2012 recap and 2013 dive resolution

[Mortuus]

I am also going to steal a thread idea from another dive forum. This thread is based off the SB thread of the similar name. I have seen them being posted annually over there, so why not here as well.
This thread is to list your diving accomplishments of the last year, including but certainly not limited to the following:

a) Gear purchases
b) Training
c) Trips/dives (even local ones)
d) Number of dives
e) Dive Fitness
f) Other (dive related)

After listing your accomplishments, let us know your plans for the upcoming year (in the same format or otherwise)! I find that these threads are a fun way to look back and celebrate all the diving goodness that we have. You may find yourself surprised at how much you have done in a year =P

[Jeff Pack]

a> My Gem Rebreather, Scuba Shack, Compressor, 35w Salvo Can light, Sierra Scooter, Booster.
b> Gem Level 1 (rec) Gem Mod 1 (tec), Nitrox, Adv Nitrox and adv trimix.
c> Florida for my Gem level 1. Rest are all local dives. (all over the place).
d> Not sure exactly over a 100.
e> Lost around 40 pounds this year, Do pilates, ellipitcal, and some weight training.
f> Dunno.

Plans for this year, more diving, additional tec training, with luck some Mexican Cenotes this summer.

[DecidedlyOdd]

a) Gear purchases

This year: The big one was getting a can light but I also finally rounded out my tropical gear with my own 3mm wetsuit and a pair of diverite exp fins.

Next year: Thinking about upgrading my drysuit but no resolution commitment there yet.


b) Training

Sadly nothing this year but I'm in the process of scheduling a rescue class for early next year.


c) Trips/dives (even local ones)

This year was my first time in Bonaire and my first time boat diving with Pacific Adventure on Hood Canal. Will definitely do both again, but probably only the latter next year. As much as I loved Bonaire, November was too early to escape Seattle winter. I'd really like to get to Monterey this year for the first time too.


d) Number of dives

About 70 this year, but I want to bump that up next year. Did about 80 in 2011.




Sent from my RM-820_nam_att_100 using Board Express

[diverden]

Purchases: CCR $-)
Training: CCR $-) (including cave and trimix crossovers $-)
Trips: Shetland Islands, Socorro Islands, Bonaire, Florida (cave country) 3 times (once for fun and twice for CCR Training)
100ish dives. Down from 150 the last couple of years.
*edit Hmm, I think I did 47 dives just in Bonaire... Maybe it is closer to 150.

Sheesh, I should get a job or something... wait, I have one of those too. Oh yeah, and I became an open water instructor for NAUI and taught 3 classes.

For 2013 I'm looking to just relax and just fun dive more locally and get back into photography.
* and more careful dive logging

[Mortuus]

Well, I guess I'll post my own since I started the thread after all. 2012 has been an AWESOME year for me so far!! And the fun is only just beginning!

2012:


- Moved to the Seattle area to make diving a larger part of my life
- Got sucked into the Kool-aid crowd (GUE) and have met some of the most awesome people ever!
- Broke 100 dives
- First doubles dive!
- Took (and passed) GUE Fundamentals with a tech pass
- First scooter dive!
- Broke 200 dives
- Dove about 150 times this last year
- Witnessed/participated in my first attempted diver rescue. Okay, this one may seem somewhat dark, since the rescue did not fare so well for the other person, HOWEVER, the collective response was fantastic and I felt like I learned more about diver rescues and how they go down than any rescue course could have taught me. I hope it is the last I have to deal with, but since I plan on diving until I die of old age, I somehow doubt it will be the case. As such, I believe it was a "good" experience to have when looking at it from a knowledge perspective.
- Dove Deception Pass and Skyline wall in the same day. This is noteworthy because they were two of my favorite dives I have ever done, and they were done back to back and with great company.



a) Gear Purchases (in no particular order)

- Hollis 40 lb singles wing
- Hollis backplate
- Hollis 60 lb doubles wing
- Light Monkey 21w HID, 5 hour burn
- First set of doubles! Faber LP 108s with Thermo 200 bar DIN manifold
- Won a Liquivision Kaon in a raffle =D
- Mmmmmm, argon
- Hollis F1's: Black!
- 2 ScubaPro MK25/S600 regs to go with my set of doubles
- Santi BZ400 undergarment
- 2 steel 72s
- Catalina Al80 deco bottle (operating as a stage with 32% until I take T1)
- Atomic Z2 stage regulator
- Black Luxfer Al40 deco bottle
- Misc. equipment

c) Trips

- Revisited Hawaii and the shop I got certified through
- Lake Crescent weekend trip with great friends

e) *ahem*...


2013 goals:


- Take (and pass) GUE Tech 1
- Take (and pass) GUE Cave 1
- Continue to explore my local waters
- Meet more awesome people
- Start a diving fitness regimen (involving lap swimming)
- Avoid getting addicted to scooter crack
- As cheesy as it sounds, just having fun is enough for me. This last year has been jam packed full of it, and I dont want it to end! As such, I dont have a goal in mind for number of dives this next year. I learned so much this last year, and one of those things was quality over quantity.

[Grateful Diver]

a) Gear purchases
This was the year I upgraded my photo setup to DSLR, purchasing a Canon T2i with 60mm macro lens and Tokina 10-17 mm wide angle, Sea & Sea housing with flat port for macro and a Zen 4" dome port for wide-angle. I also purchased a new drysuit (Bare XDS2) and undergarment (White's Thermal Fusion).

b) Training
The most significant aspect of training for me this year wasn't a course I took, but one I created and offered to others ... a four-dive skills workshop that is tailored specifically to the needs of the student. The most value in this workshop was for newly-certified divers who wanted to refine their buoyancy control, get their gear, weighting and trim squared away, and learn some new finning techniques. I taught this class 14 times between March and November, and I think everyone who took it showed significant improvement.

c) Trips/dives (even local ones)
Had a good year for trips ... Maldives in January/February, Porpoise Bay in May, Barkley Sound in July, Florida and Port Hardy in September ... and my big, non-diving trip to Africa in November.

d) Number of dives
Despite taking 5 weeks off after the Maldives to recover from an ear infection, and having only one dive during the whole month of November, I still managed about 220 dives this year.

e) Dive Fitness
Disappointing ... I ended the year heavier and feeling less fit than I started it. Gotta do something about that right after the holidaze, given the trips I have planned for 2013.

Resolutions for 2013:

- Lose some weight (target = 20 lbs)
- Make it to Mexico for some cave diving (that's going to happen in early April)
- Make it to the Great Lakes for some wreck diving (that's going to happen in August)
- Find some new-to-me local places to dive
- Work on increasing my pool of dive buddies

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

[LCF]

A 2013 that begins with Bob Bailey worrying about increasing his pool of dive buddies is an odd year, indeed!

a) Gear purchases I bought very little this year. I did buy the Thermal Fusion (which rocks, btw!), and I replaced a canister battery which got fried by a leak. (We have two more destroyed batteries to replace. Do not hook LiIon batteries up to NiMH chargers!) I bought a set of the orange Gorilla Nova fins to use with students. I don't like them all that much, but they're wildly visible.

b) Training This was the first year ever that I didn't take any major class. In fact, the only class of any kind that I took was a photo workshop with Scott Lundy (which was fabulous).

c) Trips/dives (even local ones) It was a quiet year, due to lots of financial uncertainty. I did do a long weekend in Florida in May (miles for airfare, borrowed tanks, and a birthday present of helium). In June, Peter and I went to Loreto, Mexico, to visit our friend Dennus Baum, who was one of my OW instructors. And we did throw caution to the winds and do a week in Mexico, cave diving, in November, followed immediately by a weekend on Vancouver Island to visit and dive with a very long-time internet friend from the Netherlands.

d) Number of dives Had a computer die on me with three months of data on it, but I suspect my dive count this year was an all-time low for me, in the range of 130 or so. (I have roughly 100 actually logged.) I think my reluctance to commute on weekday afternoons really hit my dive count.


e) Dive Fitness I didn't accomplish much, except that my horse trainer turned me on to an idea that actually seems to work for me, which is doing tiny workouts multiple times a day. I walk past the exercise ball in our bedroom many times a day, and if I just drop down two or three times and fire off a bunch of situps or butt lifts, it's better than nothing. And running in place on the Bosu ball while the electric toothbrush is going seems to have made a BIG difference in my ability to keep my balance while negotiating slopes and broken ground in my gear.

f) Other (dive related) I have DMed a whole MESS of classes this last year. Peter's been teaching very actively, and I got to DM a class with another instructor, too. I've learned a lot about what I like and what I don't like about teaching, and I met some really wonderful people through doing this.

Goals for 2013? Everything is totally up in the air right now, as I may be facing an enforced four or five months of unemployment, thanks to the State of Washington. If that turns out to be the case, I'm going to be looking for weekday dive buddies! If things get worked out, I'd like to do my normal two cave diving trips, and maybe even talk my friend Kate into another mile-generated Florida trip. I'd like to spend a lot of time focusing on photography, and I'm starting that by doing two more workshops with Scott in January. I'm going to try to put some solid energy into our Project Baseline plan for monitoring the evolution of the artificial reef at Saltwater State Park. And I'd really like to figure a way to spend some time with an instructor somewhere to get my skills critiqued. I feel weird, not having had my butt kicked since 2009!

[Scubie Doo]

a) Gear purchases - BP/W and Canon 5d Mark II rig

b) Training - Deep Diver certification for Nanaimo wreck dive

c) Trips/dives (even local ones) - Kona in Jan / Boniare in June / Nanaimo in Sept

d) Number of dives - 122

e) Dive Fitness - Did P47X, it was supposed to be P90X... you get the drift.

f) Other (dive related) - Revamped my gear configuration and undergarment situation

Goal for 2013 - At least one major tropical dive trip and get my drysuit fixed.

[rmelick]

A) Gear: everything minus tanks
B) Training: Open Water, Nitrox, Dry Suit
C) Trips/Dives: Night dives at Alki, Keystone Jetty
D) 16
E) 3 month speedy recovery from ankle surgery - back in the water 3 weeks ago!

2013
A) Dusty Light, An actual undergarment, tanks
B) Something beyond my open water - GUI fundies? Class with Bob? anything in an effort to move beyond a 6'8" PNW floundering black whale.
C) Maui, and maybe God's Pocket, and maaaaybe Alaska
D) I'd like to do at least 4-5 a month
E) get back to running every other day
F) Get out to some nwdiveclub weekly dives, events etc. no more cyber stalking!