Aloha! New to the board, & looking for training/dive buddies

New to the NW Dive Club Forum? Come in and introduce yourself, the water's fine!
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Ahanu
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Aloha! New to the board, & looking for training/dive buddies

Post by Ahanu »

Aloha PNW divers,
My name is Ahanu, and I will be relocating back to the King/Pierce county area in June.

It is very exciting to find a dedicated NW dive club and forum like this, and I am looking forward to learning from, laughing with, getting to know, and diving with some of you going forward!

Currently, I am very interested in pursuing UTD technical training, and I am putting some feelers out to see if any of you all may have similar interest in building a three person team for this training. Specifically, I am interested in the offerings of the husband and wife team Frog Kick Diving.

I am drawn to their entire tech portfolio, starting with Essentials of Tech and onward. Initially, the Doubles Mini course is appealing as well, as I have no experience with that set up as of yet.
I have been very impressed with what I have read and heard about UTD's training, standards & practices, and instructor quality and capability.

The three person team seems to be a very strong concept, for many reasons IMHO, and I am hoping to find some like minded, evenly experienced and interested folks to see if we may have the potential to be a cohesive group of dive buddies and a committed team. For training and beyond.

I am currently a warm water diving PADI DM on Kauai, with what will be 100ish dives and about 10 months of recreational diving experience. I got Dry Suit certified through SDI and Silent World Scuba at Alki Cove 2 in 46 degree water in January of this year to prepare myself for the exciting new diving environment, conditions, and gear you are all accustomed to up there. (Officially became a certified DM on 3/8).

Please let me know, or pass on my interest to anyone you may feel might be interested as well.

Additionally, I am planning to enroll in the GUE Fundamentals course, either in June, or perhaps one later in the year. I have only heard of this course producing better divers, regardless of pass rating, or even failures. As such, I am compelled to take it, given the uniquely challenging diving conditions that the PNW presents.

My current barriers are the need to purchase a dry suit, doubles and the associated manifold and regulator rig, boots, hood, gloves, canister light, etc...

Surely kit that I want to have ample bottom time with before jumping right into Fundies.

That said, I am also looking for dive buddies for single tank recreational dives, to make some friends, being to develop a familiarity with the local spots and conditions, and to be diving regularly!

Ahanu

*I also posted this on SB, so apologies to any who read it twice
Diving, not unlike meditation, is inter-dimensional travel. Journey well.
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Penopolypants
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Re: Aloha! New to the board, & looking for training/dive buddies

Post by Penopolypants »

I have taken several classes with Brian and Jeanna at FKD, they are top notch instructors and you will be you on a great path with them.

A dry suit will make you more comfortable as you know, it's pretty damned cold here. There are several people who have both dry suits and various doubles configurations for sale on our gear classifieds section, take a peek and see if anything there works for you.

We also have weekly dives around the Sound that you are welcome to join, keep your eye on the dive planning section to see what's up and where each week.

Welcome to the board!
Come to the nerd side, we have pi!
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Gdog
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Re: Aloha! New to the board, & looking for training/dive buddies

Post by Gdog »

Welcome to the board!
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lavachickie
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Re: Aloha! New to the board, & looking for training/dive buddies

Post by lavachickie »

Get that drysuit. With the community up in that area, the rest will take care of itself. :) Welcome.
Hey Oregon Divers: check out Oregon Scuba Club! http://oregonscuba.com
Looking forward to Roatan June 2016.
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YellowEye
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Re: Aloha! New to the board, & looking for training/dive buddies

Post by YellowEye »

Welcome to the board... and to the coldwater addiction!
Visit pnwdiving.com for viz reports, slack planning, galleries and more!
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Jeremy
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Re: Aloha! New to the board, & looking for training/dive buddies

Post by Jeremy »

Hi and welcome to the amazing PNW!

I'd be happy to join for some dives. FKD and taking fundies are both excellent...you can't beat them imo!
Ahanu
Just Settling In
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Joined: Sun Feb 14, 2016 2:40 pm

Re: Aloha! New to the board, & looking for training/dive buddies

Post by Ahanu »

Penopolypants wrote:I have taken several classes with Brian and Jeanna at FKD, they are top notch instructors and you will be you on a great path with them.

A dry suit will make you more comfortable as you know, it's pretty damned cold here. There are several people who have both dry suits and various doubles configurations for sale on our gear classifieds section, take a peek and see if anything there works for you.

We also have weekly dives around the Sound that you are welcome to join, keep your eye on the dive planning section to see what's up and where each week.

Welcome to the board!
Thank you for the welcome! I have already been privately contacted by a few folks with some gear available, and I will continue to be exploring the site for more goodies.

I look forward to meeting and diving with you.
Diving, not unlike meditation, is inter-dimensional travel. Journey well.
Ahanu
Just Settling In
Posts: 17
Joined: Sun Feb 14, 2016 2:40 pm

Re: Aloha! New to the board, & looking for training/dive buddies

Post by Ahanu »

lavachickie wrote:Get that drysuit. With the community up in that area, the rest will take care of itself. :) Welcome.
Thanks! I am on it.
Diving, not unlike meditation, is inter-dimensional travel. Journey well.
Ahanu
Just Settling In
Posts: 17
Joined: Sun Feb 14, 2016 2:40 pm

Re: Aloha! New to the board, & looking for training/dive buddies

Post by Ahanu »

YellowEye wrote:Welcome to the board... and to the coldwater addiction!
Thanks, I am very excited !
Diving, not unlike meditation, is inter-dimensional travel. Journey well.
Ahanu
Just Settling In
Posts: 17
Joined: Sun Feb 14, 2016 2:40 pm

Re: Aloha! New to the board, & looking for training/dive buddies

Post by Ahanu »

Jeremy wrote:Hi and welcome to the amazing PNW!

I'd be happy to join for some dives. FKD and taking fundies are both excellent...you can't beat them imo!
Great Jeremy. I look forward to it. I have already been in touch with both FKD and GUE Seattle- exciting times and dives ahead.
Diving, not unlike meditation, is inter-dimensional travel. Journey well.
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