Recommend away - Ill put it on my list of things to look forward to
I did the SSI certification and I think it was about $400.
Got mine in 1969 at age 15, the youngest age they allowed. Checkout dive was at Catalina Island. We had āSeal Trainingā ā¦ how to avoid being bitten by these thieving make-nice-boots aquatic pests.
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ā¦should have stopped thereā¦
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We did the kelp beds off San Diego. That water is COLD!
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I donāt know why I typed 1979 because I actually got it in 1974. I was in high school at the time. Thanks for the reminder. SCUBA has been described as the most fun you can have with your clothes on.
I can attest that it is exhilarating the first time you see a large shark, manta or grouper. I dove Molokini Crater off the coast of Hawaii and it was an awesome place to see a diverse amount of wildlife.
I sold my gear in the 1980s because once I moved to Dallas I just didnāt dive very often. Iāve rented gear though and although it isnāt the same as having your own it is much easier in many cases than trying to ship it.
I look forward to the formation of a SIG where we can talk about past experiences and possibly scheduling new ones.
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I hope you have pictures to show!
I describe nitrogen narcosis as the drunkest you can get with no hangover.
Sadly, underwater camera gear was much more expensive then than now and I didnāt have access to it then. I could have rented it, but it was cost prohibitive at the time. I only have the memories now. The front side of the crater was relatively shallow 25-50 feet but the backside of the crater is a a sheer drop off of 300 feet. The currents there will slide you along the wall at a nice slow clip. There is a reef there and there are an amazing number of species. It is a dive not to be missed if you are staying on Maui!
So ā¦ to SIG or not to SIG is one outstanding question. Beyond that thereās perhaps some interest in a group outing to something like the scuba park out East and some folks who maybe would like to pursue certification.
I have PADI advanced open water but havenāt dove in years. My log book is dusty.
Do we have any volunteers to organize a SCUBA SIG?
In the absence of anyone willing to organize a SIG, do we want to just have a meeting, class, or program of some sort? Any suggestions on what we could have?
Being really new to DMS, I need to look into the details for SIGs. What does it do for us, other than having a section in talk to discuss the interest. (that was a question for meā¦ thinking out loudā¦ err typing). Aside from that, Iām up for a discussions on what we can do. Some of things we might be able to investigate further:
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Day trip out to CSSP in Terrell, for a day of diving. Last time I was there, they had pavilions that we could use. Dive, cookout, and other associated fun. I would even be up for a longer trip. Iāve been wanting to Dive Valhalla, the Atlas missile silo, for a while.
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If we have several members interested in a specific class, maybe we can help organize that class, and get potential group discounts. ( I have some contacts, depending on the class)
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Discussions on gear maintenance / repair, different dive technologies (e.g.OCR, CCR,ā¦)
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What other DMS resources could be used with diving in mind? 3D print attachment clips or other lost / broken gear?
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Anyone interested in projects like: http://www.diyrov.net/
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Underwater photography classes? My last underwater photos were taken about 10 years ago. A lot has changed since then.
If for nothing else, I can find a dive partner that would go with me to get some of the scuba geocaches, that Iāve been wanting to do, for a while. 
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Day trip and DIY ROV are top of list for me!
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Yeah! The dive trips were the main reason I brought up this thread as I need a dive buddy, but I looked at the ROV project a couple of years ago and DMS is the ideal place to make it happen. There is an online ROV SIG and someplace I have a DVD with some plans and instructions for building one.
Re: underwater photography, itās pretty common nowadays for people to have a Go-Pro with a housing or another similar underwater camera, however DMS would also be a great place if anyone wants to build a custom camera housing to use underwater. There are other dive related things to build, like dive flag buoys, salvage flotation bags, heck, someone might even decide to try building an underwater scooter.
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Oh! a scooterā¦ I forgot about those. Last time I used one was zooming around Lake Travis. That would be a fun project.
Found this little guy in Florida.
Notably also had a Decompression Tank on board
I spent an hour or so talking with the owner of the company very cool product. If anyone wants to get a little wilder than an underwater scooter.
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Bump back to the top.
Did we have any desire to continue with this as a SIG?
I have interest in it. Hopefully we will have others jump in.
That is awesome. I would love spend some time in one of those.