Another year has gone by since beginning my journey of SCUBA in 2008. WOW! I’m into my third year of diving. I would have never thought that something I wanted to learn in order to pass some time would turn into such an addiction! For those of you who don’t know me or read my past blogs, I learned to SCUBA at the age of 45. I now have over 260 dives. Would have been more dives but the past year has been difficult for most divers with our economy, and the oil spill. But I’m grateful for each and every dive I have been able to make. Something’s have come easy, some haven’t but each and every dive has been truly wonderful experiences. In looking back at the last year here are some of the things I have learned...................
Even though seeing a frog fish doesn’t excite me to the point of going into deco anymore(to get the shot) , they are still some of the most fascinating fish I know of. I have learned that some octopus like to exchange gifts, and others don’t like to be bothered. I learned that all this time I thought my Hunter IQ700 was making beeper sounds, it was actually toad fish making the noise. LOL. (We had a great laugh over that one. ) I saw for the first time that squid often swim/hover in formation!
Lion fish continue to invade but nature will prevail at some point (maybe faster with a little help). I’ve seen fish who have learned to eat them attack and consume them. I haven’t yet tasted them but I will work on that. I no longer feel I am a "shark repellant" as I have had the opportunity to swim with reef sharks in Grand Bahama as well as seen a few bull sharks in Destin who always seem a bit curious about us diving in their area.
I learned, at a very costly way, not to be too complacent. It cost me a very expensive camera and a fin. Always plan your dive and dive the plan. Plan for things you don’t think will ever happen as they can and will happen. I learned to always have my camera tethered to me. I’ve learned to weed thru useless "dive information" and grasp what is important to me. I have also finally learned that I don’t care if someone else thinks I’m using too much weight in my BC. In fact, I’ve learned to hold on to useful information and disregard the rest. because no matter how many dives someone has, they are not always experts! And I will never be an "expert" as I feel an "expert" has nothing left to learn and I see every dive as a learning experience.
I continue to work on my photography skills as I simply won’t give up! I may never be the Ansel Adams of UW photography, but I still love it! I’m still working on learning that I don’t have to take the camera on EVERY dive (but I might miss something!). In speaking of cameras... bigger isn’t always better. I’ve learned that I am a better diver with a smaller, easier to use camera with only one flash.
I still continue to write in my log books. And yes they are "books" now. It is my way of unwinding after a dive. I’ve graduated to a new dive computer, the hose less Epic. I’ve streamlined to smaller hoses, loss the octo hose, and finally the console hose. I didn’t need to have a mouthpiece replaced this year as I did last year so i know my anxiety level has dramatically decreased.
I saw my first flat worm in Utila and I still have no desire to go into caves but will continue to work on night diving. I have learned that if you are really still you can get some fish to come up to you and that if you turn a sea urchin over, there might just be a very small critter hiding underneath. I learned that sea weed might not really be sea weed but a fish. I have seen parrot fish sleep at night and have a "blanket" around them. I recently learned that traveling out of the country is an great opportunity to meet new divers, see new things and enjoy life and learn what you really can live without. And I finally conquered Morrison springs (you’ll have to read my past log to understand that one). And my favorite place to dive right now within the U.S. is Blue Heron Bridge in West Palm Beach, Florida.
My thoughts on the oil spill... the media can work for us or against us. In this case they did both. I learned this year that everyone is entitled to their opinions. I once thought that i was very easy going, not easily angered over other’s onions but this year brought out some feelings in me that I didn’t know I had. So I’ll leave my comments on the oil spill as this...As a nation we have the responsibility to learn to utilize our natural resources in a more efficient ways. But it took us years to develop our addiction to oil and learning to wane ourselves off of it won’t come overnight.
oh!!! on my "bucket" list: I want to see a sea dragon! We’ll see what this coming year brings.