You may want to re-think your offer...

[Kalatin]

Thank you all for the encouragement. I was so embarrassed last night that while cleaning my gear, I actually thought for a few moments that this was something that was just out of my league. Then I remembered that when I was jumping out of planes (long story, tell you later), I sucked at it for a very long time. Eventually, with good mentoring and a lot of experience, I got to be very good at it. I actually flipped through an old photo album to find pictures of a much younger me in a parachute, looking like a lost and scared little girl. I also found a photo taken about three years after that, where I am helping a new jumper to organize gear and check equipment. Nice to know the same rules apply to diving (suck at first, work with good people, learn constantly, pay it back).

Count me in for Tuesday. I have never been up to Alki. Any advice on parking or how to locate you folks? Or do I just look for the self confident people wearing neoprene?

Also, I am trying to clear my schedule to go "see the doctor" some weekday in the near future. I love this board.

Kate

[Sockmonkey]

Reading this post I was reminded that calamities happen to new divers and even folks who have been diving for a while. There is no need to be embarrassed at all.

This past winter I got together with some new dive buddies back in my former home of Boston. We decided that heck or highwater we were going to dive in mid January. I was getting wet for the first time with these guys and I knew them to be pretty squared away tech/DIR dudes. Me, only owning a backplate and wing for less than a year, was a little intimidated but way psyched to dive with them.

Well the first thing that happened was my brand new dry glove started leaking around the wrist as soon as I get in the water. Mind you the water temp was 37 degrees. I thought I would be ok. Bzzzzt. I wasn't.

Then we surface swim for 100' or so, check our long hoses and descend. Or at least I try to. I can't seem to stay under. I'm 100% sure that it is the same amount of weight as I used the past fall.

Another 10 min surface swim in the swells of the sheltered cove we were in and we're back in the surf... heading to get me 5 extra pounds. This is of course when one of my dive buddies in doubles falls over on the slippery rocks in the surf and we have to help him get up.

So after leaking glove, and being poorly weighted I take off my brand new fins and manage to pull off one side of my new spring strap. I guess I didn't peen those little pins down well enough. I'm surprised that I can even get my fin off because my left hand felt like it was replaced with some sort of muppet. I couldn't feel it at all. It took an hour to get full feeling back.

At this point everyone decides that its probably time to warm up and get breakfast instead of diving in the murk. Once in the parking lot I start apologizing like a teen ager who doesn't want to get grounded. With my self esteem in the crapper, I suddenly feel like they'll never want me to dive with them again.

When we get to the diner the other two guys spend most of the time telling me stories of poor weighting, leaky gloves and other silliness that has made them thumb a dive and ruin other people's perfectly great dives. I felt much better remembering that everyone has those days... even the GUE tech 2 folks now and then has silly stuff go wrong.

I did learn a few things that day...

1. A challenging environment is no place to try out new equipment. Even something as simple as new fins.
2. People that dive as a team are the most understanding of any divers I've been in the water with.
3. One failure, no matter how small, usually leads to another probably larger one.
4. Leaving your drysuit vent open doesn't help you become negatively buoyant.

I'm probably going to try and get to the tweak dive Tuesday night if I can bail out of work early enough. I look forward to meeting everyone.

-Eric

I feel terrible for cutting his dive short.

[CaptnJack]

Count me in for Tuesday. I have never been up to Alki. Any advice on parking or how to locate you folks? Or do I just look for the self confident people wearing neoprene?

Kate,
I drive a white Ranger P/U with a white top. Technically I'm the "host". Wander up and say hi.

If you are TomTom or map questing the spot its basically the intersection of Beach Drive SW and 63rd Ave SW. There's a concrete seawall to the north along beach drive, the southern end that is the "pipeline" site. Its also in the Steve Fischnaller shore dives guidebook.

See you around 6:45
Richard

[BASSMAN]

Hmm? Chasing a single dungeoness (sp) crab was the first time I had used up way too much air on a dive.
The more comfortable you become along with a few tips from some experienced divers and you will be what we sometimes call "Breathing Like A Girl!"