Can I play?

[Beefcake]

This is my obligatory intro post...

I'm a fairly new diver living in Portland. I fell in love with diving after spending a week in the water in Kauai two years ago (snorkeling every day and one "resort dive"). I came home and immediately signed up for OW (SDI cert 6/08 through Oregon Underwater). I only have 9 dives since then, but I really want to dive more. I have done a little crabbing and spearfishing in Newport and Garibaldi, but I think I'm going to leave the polespear at home for a while in order to work on my bouyancy (why can't I spell that? B-U-O-Y-A-N-C-Y... Got it!).

I have my own gear, but I keep changing configurations (which is part of my buoyancy issue). I'm currently running an old conshelf SEA (I also have a set of Titans, but I need to have them serviced), Suunto Gekko computers on console and wrist, Black Diamond BCD, AL80 tanks (saving for steel 120's), and a 7mm farmer john / jacket (saving for a drysuit - I'm 6'2" 250# with size 12 feet if anyone has a drysuit hanging around that they want to donate ).

I have recently found a couple of dive buddies (old friends that I ran into that are better divers than me), but I'm hoping to meet others. I'm just a little nervous about who I hook up with (my skills aren't good enough to be responsible for someone else new, and I don't want to hold back experienced divers because of my horrible air consumption). Hopefully I can get in on an NWDC group dive to find other like-minded divers.

In case anyone is worried about it, my moniker is a joke rather than an ego statement. Back when South Park was the hip new show, I was on a low-carb diet and my girlfriend's kids thought my protein supplement was "Beefcake 2000" weight-gain powder; the name just stuck. I have the same moniker on Ifish and Scubatoys, but it was already taken on Spearboard so I am known there as "In2Deep" (I think I only have 1 post on spearboard anyway).

Well, that's probably long-winded enough for now. I hope to become a contributing member here, and I hope to dive with some of you someday. Can I play?

[ldevore]

Wecome aboard! There are some truely fantastic divers on this site. Take advantage of them and their knowledge! I certainly have and enjoy the sport all that much more for it. Diving is a BLAST! Wooo Hooo!!!!!!!

Lauri

[Norris]

Fantastic intro!!!


Welcome!

[Jabberjaw]

Hi Beefcake,
Welcome to the club. It's a great place to find dive related information and more importantly dive buddies. There are several here from Oregon. I have a SeaSoft drysuit that would fit you perfectly. It is a compressed neoprene suit. I just had all the seals replaced on it. It also has hip pockets and an overboard discharge system (p-valve). It comes with an undergarment, gloves and hood. I can also throw in a drysuit coarse if you like. I am asking $875 for it. If interested give me a call or pm me. You can find more about me at www.eastsidediving.com

Welcome aboard

Greg

[Mattleycrue76]

Welcome to NWDC! Don't worry about you air consumption - we've all been there. I think you'd benefit greatly from diving with some more experienced divers, I know that was the magic pill for me and there's no better place to find those than right here on this board.

[Kalatin]

Welcome to NWDC. You aren't going to find a better place to connect with PNW divers. There are some fantastic people around here that like diving with newer divers. These are folks who dive enough (and remember being new divers well enough) not to care if a dive is only 15 minutes. Remember to be safe and in no time you will find that you are spending lots of quality time staring at all of the amazing stuff the Sound has to offer.

[Aquanautchuck]

Welcome to our "Nut and Fruit Bowl" "BeefCake". Sounds like you will fit right in. And the Oregon group grows again.

[Beefcake]

Thank you all for the warm welcome. It seems like a good group here. I really like the people on the other scuba forum I use, but they are all in Texas or Florida, so I'll probably never meet them. Hopefully I'll see a few of you in the water.

Jabberjaw- Thanks for the info on your drysuit. It sounds nice, but I can't afford it right now (the economy has taken its toll on my finances recently).

[Jabberjaw]

No problem. I saw you height and weight and this suit was designed for that build. I hope the economy turns for the better for you. There are several members that live in Oregon and travel up here frequently to dive in the Puget Sound. Maybe you can hook up with some of them and car pool up. If you you would like to try different gear before you dive just post here and someone would probably let you try it before buying. Tanks, suits and BCD are something that is really nice to test before buying. It really pays off to talk to different folks about the different gear that is out there. And yes if I stll have the suit I would let you try it so you can get a feel for a compressed neoprene dry suit.

Greg

[ORDiver]

Hey Beefcake, welcome to the board. I'm in Portland too and go up to Puget Sound a lot to dive. You're welcome to come along if you like. We go to Lake Merwin up in Woodland, WA sometimes too just for practice dives although today it was friggin cold! 40 degrees! I also go out to the coast in the spring/summer.

[Joshua Smith]

I'm late on the welcome wagon, but: Welcome to our site! There's a lot of good Oregon divers on here, and Spatman, too. I'm sure you will be making friends and learning dive skillz in no time!

[Beefcake]

ORDiver- Was that 40 degree air temp or water temp? Most of my dives have been in about 50 degree water so far... would I have to worry about my reg freezing in 40 degree water? Thanks. Oh, and let me know when you have room and patience for a newbie; my schedule is pretty flexible these days.

[BASSMAN]

Welcome Beefcake!
Come on up to the Puget Sound and dive with us! Or even to the Hood Canal!
Hope to meet and dive with you some day!
Oh, and welcome to the addiction!

[ORDiver]

ORDiver- Was that 40 degree air temp or water temp? Most of my dives have been in about 50 degree water so far... would I have to worry about my reg freezing in 40 degree water? Thanks. Oh, and let me know when you have room and patience for a newbie; my schedule is pretty flexible these days.

That was 40 degree water! The air was around 50 degrees. As far as the regulator freeze, if your reg is environmentally sealed you don't have to worry about it freezing but 40 degrees is about as cold as you would want to get without one that is.
As far as newbies are concerned, I still consider myself new. I only have 75 dives so far and , while I'm doing pretty good, I still have a lot to learn. I'd be free to do some diving the last weekend of January or the first weekend of February. PM if interested.

[spatz84]

hey welcome to the club!