Wednesday 29 January 2014

Sunday Breakfast

Please Join Us for Sunday Morning Breakfast!


Shelley our ASC Social Director has organized the next breakfast and we would love to see everyone there. If you missed us last time @ Cora’s, there is no excuse!!!

  It's your chance to come out for a meet and greet with other club members.
Shelley has booked the next breakfast at Ted's, for February 16th 2014, 8:45 am.
404 Old Kingston Rd.  Corner Kingston Rd.

Date :  Sunday February 16th
Place :  Ted’s Restaurant
Address: 404 Old Kingston Road, Toronto, M1C 1B6, Canada.   +1 416-282-2204
Time :  8:45 am

Please confirm your attendance by February 14th..

Thanks, hope to see you all there.
Shelley

ASC Social director 


Friday 10 January 2014

Sunday Mornings

Please Join Us for Sunday Morning Breakfast!
 Shelley our ASC Social Director has organized the next breakfast and we would love to break a record for the most in attendance.  It's your chance to come out for a meet and greet with other club members.

Now we all seem to be back on a regular schedule, and are ready to get together again.
So our  Sunday breakfasts are back !!

Date :  Sunday January 19
Place :  Cora's
Address:  1755 Pickering Pky
Time :  9:00 am

Please confirm with me if you will join us.

Thanks, hope to see ya all there.
Shelley

ASC Social director 


Monday 6 January 2014

First Ever Dive [Discover Scuba]

January, the first month of the year finds me reminiscing of other firsts.  My first time breathing underwater, my first open water dive, my first large aquatic life sighting.

For many this brings great smiles and hearty laughs as they remember their firsts.

First Ever Dive [Discover Scuba]

 Our first time trying Scuba was in Cozumel Mexico, it was on a Discover dive that I had one of the best and worst experiences of diving.  When a resort Divemaster approached us pool side I must have given some ridiculous reason for not diving as his reaction was to laugh hysterically.  We had some of the best “Snorkel gear” he’d ever seen and was surprised that we were not divers.

My preconceptions of diving came from my Aunt’s friends who were police divers.  They would share their stories with her, or my mom, and I would over hear them talking about all of the “Red Tape” before they even got to try scuba in a pool setting.  This however was back in the 70’s and it left me with the idea that Scuba Diving was best left to the professionals.  How wrong I was.

The Cozumel Divemaster provided a tank and regs and helped us into the pool.  Soon we were scooting along the bottom, and loving it.  Both of us couldn't believe how well we took to it.  Scuba seemed so natural, so easy, like breathing.  LOL

Next step would be to try this new skill in the open water – our mini scuba lesson included some basics in the pool and two open water dives on the Cozumel reef.

Have you ever heard that the most dangerous thing in the world is a little bit of information? Not knowing what it is that you don’t know can scare anyone.  I am an information based person, detail orientated.  To function properly at any task I need to have all the facts.  
On the 20 minute boat ride out to the reef, suited up in a men’s large 8 millimeter wetsuit, that I could not move in and it felt very heavy to me, I started to get very nervous. This was the first time I had even seen most of the equipment that they were now strapping to my body. It was all a bit over whelming.  The weight belt and lead weights were so tight they were digging into my ribs.  I notified the Divemaster that I wasn't sure about this and that I had butterflies, but he reassured me that it was all normal/routine. There were five of us that had never dived before with one Divemaster.  He was focusing on hand signals, while I was trying to ask practical ‘what if’ questions.  There was so much equipment involved, and I had no idea what 80% of it was for.  I did not  even know how to add or dump air from my BCD.  As my mind started to create reasons for not going forward with this crazy idea, the boat motors came to a halt.
Everyone stepped up to the edge and the captain was yelling “Dive, Dive, Dive” I wasn't sure how to “Dive” off the boat; I've never done this before.  Before I knew what was happening, I got a shove from the person behind me, my equipment flooded and I was sinking and panicking.  I took off my mask and bobbed to the surface to realize I was alone.  I was coughing and heaving and kicking like crazy to keep afloat.  Soon I was met by a very upset Divemaster who told me to get my mask on and get below.

My answer?  I told him to *FORGET* it and that I wanted to get back on the boat. 
His answer?  “What Boat? Please get down the line, your husband and the others are at the bottom and I can’t leave them alone”

The boat had left, and realizing that there really was no other choice; I sucked it up buttercup and down the line I went, convinced that I would indeed die in Mexico as my mother-in-law had predicted.
To cope with my inner turmoil, I hummed the Beatles - Octopus’s Garden and counted to five every breath in and out.  The one piece of really good information that stuck with me was that holding your breath and panic were two of the worst things you could do while diving.  So I made sure to steer clear of those behaviors.

Just as I started to accept my fate, or rather relax, the Divemaster was signaling me to hurry around a large coral head to where the rest of the group was.  As I came clumsily around a put both hands up to stop and became vertical again, my knees came up under me. As I knelt, a very large turtle around 400 lbs floated gently over top of my head.  I kept blinking as it drifted about 30 cm just above me, I seen every detail of its shell.  The complex pattern, scars, and bumpy skin of its feet and tail.  It was my “God Moment”.  How could something this large and heavy, fly over me?
It was weightless, like me. I too could fly in this environment, and enjoy weightlessness.  My Zen, nirvana found.

Right there in that minute, everything that lead up to this point was forgotten and I knew in my heart that I would learn all there was to know about Scuba Diving, and be the best I could be at this sport.  It became an obsession, a passion.

If you ask if I would do it all again?   I would, but not on a resort.  Get to know the facts; a big part of diving is trust.  Dive with people you know, locally, join our club, and do your Discover Dive with a friend. Spend the time learning to dive, with someone who is willing to spend the time helping you learn.
Even seasoned, licenced divers like to try out their equipment in a pool prior to using it in open water.  A pool is a fantastic, SAFE place to get familiar with equipment and practice and fine tune your skills.
I encouraged both of my kids to try Scuba diving, they did so, in a controlled environment, with a local dive club and people we know and trust, right here in our own community.

More information about Diving, upgrading your current skills, or to try out diving in a pool during one of our Discover Dives simply contact us using the information below, it’s that easy!

Also, if you learn to Scuba Dive with us, your membership is included for your first year of diving.
We also welcome Divers certified by any recognized SCUBA training agency.


Just contact us:
info@ajaxscubaclub.on.ca or call (905) 619-2159 and leave a message.
Check us out:  www.ajaxscubclub.on.ca

We'd love to hear about your first dive.  Post below in the comments or visit us on Facebook;