SCUBA - from my first Pacific Ocean dive to my last Gulf of Mexico dive

My SCUBA diving experience began with my first dive in Acapulco, Mexico in 1965 and ended with my backyard pool dives with Little Brother Jonathan in 2005. Many diving adventures, many friends made and many sights seen. This is a draft written on 18 August 2013--I'll add more detail later.

Summary

1965 - Acapulco - one dive in the Pacific Ocean - (see another post that describes this trip)

1979 - SCUBA Course at the Amarillo YMCA

1970s and 1980s - SCUBA diving with local divers in local lakes and, on Friday nights, in the Texas A&M Canyon aquatic Center approx 100 dives

1995 February/May - many dives with 14-year-old Little Brother while earning Advanced diver certification for both of us. approx 25 dives

I told James' mom that if James would pay for his diving trip (air, hotel, SCUBA equipment rental) to Cozumel, Mexico, I would pay to get him SCUBA certified. James got his first job, earned his money and did so well on the SCUBA course that we both got our Advanced ratings before our trip to Cozumel.

1995 May/June - week long diving trip with James Meadow to Cozumel Mexico (date confirmed) 15 dives

Richard and James on Cozumel street.

James and Richard about to explore a reef near Cozumel, Mexico.

Richard and James doing what two island kind o' guys do on their way to the reef.

We enjoyed a great diving adventure in Mexico and dove together often after that. James said we were, "Two island kind o' guys."

On the last day of our trip, rain started falling while we were packing our bags, rain fell harder as we rode the taxi to the airport, rain fell steadily while we boarded the plane and took off for Dallas Fort Worth Airport, and within 24 hours, Cozumel was swamped by Hurricane Allison--the first hurricane of the season. We got out of Cozumel just in time. Great trip!

1996 - week long diving trip with Bill Sticksel and local Amarillo divers to Guanaja Island, Honduras. 15 dives

We flew to Tegucigalpa, Honduras, then to Guanaja Island, then took a boat to the mountainside hotel. On Guanaja Island, our guide collected dollars from the divers to tip the bag boys who had moved our bags from plane to boat. He called the boys over, told them as they stood in front of him that he was going to split the tip four ways, but, then, threw all the bills back over his head into the Gulf of Mexico. After about 30 seconds of scrambling, diving and yelling, four very wet boys climbed out of the water waving hands full of equally wet dollars.

1997 July - week long diving trip trip to Cozumel with step-daughter Jessica (date confirmed) 12 dives

Jessica SCUBA diving near Cozumel. (Photographer's rules: hold your breath while I'm taking your photo or the bubbles may cover your face.)

We told Jessica that if she would keep her grades up at the Albuquerque Job Corp, we would pay to get her SCUBA certified and then take her to Cozumel, Mexico for a week of SCUBA diving. That worked. Jessica and I enjoyed some great SCUBA diving and we celebrated her 21st birthday at Carlos and Charlies coastal restaurant and bar in Cozumel. A sign on the wall at Carlos and Charlies said, "Notice to cruise chip Captains - please leave your keys with the cashier. If your ship blocks our view, we'll move it."

1998 - One day dive near Roatan Island, Honduras during Gulf of Mexico cruise 2 dives

Cindy spent the day on the beach at a resort on Roatan Island. I went SCUBA diving. Later, our SCUBA boat docked at the Roatan Beach for lunch, so, I surprised Cindy, we shared lunch on the beach and then I went back with the dive group.

1999 - one week diving trip to Cozumel with nephew Michael Mitchell (date confirmed) 10 dives

Cindy's nephew Michael learned to dive and his folks paid for weeklong SCUBA trip. We had fun, but, on two dives, Michael overlooked his air gauge reading and ran out of air. Not acceptable! Divemaster told me to punish Michael by making him miss the next dive. I chose, instead, to try verbal communications. That failed. He just didn't get it. Michael should probably stay away from SCUBA diving, skydiving and bungee jumping.

2005 - numerous backyard swimming pool dives while teaching Jonathan Chesser to dive 10 dives

Jonathan had an above-ground pool in his backyard. I floated the SCUBA tank and BC in the center of the pool, let the two regulators hang down in the pool, wore my weight belt to hold me on the bottom of the pool, outfitted Jonathan with a rented weight belt that would fit around his 16-inch waist, and taught him how to do many of the things that a SCUBA diver needed to know, such as, buddy breathing, removing-replacing-clearing mask underwater, breathing underwater without a face mask, checking air pressure, inflating and deflating the BC. Jonathan may have been able to pass a SCUBA course, but, we never tried to do so and we never went open water diving.

2008 - following CABG (Coronary Artery Bypass Graft) in January of 2008, Dr Agostini recommended no more SCUBA diving. I gave all of my SCUBA gear to Jessica.