Hey! You’re not far at all man, I’m in Columbia on a somewhat regular basis for work. I completely agree on the hard to find a buddy thing, I’ve only been in it for a few months now, but end up having to take organized trips with my LDS to find buddies to dive with right now.
One of the shops local to me runs a few wreck and fossil ledge dives off the NC coast every summer too.
I’ve got my own backmount kit (BP&W) along with a single steel 120. I’m working on putting together a sidemount kit and getting my credentials for tech sidemount as well.
I’m sure there is not going to be many opportunities for travel right now, but I’ve heard the lake is still pretty cold anyway, we’ll have to meet up for a jocassee trip