I logged my 1000th dive this past weekend, so I took the occasion of this milestone to pull out my old log books and review my diving career. It all began on a snowy November day at Gilboa Quarry. That is where I learned that 50oF water feels warm when the air temperature is 30oF. Then, just to prove that I hadn’t gotten any smarter, I took an ice diving course that winter and did the dives in a wetsuit. After that my dives were generally warmer and more interesting. Those 1000 dives include dives in all of the Great Lakes, several not so great lakes, and a couple rivers. And of course, I have logged a few trips to the Caribbean and tropical Pacific. It is hard to say which were my favorites. Some, of course were more fun than others, but they were all experiences that I treasure.
It was fun to go through the old log books, and recall the dives and the people who were there. I’m glad that I logged them all, not only for sentimental reasons, but also so I could do some statistics. (The engineer in me wouldn’t let me get away without doing some analysis.) I found that my average dive is a little over 35 minutes, and I have spent about 24 ½ days underwater not including the time spent in pool training and practice. On average, I have logged about 56 dives per year.
So now I am on to my next thousand, and looking forward to them all.

Safe diving to all,

Tom Rhoad