#82
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James - icn80
 Waianae HIMale
43 years old
Joined On: 8/9/2012
Last Login: 12/21/2020
Experience: Novice
Looking For: Dive buddy - just friends
Habits: I'll try anything
Relationship: Single
Children At Home: No
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Advanced Open Water (PADI)
8/14/2013
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Enriched Air/Nitrox (PADI)
8/14/2013
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Open Water Diver (PADI)
9/09/2012
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I had just got back from Iraq December of 2011 and I had signed up for this MWR thing that involved scuba diving. Now I’ve always had a love of the ocean but never really been one to be in it all that much. I’m a simple country kid from the foothills of North Carolina and I’m not a good swimmer by any means. Taking that first step off the boat into a wind tossed Hawai’i Kai bay in late February 2012 was a bit nerve racking for me, fully inflated bcd or not. I still try to rationalize it by telling myself it was just combat stress. So I’m looking at my instructor who resembles a beefed up Jeff Spicolli and he’s telling me that it’s going to be alright and that once I’m under the water just keep breathing normally and we will practice a couple drills we talked about on the boat like clearing my mask and regulator. He’s an ex-Army combat diver and his partner an ex-Coast Guard rescue swimmer/diver so I figured I was in pretty good hands. So I tell him hey I’m a little nervous because I’m not by any means a good swimmer. He looks me over a second and gives me his "But Mr. Hand" grin and says to me that diving isn’t a race and you don’t have to be a good swimmer just be able to keep a level head under pressure and the swimming part will come in due course. So I look at him and say yeah but.........he reached out at me with ninja like speed, there was some hissing, and I was 10ft underwater looking back at him wearing that same grin. He motioned for me to equalize my ears and I flipped him off....then I equalized my ears. He motioned for me to clear my mask and I flipped him off......then I cleared my mask. He motioned for me to clear my regulator and I shook my head no while flipping him off. He again displaying ninja like speed removed my regulator from my lips which I snatched back promptly while gurgling obscenities at him that would make the fish blush, put the regulator back in my mouth and cleared it. He gave me the ok sign and then the thumbs down and I blew bubbles at him and began to decend the guideline to the bottom 50ft below. Once I calmed down and started looking around, I began to enjoy myself pointing out sea turtles and fish to my other battles who had signed up from my unit. After around 30 mins it was time to surface and the more I thought about it the more I realized how much I enjoyed myself. It was the first time I had spent that much time playing in the ocean in my entire life. It was the first time since college that I had spent that much time truly "playing." I think I have an addiction and I’m hoping to find other aquanauts that I can learn from, both in and out of the water, and play like a kid in a candy store with.