The stack of cards grows...

I just checked the PADI Pros website and my Master Scuba Diver Trainer cert has gone through and I should be getting another card in the mail. I realized that I've accumulated a stack of certification cards in my 9 years(to the day!!) of diving. Wow, today is the 9 year mark! Wahoo!! Well, in the picture below is all the certification cards that I've got. The mouse is for size reference. More than half of the stack are current, meaning I've gotten in the past 6 months! Holy smokes!!

My First Open Water Diver!

This weekend while at Dutch Springs I did the last 4 dives with my first student. I have helped with many classes and certified more than 50 people in Coral Reef Conservation or Peak Performance Buoyancy, but this was my first Open Water Diver certification. As you have probably read I received my Instructor rating last month. The water was a bit colder than my Instructor course, but I made it. Congrats to my first student and to me for my first certification!!

Dutch Springs

This past weekend a few of us from Pleasure Divers made the ~6 hour drive to Bethlehem, PA to go diving at Dutch Springs. We went as part of their Instructor Weekends, select weekends in the winter when you can go but must be with an Instructor, to do the open water dives for one student and to work on some specialties and explore. The water temp was around 37-40 degrees depending on who's dive computer you looked at and the air was no warmer. I wore my new semi-dry suit and tried out the HotSuits heated kidney belts. There was only one other woman that was diving, and she was only there on Sunday and was wearing a drysuit. She thought we were completely crazy and I kind of had to agree!! :-) I think I'm really more of a warm water gal and I won't be doing another mid-February trip like this again. Enjoy some pics below...

Spreading the Bug

the Scuba bug that is.

Last Thursday I went to Johnson State College and conducted my first Discover Scuba program at their fitness facility, SHAPE. There were 4 participants all freshman or sophomores from Vermont, New Hampshire, and Connecticut. Taking their first breaths underwater was an exciting experience and once we got over that we got to the good part. Swimming around and having fun. The toypedo was probably the best toy, but the laminated pictures of the fish and the turtles made the snow outside seem just a little further away. The water temp was around 80 and by the end we were all cold. Wetsuits are a must for next time. But through the chattering teeth there were huge smiles. We are working to set up another session this month and hopefully a full Open Water Diver course some time soon.

Thanks to my dad. What a trusty assistant and thanks for getting the word out at JSC.

Keep diving!