Baby Boomers – Never Say Never!

I have recently thought about writing a book about my (dis)adventures and the title would be “Change – Never Say Never” You are never too old to fulfill a dream or desire.  This is no truer than with our good friends Peter & Penny, who for their 10th anniversary, decided to get their PADI Diving Certification. Penny, has lived in Santa Barbara for years and has had divers in her family for 40+ years. However, she has never been certified. Peter, an avid adventurer, had just never gotten around to getting certified.

Penny mentioned that they had been talking about getting their certification for their 10th Anniversary but didn’t know whether they could get certified here or wait until they returned to the US.

I started the ball rolling by getting a hold of Kathy Bishop, who recently received her PADI Master Diver Certification and Instructors Certification.  Our diving discussion that evening was so enthusiastic that Dwight and I decided to join them for a “tune-up or refresher course at the Coronado Country Club (CCC) pool and a dive at Portobello during the following week.

Penny is like the Energizer Bunny. She was so excited she could hardly wait to get started. Peter, who is a snowboarder, surfer and has been a competitive diver, was equally enthusiastic and supportive of the whole idea.  I asked them to share with me their adventure into the beautiful underwater world of SCUBA diving.

My first question was “Why now?”  Penny, as many of us will understand, was busy raising kids and working for many years. Peter had completed the course, except for the open water dives, almost 40 years ago. Unfortunately, an emergency forced him to leave the training course, and he did not complete the certification at the time.

Penny’s two kids, Kelly and Josh, both certified divers, had wanted their mother to do this for a long time.  They both told her “Do it Mom, you’ll love it” and guess what? She did and she does!

For both Peter and Penny, age is just a number. With good health, an adventurous spirit, and wisdom (we gain with age), you can do anything.  Failure and fear are two big negative motivator’s for us to not try something that will push us outside our comfort zone.  Penny was concerned that she might fail the written exam. Also, not being a good swimmer, she was perhaps a little bit (or maybe a BIG bit) intimidated by the ocean.   With Peter’s support and encouragement she got right in there and did it.  They both studied the dive manual together, reading, quizzing each other and found it easy and fun.

In the pool at CCC, they had two days of scuba instruction.  Peter was surprised at how much the equipment had improved in 40 years - all except for the #$&* snorkel.  Penny thought it was so-o-o cool she didn’t want to get out. 

The open water dives proved to be a bit difficult at first for Peter.  Peter is a tall man and the wetsuit he was given was too small, so this caused his breathing to be restricted. Also, the BCD (dive vest) was too small and was over inflated, which further constricted his breathing.  Because he was having trouble breathing he decided to get back into the boat and see if he could find a solution to the problems.  Much to his relief, he solved the problems and was able to finish his certification dives.  Penny had a hard time equalizing the pressure in her ears but finally got the hang of it.  She also told me that she found out real fast that you can’t talk underwater, which was real difficult for her. Peter said watching Penny try to talk underwater was a sight to behold.

The freedom and weightlessness of diving impressed both of them. Peter said he thought about how the astronauts deal with weightlessness on an ongoing basis.  While Penny thought swimming along with the fish was awesome.

Diving with the Dive Adventure Company located near Portobello, we found the Caribbean on this weekend was quite murky with visibility of about 20 feet. The rains caused a lot of sediment to flow from the rivers into the ocean.  But there were tropical fish, coral, sponges, crabs and one very large lobster (which we did not catch).  Peter and Penny both received their PADI Scuba Open Water Certification and are glad they did it.

I asked them both for some words of wisdom for people who think they may be too old to try something new:

Penny’s response: “You are never too old to try new things. When you think it might take you out of your comfort zone, try it. If it doesn’t work, try something else. Just go for it. There are lots of opportunities out there. Age is a “state of mind”.

Peter’s response: “When you think that you are too old to do something, it’s time to start knitting. The best way to stay young is to hang out with the kids in the “snowboard park”.

Dive Company: Dive Adventure
Dive Master: Kathy Bishop
E-mail: panamkat@gmail.com

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