Divemaster

[Semp]

It took me almost 5 months but I made it through the PADI Divemaster course. I know it would be child's play for you hard core team guys but at 71 years old I was happy to have made it. Diving in the midwest means cold, black quarry water mixed in with pool time when available. This is as far up the "professional" ladder as I plan to go as I don't have the personality to be an instructor. But I may get in to tec diving or at least take the self reliant diver course.



I'm not sure what affect depths below 130 ft and decompression stops would have on me at this stage of life. Any thoughts or reasons not to do it?

[wowzers]

Congrats! I wish I had worked on my Divemaster cert over getting into rebreathers. It would have served me
much better.

[The Fat Guy]

Congrats, When I started diving in FT Campbell, it quit being fun. Do you ever dive the Keys?

[Semp]

I have not dived in the Keys but would like to some day. I have dove most of the popular sites in the Caribbean though. The only diving I won't do is cave diving. That takes bigger balls than my little pair.

[Baildog]

Congrats. I haven't ever gotten past AOW.

[Shark0311]

Congrats!

At any age I would consider your level of physical fitness for deco diving. The risk of getting bent, narc'd etc. is much higher and your bodies ability to overcome that stress is important to consider. Just my $.02. Tim Linse at Dive Right in Scuba is a good POC for Midwest tech diving.

[Justaclerk]

Congratulations!

[diverescue]

Great work! Never stop learning.

[schibbs]

Congratulations, Semper Dude! That is too cool! You may have just motivated me. Most of my dives were above 6000', cold water, drysuit. I will second Sharks physical fitness advisory, and from my standpoint, I have done all the deep, cold, dark water dives I care to do(I don't have near the cojones as most of you). There were some big lake trout down there though!

[Semp]

Thanks for the comments. I'm now thinking I may need to re-think my tec diving/Andrea Doria ambitions a bit.

[Janitor]

Shark0311 is spot on. Mdavid might disagree with me (he’s a caver) but technical stuff gets harder in every possible physiological way as you age.

I have a beautiful set of doubled Pressed Steel LP104’s that I don’t dive anymore because I’m tired of lugging their weight around. And don’t get me started on stage and deco bottles needed for a serious technical dive. I did my time in cold, dark water and I can still do it if necessary, but give me warm, clear Caribbean water and pretty fishies to show my kids any day.

[1RiserSlip]

Congrats. I’ve had the PADI basic dive certification since 81. I would definitely need a refresher and would quite likely suck twice as much air as then. I haven’t dove since the latter 90’s at Vortex Springs.

Just not interested enough to see anything below a couple of atmospheres.

[BigNickT]

I'm 53 and can't think of anything I need to see that's deeper than 60'.

[8654maine]

The only diving I care for now is muff...

[wowzers]

Originally Posted by BigNickT

I'm 53 and can't think of anything I need to see that's deeper than 60'.

That's where I ended up but just wanted to stay down longer than a single 80 allowed.

[Janitor]

Originally Posted by 8654maine

The only diving I care for now is muff...

If I’m not mistaken, that means you’re going after the 50+ crowd since, according to DH’s gyno-buddy, the sub-50s are smooth.

Originally Posted by wowzers

That’s where I ended up but just wanted to stay down longer than a single 80 allowed.

Easy fix: breathe less or get a bigger tank. You can find 100’s in most locations, but you usually have to ask for them specially.

[wowzers]

Originally Posted by Janitor

Easy fix: breathe less or get a bigger tank. You can find 100’s in most locations, but you usually have to ask for them specially.

Went down that road too. I have a couple of 105's that are probably due for inspection at my brother's house. If someone is in the Charlotte NC area they're yours for a donation to the site. I had planned on running them as twins but I haven't been in the water in almost a decade and a half.