Groundhog: noun – stocky coarse-furred burrowing rodent with a short bushy tail found throughout the northern hemisphere; hibernates in winter
Groundhog, scuba style has quite a different meaning…
When I decided to take up scuba diving I decided to take my lessons at a place called “Groundhog Divers“. The dive shop is located in Kitchener, Ontario. I successfully completed my Open Water certification on June 1st, 2008. We were told at the time that we could join the ultra-exclusive club of Groundhogs if we completed 50 dives within a year of being certified.
Well…I managed to do it, in fact, I completed my 50th dive on May 31st, 2009. The picture above shows the ceremony. The inductee waits patiently while other Groundhogs (and ONLY Groundhogs) pour and smear various concoctions all over the new Groundhog. I have seen this happen to other new Groundhogs and thought it looked like good clean fun.
It turns out that you must wash all that goo off before getting dressed! That means taking a bath in the 50F water, then drying off in the 60F wind (don’t let the photograph fool you). All in all a good time was had, especially by Julie, Randy, and Kim, the inductors (???).
Can’t wait to take part in one of these ceremonies myself, this time on the other side!
the dan blog 