I've made a terrible mistake

randomxy · Post by **randomxy** » Mon Jul 01, 2013 7:05 pm

I confess that I took open water just for a new experience. I expected it to be like tandem paragliding, zip lines, bungee jumping or mealworm brownies: try it – have fun – move on. But now I have a problem. I enjoyed it. A lot. Suddenly and without warning, I’m faced with getting a truckload of new gear, taking separate vacations from my wife (who is all "alpine trek this” and “peak bag that”) plus neglecting a garage full of other fine hobbies.

Since finishing my OW class this month I’ve spent a fair bit of time reading threads here and visiting dive shops, figuring out what to do next and what to buy (the latter leading to research on the market value of a kidney). I’m primarily interested in diving this area but I can see my travel bucket list getting a longer too.

Looking forward to the journey, checking out the WWW dives, meeting folks and blatantly taking advantage of your knowledge and experience. Ah, the light has turned green and people are starting to honk so it’s time to go.

Cheers!

kdupreez · Post by **kdupreez** » Mon Jul 01, 2013 7:35 pm

I hope you damn well better learn from this mistake and never take up any other hobby besides diving from here on!!

What an awesome intro!! Welcome the the sport and most importantly WELCOME to NWDC!!

This place will fuel that fire for sure!

Hoping to see you out at a WWW sometime and if you have any gear needs, I live in snoqualmie ridge and practically have a scuba shop in the garage and can probably outfit a small scuba-water-polo team

You are welcome try anything I own and borrow as much stuff as you need for dives.

cheers!

Koos

Dusty2 · Post by **Dusty2** » Mon Jul 01, 2013 7:54 pm

Welcome to the addiction!

Please feel free to ask a lot of questions and don't jump into anything gear wise till you talk to people here. It will save you much pain and regret, not to mention money. most of us are experienced at buying the wrong gear and still have a lot of it around to loan if needed. Without help 75% or more of the first stuff you buy will end up languishing in you garage no matter how much reading you do. Till you have quite a few dives under your belt you won't know what is going to work for you.

dwashbur · Post by **dwashbur** » Mon Jul 01, 2013 9:37 pm

Welcome to the party! I love your style. That's one of the best intros I've seen in a long time (including my own - yours is better). I echo what Dusty2 said about gear: ask lots of questions. We don't mind, that's one of the reasons this board exists. You won't find a more phenomenal group of people on Earth than you have right here, and they even let me hang out here, too.

60south · Post by **60south** » Mon Jul 01, 2013 10:39 pm

Dive! Dive! Dive!

(welcome)

Penopolypants · Post by **Penopolypants** » Mon Jul 01, 2013 11:29 pm

Yes, you've made a mistake. You should atone by immediately donating all your gear, as well as whatever money you were planning on spending on more gear, airline miles, and vacation packages you've purchased, or were thinking of purchasing, to The Cause (myself). Get out while you still can!

Or you can do like the rest of us and keep feeding the addiction, because hey, it's pretty awesome. Alternate reality without drugs or alcohol. Welcome!

I will second (third?) the recommendation to try different gear before you buy more stuff. We have weekly dives all over the Sound, and there are often people who are happy to let you try out their various bits of gear. Check the dive planning section, and please don't be afraid to speak up if you are eager to try something different. Availability may vary, so ask often.

Tom Nic · Post by **Tom Nic** » Tue Jul 02, 2013 4:46 am

kdupreez wrote:I hope you damn well better learn from this mistake and never take up any other hobby besides diving from here on!!

Yeah, what Koos said.

Penopolypants wrote:Yes, you've made a mistake. You should atone by immediately donating all your gear, as well as whatever money you were planning on spending on more gear, airline miles, and vacation packages you've purchased, or were thinking of purchasing, to The Cause (myself). Get out while you still can!

And Ms. Pants has it exactly right, except that she inadvertently (I'm sure it was an honest mistake) got the where you were supposed to send the above wrong. Click the PM button by my name and I will give you my info.

Penopolypants wrote:I will second (third?) the recommendation to try different gear before you buy more stuff. We have weekly dives all over the Sound, and there are often people who are happy to let you try out their various bits of gear. Check the dive planning section, and please don't be afraid to speak up if you are eager to try something different. Availability may vary, so ask often.

And let me add another loud voice to this recommendation. There are plenty of folks on this board who can tell you that gear gets REALLY expensive when you buy it twice - #1 what the dive shop is pushing, #2 what you decide you ultimately like. No need to do that at all with the wonderful dive community we have.

Welcome!

LCF · Post by **LCF** » Tue Jul 02, 2013 8:46 am

There's only one solution.

Get your wife an OW class for her birthday!

Welcome to the obsession, and to NWDC! Hope to see you at a club dive one of these days.

fmerkel · Post by **fmerkel** » Tue Jul 02, 2013 9:25 am

It's pretty cheap ONCE you get all your gear and dive around here.
Vacations.....well, that's like any vacation > $$$$, so it kinda doesn't count. But it is a good excuse to go to nice tropical places.

olalladiver · Post by **olalladiver** » Tue Jul 02, 2013 10:42 am

Yeah, you're screwed... Made the same mistake myself. There's no going back.

Welcome to the addiction and the board!

Mortuus · Post by **Mortuus** » Tue Jul 02, 2013 12:19 pm

Welcome to the board! That was indeed a great intro. I hope to meet you at a WWW dive some time. If you live in Issaquah, I highly recommend going to talk to Koos (pronounced Kwis--kdupreez here on the board) some time. Like he said, he basically has a dive shop in his garage. It's quite the field trip!

Penopolypants wrote:Alternate reality without drugs or alcohol.

I do have to contest this however... Diving with the lot of us is certainly not alcohol free!

After the dives that is.

Norris · Post by **Norris** » Tue Jul 02, 2013 12:32 pm

WELCOME!!!
There are also weekly dives in the Northend on Mondays and Wednesdays. Make sure to check the dive planning section of the board.

randomxy · Post by **randomxy** » Sat Jul 27, 2013 10:41 pm

Apologies for being late in my thanks for the warm welcome but I’ve stayed away due to shame. After all your advice to try out different gear before buying, well…

I swear I only went in during the sale to buy a drysuit because I felt confident about what I wanted. However, inside the shop things went tragically sideways and my credit card came out of the ordeal at half-mast. It all sounded so good as the reps extolled each feature despite the fact I think they were slipping into Latin part of the time.

On the positive side, I got the drysuit I wanted. On the other hand I’m pretty sure that 65lbs of lift on the BCD is overkill for a single tank and I’m not likely to be doing doubles on wreck dives before I even get around to AOW.

Still interested in trying out some different fins though…

archisgore · Post by **archisgore** » Mon Jul 29, 2013 11:10 am

Welcome! Hope to dive with you soon.

Northwest Dive Club

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