New from Chicago

[FrankP]

Hi everyone

I am glad that I found this site.
I am enjoying the various topics being discussed.

I was first certified in 1978 (NAUI) while living in the San Fernando Valley, CA.
I continued my diving in Monterey, CA (PADI - AOW) when I later moved to the San Francisco area.

I had a break in my diving while I was in the US Navy (1978-1987) because the Navy wouldn't let me keep my dive gear with me.
While in the Navy, I was stationed on two ships home-ported out of Japan, at a US Navy/NATO bombing range in Sicily and as a Fire Control instructor (Radar/Computer, not water hoses) north of Chicago at the Great Lakes Naval Training Command.

After the Navy, I ended up in the Chicago area and got back into diving locally: Lake Michigan, Lake Superior, Straits of Mackinaw, and various local puddles.

I have also enjoyed dive trips to Maui, Jamaica, Grand Bahamas & Nassau, Cayman Islands, Florida (West Palm Beach, Key Largo, Key West, Pensacola), Beaufort NC, Turk Lagoon (Micronesia), Dominica, Cozumel, Puerto Rico, St. Croix.

I worked up to PADI DM in 2000, PADI Instructor in 2008, Solo Diver in 2012.
I have used a variety of gear over the years, originally SAS, then Zeagle, OMS, Scubapro.

Looking forward to chatting with others on this site.

FrankP

[nikeajax]

Welcome aboard matey...

We kinda pride ourselves here on being friendly, no using the new shipmates for chumming purposes... I love anything different, and even more so figuring out how and why they work. I'm a fine as well as graphic artist: my avatar is a detail from a self portrait I did a few years back. My wife and I are into the neat old gear too; last year I got her this for Valentine's Day:



It has since been restored. OystrPir8 (Robb) lives quite close to me, we both live in the greater Oakland metro are: we are trying to start our own vintage gear dive club.

Welcome friend,
Jaybird

[onokai]

Welcome from a new old diver
Mark

[JES]

Welcome aboard! :-)

[SeaRat]

Welcome aboard from Oregon too! We have a good time here discussing the old gear. I enjoy looking at the engineering, and actually using this gear--I don't buy it only to look at it. Unfortunately, in Oregon we have seasons (kinda like Chicago) and the river I dive in is not really available until a bit later this year. We look forward to your contributions here.

John

[FrankP]

Thanks for the welcomes!

[diverdon]

Welcome from a fellow Great Lakes Diver. Superior mostly. But I've logged some dives in Lake Michigan and Lake Huron. I've done some warm water stuff in Florida as well. And France. But the Great Lakes is what I like best. Are you heading north for the Ghost Ships Festival this weekend? glsrf dot com. All about wreck diving and the Great Lakes.

Don

[FrankP]

Hi Don, Yes I am planning to go to the Ghost Ship Festival on Saturday.

Frank

[diverdon]

Awesome! I'm there. Too bad they don't have a vintage program. Should be a good time.

Don