Tee 0 #1 October 15, 2001 6:45 Saturday morning, I woke up, packed up my SCUBA gear and headed to the mountains for my open water SCUBA exams. The thought that the temperature was only 24 F didn't scare me...the sun was going to poke its head at some point and warm it up...right?!?!?! Boy was I wrong. As I reached my destination dive site (about 4500 ft ASL) not only did the sun stay behind a layer of fog and clouds, but it was SNOWING!!! We took our time getting our equipment together to lengthen our surface interval because of the altitude change and were ready to go about 10:00. Now, if you know mountain lakes they are cold as hell in the summer, but on a cold fall day in Canada, when there is snow on the ground, the water temperature plummetted to a VERY cold 42 F!! At this point in the trip we were very apprehensive about getting into the water in our 7mm wet-suits. That's right folks we toughed it out in our wetsuits, it was so cold that our first stages (on the tank) were freezing open! Once in the water, and almost immediately shivering, we stayed for about 25 minutes each time, giving us plenty of time to perform our drills and still explore the underwater cliffs, ricks and aquatic life. As cold as it was it was still an amazing experience! The hardest part was getting out on shore and changing our poor little wet bodies into something dry with nothing to block the cold 24 F wind from blowing on us! I didn't care who saw me naked, I was stripped and dressed in record time! But after 4 dives in the 2 days, I survived without freezing off any appendages and am now a certified SCUBA diver! This is going to come in VERY handy in March for the Skydive Arizona boogie in San Carlos Mexico. Tee Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jfields 0 #2 October 15, 2001 Congrats, Tee!My checkout dives weren't in a Canadian lake, but they were in a cold Pennsylvania quarry and we didn't have wetsuits. So I completely understand about the shivering thing.Is your certification Naui, Padi, or something else?JustinMy Homepage Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
hottamaly 1 #3 October 15, 2001 Congrats...I got my cert at Catalina Island off Calif. coast SKYDIVING GAVE ME A REASON TO LIVE.... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
SpeedRacer 1 #4 October 15, 2001 Brrr. I got NAUI certified in the ocean in Gloucester, MA, in early March! The instructor had a dry suit, which was leaking. We kinda whipped through the test REAL fast & got the hell out. There wasn't anything to see at that time of year anyway.The instructor said that his thermometer was reading 31 degrees F!! If we'd been in a fresh water lake, there would have been ice! Speed RacerThe problem with the world is that everyone is a few drinks behind-Bogart Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Tee 0 #5 October 15, 2001 Glad to hear that I'm not the only one insane enough to dive on into glacial lakes! My instructor had his dry suit on too...NO FAIR! But even with the cold water experience, I know that I will enjoy the sport....skydiving will always come first, but this is a nice close second. I think once I get in the tropical waters of Mexico, SCUBA will take on a whole new meaning. I am PADI certified now.Tee Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jfields 0 #6 October 15, 2001 Since we are talking about diving, I figured I'd throw a link up.http://www.jennandjustin.com/photos-reefex-intro.htmlIt has stories and pictures about Operation Reefex. It was my Army scuba boondoggle. Weirdest thing, swimming down and seeing tanks almost in formation on the ocean floor.JustinMy Homepage Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
des 2 #7 October 16, 2001 ooooh ,that cold is scary! did my certification in palau,60 or so dives now, in palau,saipan ,and philippines,and never worn a wetsuit!cold water sucks!try the tropics. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
des 2 #8 October 16, 2001 ooooh ,that cold is scary! did my certification in palau,60 or so dives now, in palau,saipan ,and philippines,and never worn a wetsuit!cold water sucks! try the tropics.for all other fellow deviates, if boat scuba dives,and all night muff dives ,for $20 each,on a really nice tropical resort,about $20,a room,sounds good,contact me for details,(i'm going back real soon)des Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Tee 0 #9 October 18, 2001 Here is a pic of the dive site. We are the tiny little people in the water. It is fabulous because the mountains extend another 400 feet under water, so the cliffs underneath are amazing.Tee Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
freeflir29 0 #10 October 18, 2001 Nice Pic! I can't wait to get back to Montana in a couple weeks........"There once was a man named Enis....."-Krusty the ClownClay Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
