Post by lakediver on Jul 10, 2014 19:29:59 GMT -8
Hello everyone, I have been following the forums here and at VDH for several years now with great interest. I have recently began the process of becoming recertified again after an absence from diving for about 30 years. I have always been fascinated by the sea, ships and anything aquatic, but my obsession with scuba diving began when I found the June 1966 issue of Skin Diver magazine on my local pharmacy's newsstand. It had a photo shoot by my local high school teacher (who it turns out was a president of the Underwater Society of America) of a local girl (Miss Underwater Temptress---probably not PC today). I was excited to know that it was possible for a person from the midwest to be a diver. I read everything I could on the subject and was able to take dive lessions offered by a local dive club (Jayhawk Divers-Pittsburg, KS) in 1967. I was able to use all sorts of gear including double hose regs and homemade tanks converted from CO2 fire extinguisher bottles. I didn't pass the class (pre C-card days) because I couldn't swim the length of the pool unaided (I was a skinny 13 year old). However, an understanding uncle gave me the experience of my first dive in a small Wisconsin lake. My understanding father also made arrangements for my brother and I to go diving at Table Rock Lake near Branson under the supervision of a local dive guide named Bill Fitzgerald. I offically became certified in 1971 by PADI. The only dive manual we used was the slim Let's Go Diving. I did some dives in high school and college with a friend in the many local mining quarries. Another college buddy and I would cut classes and go diving at nearby quarries and Stockton lake. My interest faded in the early 80s after dive buddies moved away and the interest in the dive community seemed to be geared towards dive travel. Finding forums like VSS and wanting to rekindle some of my lost youth got me interested in blowing bubbles again. I have recently dived Table Rock Lake several times and had a blast (through a Discover diving program at the State Park Marina). I am currently making arrangements to be recertified and look foward to enjoying diving more actively in the future.
