thanks to nwdc i have plenty of awesome people i respect as divers as well as friends!

Joshua Smith · Post by **Joshua Smith** » Fri Sep 17, 2010 7:40 am

After finishing OW and AOW back-to-back, I found myself to be an ADVANCED open water diver, with a total of 10 dives in my log, and no dive buddies. A quick trip to teh googles helped me to find this site, where I was the 30-somethingth diver to register. I invited myself along on what was then a weekly cove 2 dive, where I met Calvin. Calvin took pity on me and my rented wetsuit, and started showing me the ropes....

girldiver · Post by **girldiver** » Fri Sep 17, 2010 7:52 am

I was blessed. I took Open Water, Advanced Open Water, Peak Buoyancy and...then didn't have a buddy. I really, really wanted to be an instructor, so in order to do that, you need to dive, right?

Enter Valerie and Jackie. My first "non-class" dive was with Valerie and Jackie when they taught me how to be a (in Valeries words...) "GirlDiver". She had a whole list of things "girldivers" do...they drink hot tea between dives, they kick slowly out to the dive site not leaving their buddies behind, etc.

Then...Jackie did this way cool descent going head down first!! Of course, thinking this was cool, I tried it. Only to end up on the surface with all the air in my drysuit boots stuck. Valerie and Jackie quickly came up...righted me...and continued on our dive.

I owe alot to those two...as diving DID NOT come naturally to me. Anyone who dove with me in my early days had to help out alot!! But thankfully, the kindness and patience of the scuba world allowed me to eventually become a "diver" and an instructor.

But Jackie and Valerie will always be my fav's!!

lizard0924 · Post by **lizard0924** » Fri Sep 17, 2010 8:25 am

Psundquist was my original dive buddy, and is still my main buddy today. He encouraged me to get certified in 2007, long after my first ill-fated attempt at a resort course in 1998 in St. Lucia on our honeymoon. Thankfully, in 2007 at a boat show in Racine, WI, Paul and I ran into his college scuba instructor who I immediately felt comfortable with. So I agreed to try one more time and the rest is, as they say, history. I even survived a God-awful, cold, zero viz Wisconsin quarry in a wetsuit to get my OW certification. (The promise of a Cozumel trip as my reward was a powerful motivator.)

So, I owe a lot to my first (and still #1) dive buddy. Thanks, Paul!

mz53480 · Post by **mz53480** » Fri Sep 17, 2010 8:43 am

Good post Dash!

My aunt & uncle. They got me interested. I'd always go over to their house and see all the cool dive stuff & vids.
Finally, got my OW cert (and a drysuit) and started diving with them since about 2000. I initially did more boat diving (on the 'old' Down Time) than shore diving. Eventually, PapaZ joined us and now we're one big happy group of buddies when we all get to dive together.

Pez7378 · Post by **Pez7378** » Fri Sep 17, 2010 2:36 pm

My first dive buddy was a guy I went to school with. We certified in '96 and did one unsupervised dive together at Kayak Point chasing Crab around in 20 fsw. That day we returned our rented gear never to dive again.

Fast forward to 2006. Fishtiq invited me to go scuba diving with him. I found my old C-card and He had a bunch of Pink gear for me to borrow. We went out to kayak Point and chased crab around in 20 fsw. Joe collected rocks and It seemed diving was a lot more fun than I remember from 10 years ago. After corking from 40 fsw at the Muk walls, I started cruising the internets and found a forum where Dsteding suggested I take a class from GratefulDiver. After a series of emails Bob met me at Mukilteo and became my third dive buddy, and eventually my Instructor.

After AOW with Doug and Bob I found NWDC and met up with Burntchef at Edmonds. This would be the first time I ever dove with someone who I never met before. Howard and I had a good dive together and I learned that it was possible to dive with anyone and still have a great time.

scottsax · Post by **scottsax** » Fri Sep 17, 2010 3:06 pm

I got certified in 2006 with a friend's wife. We dove together unsupervised a couple times at cove 2-stumbled onto the Honey Bear and the pilings, saw some stuff. Our OW instructor had a crush on her, so he took her diving a LOT. Sometimes I went, but mostly I didn't. The last time I dove that first year was October, and after 1 dive, it took me the rest of the day to warm back up. I didn't dive again until August of 2007, when I bought my first drysuit. I didn't know anyone else to dive with, so unless I could make their dives, I didn't go.

At the same time, in February of 2008, I met my buddy Sheri through a mutual friend, and remembered the URL for NWDC. I met up with Sheri, Penelope, Pez, and Fishtiq at EUP and went diving for the first time with people I didn't know. Well, that was it. I had such a good time that I started meeting more folks for dives around the area....

Penopolypants · Post by **Penopolypants** » Fri Sep 17, 2010 3:08 pm

I met my first buddy when I came home from the hospital - she peeked under my baby blanket, looked at my feet, and exclaimed "She's got piggies too!". Not long after that she'd had enough of me and sold me to our dad's business partner for a quarter. Eventually my big sister decided that I was mostly okay and we got certified together five years ago. She moved to LA not long after that so we don't get to dive together much anymore, unfortunately.

John Rawlings · Post by **John Rawlings** » Fri Sep 17, 2010 3:16 pm

My first dive buddy was my instructor and owner of the Sea King Dive Shop in Gig Harbor.

He was arrested getting off a plane in Thailand and extradited back to the USA. He entered the Federal Witness Protection Program and I haven't seen him since! True story....too long to tell here.

- John

ktb · Post by **ktb** » Fri Sep 17, 2010 4:16 pm

My mom had been bugging me to get certified for years as she tries to dive in Hawaii every year. (She doesn't do cold water.) But it took a friend saying he was going to get back into diving after several years away to make me think, "Why haven't I done this yet?" I've always had a love affair with the sea and sea critters, so what was I waiting for? This friend's wife, a mutual friend (NaR), Derrick (aka DBrown, aka my husband), and I all took OW together last spring. Although I love diving with pretty much anyone (yes, I've been called a dive slut--anytime, anywhere, any buddy--and I'm OK with that), I'm so glad I have Derrick as my #1 buddy. It makes planning for vacations SOOOOO much easier.

(Althought he mentioned one time that not ALL vacations need to be dive-related. I'm not sure I understand that logic.)

scottsax · Post by **scottsax** » Fri Sep 17, 2010 4:33 pm

ktb wrote:(Althought he mentioned one time that not ALL vacations need to be dive-related. I'm not sure I understand that logic.)

WTH, man!!!??? Hannah says the same thing to me!

ktb · Post by **ktb** » Fri Sep 17, 2010 4:39 pm

scottsax wrote:
ktb wrote:(Althought he mentioned one time that not ALL vacations need to be dive-related. I'm not sure I understand that logic.)
WTH, man!!!??? Hannah says the same thing to me!

Talk to him tomorrow, Scott. Tell him he's crazy. One movie-quotin' guy to another.

lizard0924 · Post by **lizard0924** » Fri Sep 17, 2010 5:00 pm

scottsax wrote:
ktb wrote:(Althought he mentioned one time that not ALL vacations need to be dive-related. I'm not sure I understand that logic.)
WTH, man!!!??? Hannah says the same thing to me!

That's the beauty of having a dive buddy/spouse who is MORE addicted than you. I cannot imagine Paul uttering those words....EVER. He's just the opposite.....in fact, he is lobbying for me to burn the rest of my sick days this year so we can squeeze in one more dive vacation.

ktb · Post by **ktb** » Fri Sep 17, 2010 5:01 pm

lizard0924 wrote:
scottsax wrote:
ktb wrote:(Althought he mentioned one time that not ALL vacations need to be dive-related. I'm not sure I understand that logic.)
WTH, man!!!??? Hannah says the same thing to me!
That's the beauty of having a dive buddy/spouse who is MORE addicted than you. I cannot imagine Paul uttering those words....EVER. He's just the opposite.....in fact, he is lobbying for me to burn the rest of my sick days this year so we can squeeze in one more dive vacation.

This is just part of what make Paul so utterly awesome.

WylerBear · Post by **WylerBear** » Fri Sep 17, 2010 6:39 pm

I was fortunate enough to take a Fish ID class straight out of OW. I didn't think I was fortunate at the time because I only took the class because I had an ear infection from the OW weekend and couldn't dive for a month. Anyway, in that class was Janna Nichols. Yay! After my ear was better, she took me on the certification dives and then consented to be (along with Claude Nichols and Mark Dixon) my dive buddy for many, many dives after that. Along the way, Janna taught me PPB, UW Photography and Invert ID, and a whole slew of DAN classes. I learned so much from her and credit her and Nicolle Pratt for making me the diver I am today. I can't think of anyone who could have been better buddies for a new diver and budding fish geek.

H20doctor · Post by **H20doctor** » Fri Sep 17, 2010 9:34 pm

Pez7378 wrote:My first dive buddy was a guy I went to school with. We certified in '96 and did one unsupervised dive together at Kayak Point chasing Crab around in 20 fsw. That day we returned our rented gear never to dive again.

Fast forward to 2006. Fishtiq invited me to go scuba diving with him. I found my old C-card and He had a bunch of Pink gear for me to borrow. We went out to kayak Point and chased crab around in 20 fsw. Joe collected rocks and It seemed diving was a lot more fun than I remember from 10 years ago. After corking from 40 fsw at the Muk walls, I started cruising the internets and found a forum where Dsteding suggested I take a class from GratefulDiver. After a series of emails Bob met me at Mukilteo and became my third dive buddy, and eventually my Instructor.

After AOW with Doug and Bob I found NWDC and met up with Burntchef at Edmonds. This would be the first time I ever dove with someone who I never met before. Howard and I had a good dive together and I learned that it was possible to dive with anyone and still have a great time.

Um where am I in this story ?

cardiver · Post by **cardiver** » Fri Sep 17, 2010 9:38 pm

H20doctor wrote:
Pez7378 wrote:My first dive buddy was a guy I went to school with. We certified in '96 and did one unsupervised dive together at Kayak Point chasing Crab around in 20 fsw. That day we returned our rented gear never to dive again.

Fast forward to 2006. Fishtiq invited me to go scuba diving with him. I found my old C-card and He had a bunch of Pink gear for me to borrow. We went out to kayak Point and chased crab around in 20 fsw. Joe collected rocks and It seemed diving was a lot more fun than I remember from 10 years ago. After corking from 40 fsw at the Muk walls, I started cruising the internets and found a forum where Dsteding suggested I take a class from GratefulDiver. After a series of emails Bob met me at Mukilteo and became my third dive buddy, and eventually my Instructor.

After AOW with Doug and Bob I found NWDC and met up with Burntchef at Edmonds. This would be the first time I ever dove with someone who I never met before. Howard and I had a good dive together and I learned that it was possible to dive with anyone and still have a great time.
Um where am I in this story ?

Why does it ALWAYS have to be about Doc?

spatman · Post by **spatman** » Fri Sep 17, 2010 9:43 pm

cardiver wrote:
H20doctor wrote:
Pez7378 wrote:My first dive buddy was a guy I went to school with. We certified in '96 and did one unsupervised dive together at Kayak Point chasing Crab around in 20 fsw. That day we returned our rented gear never to dive again.

Fast forward to 2006. Fishtiq invited me to go scuba diving with him. I found my old C-card and He had a bunch of Pink gear for me to borrow. We went out to kayak Point and chased crab around in 20 fsw. Joe collected rocks and It seemed diving was a lot more fun than I remember from 10 years ago. After corking from 40 fsw at the Muk walls, I started cruising the internets and found a forum where Dsteding suggested I take a class from GratefulDiver. After a series of emails Bob met me at Mukilteo and became my third dive buddy, and eventually my Instructor.

After AOW with Doug and Bob I found NWDC and met up with Burntchef at Edmonds. This would be the first time I ever dove with someone who I never met before. Howard and I had a good dive together and I learned that it was possible to dive with anyone and still have a great time.
Um where am I in this story ?
Why does it ALWAYS have to be about Doc?

It's doc's world, we just live in it.

Geek · Post by **Geek** » Sat Sep 18, 2010 7:02 am

spatman wrote:
cardiver wrote:
H20doctor wrote:
Pez7378 wrote:My first dive buddy was a guy I went to school with. We certified in '96 and did one unsupervised dive together at Kayak Point chasing Crab around in 20 fsw. That day we returned our rented gear never to dive again.

Fast forward to 2006. Fishtiq invited me to go scuba diving with him. I found my old C-card and He had a bunch of Pink gear for me to borrow. We went out to kayak Point and chased crab around in 20 fsw. Joe collected rocks and It seemed diving was a lot more fun than I remember from 10 years ago. After corking from 40 fsw at the Muk walls, I started cruising the internets and found a forum where Dsteding suggested I take a class from GratefulDiver. After a series of emails Bob met me at Mukilteo and became my third dive buddy, and eventually my Instructor.

After AOW with Doug and Bob I found NWDC and met up with Burntchef at Edmonds. This would be the first time I ever dove with someone who I never met before. Howard and I had a good dive together and I learned that it was possible to dive with anyone and still have a great time.
Um where am I in this story ?
Why does it ALWAYS have to be about Doc?
It's doc's world, we just live in it.

We are just extra's in his movie of life

nwbobber · Post by **nwbobber** » Sat Sep 18, 2010 8:42 am

I met my first dive buddy in the local swimming pool in my home town when I was 8 years old. I splashed his sister, and he said he was going to beat me up, but we became best friends instead. We both were fascinated with everything having to do with the sea. I got certified when I was 14, he at 16, and we dove together from BC to Monterey, every dive was incredible to us, we didn't know where to go, so just dove anywhere we could get to the water. We would get a huge charge out of diving anywhere. He was a great buddy.

Northwest Dive Club