2020 DIVING, COVID & SCUBA CLINT

Blazing into 2020, I was determined to be in better physical condition and all of the hardwork

had paid off. But this was the year where the world was turned upside down with the Covid19

outbreak. While working from home became the norm, so did the words " lock down". I had

planned to start the dive season early spring, only to find out that most dive shops and dive

sites were closed. Apparently this amazing practice place called Centeen Park was off limits,

so I would take road trips down to Brockville just to find out what this park looked like.

I had heard of other sites like the Conestoga and Lock 28, so took the time to visit them as well. But there was no diving. It wasnt until early June that I had heard of a dive shop in Mallory town that was open a few days a week. So I hit the road and went there to visit, asking for guidance and next steps needed to improve my dive skills. Unfortunately there were no options to dive...and then...in walks a gentleman named Clint. Apparently Clint was back from the Florida Keys and newly certified. He was looking for dive buddy options.

When he heard my story, he offered up access to his sons house that was on the St Lawrence river in Brockville. It had a dock and water access !! We exchanged contact info and agreed to setup a date soon. Within a few days I was heading back down to Brockville with my dive gear in the truck. I remember setting up my gear on the dock and realizing that I had installed my yoke first stage backwards :) Diver Dave and Scuba Clint was pure comedy right from the beginning lol. This became our practice spot, so while all of the public dive sites were locked down. This was our only option to get some dive experience in.

I always appreciated Scuba Clints dive offering back then. It really helped get me in the water and on my way to becoming a better diver. But diving once a week, wasnt cutting it so I needed more options. Soon after, I head heard of a dive shop hosting shore dives in Kingston, so Scuba Clint and I would load up the truck and head down to Kingston for dives. But this was a LONG drive for me from Kanata. So I still needed other options. I knew that in order for me to improve, I needed to work on core skills. Buoyancy, Fin contol and Trim.

So I needed to find a few areas that were controllable and allowed to work on the core skills. I thought I had a plan :(