Finally put together the video

Quote from: Wilderness medic on April 04, 2018, 12:12:48 PM

Bad luck. Right after I post that I go out and see mine is fried.

That’s sucks. Are you going to be at RTS on Saturday for the seminar?

Nope. I’ll be in Florida doing some training and looking at houses

Lowrance HD elite 5. Flipped several times for a couple minutes and still works.

Trident 13 with upgraded seat $700.

Hello Dive Buds!

STOKED for the amazing conditions for diving this week. Headed to N. Big Sur tomorrow morning (if anyone wants to join us) for spear fishing (no tanks) - bringing the yaks to get us out there to talk to them (might go toward Lobos Rocks)!

BELOW ARE MY QUESTIONS (sorry ahead of time for all of them!):
I'd like your advice/opinions on dialing in my current gear and technique better.

I am 6'3", 199 lbs, 17% body fat (I am in the gym often and in pretty good, solid shape - muscularly speaking - this is FYI for buoyancy and breath hold advice). I dive with a 5mil open cell farmer john suit w 3mil gloves and socks, Omer Cayman 75 single band, 19lbs on belt (3-3s and 2-2s).

1) I float with water midline on my mask at the top, but I still feel pretty boyant in the water in about 30ft of water (i understand deeper=sink faster) - Should I add more weight - safely?


Yes. But increase it a little at a time. Weight yourself for half what you're hunting at. Example 40' weight to 20'.

2) I only dive about 2-3x/mo, so my breath hold is weak (maybe 45 sec on the bottom in 20-30 ft). Any thoughts on how to increase this? Any web links to static exercises? I'm super comfortable in the water and very conscious of my rest periods. I practice the 3-4 seconds breath in with 6-8 seconds breath out at 80% lung capacity for ~1.5min then breathe in chest first then stomach at 100% before diving down).

You can do a lot with 45 seconds. But just keep practicing dive tables. Search the App Store on your phone for a good one.

3) Does black out have any indicators before it happens? I typically dive with someone but that someone is usually 20-40 ft from me.. which is like diving alone, i suppose.


Blackout can happen at anytime and can have zero warnings. But I've never heard of one where the person wasn't diving at least 40 feet before blacking out. 90% of them happen within 15' of the surface after a dive, 9% happen below that coming up, and .9% happen at the target depth.


4) Should I add a 2nd band to my gun? I've never shot the nice guns before, so I don't have a reference for how my gun performs, although the forums say its a good one for around here). My PR for ling is 37" so I know it can penetrate but I feel like I've been missing easy shots lately. Maybe I need to stiffen my arm and grip before pulling trigger (not something I was consciously focusing on before)


Depends what you're hunting. You can stab ling with a knife, pole spear etc. So a small gun shouldn't be an issue with that. But maybe if you start hunting rockfish at longer distances you would like more power.


5) My kayak is finally super dialed in for free diving off of, but I feel like it's only useful to get out of the mouth of still water cove (to avoid swimming it). Any other places it really helps - it adds a whole separate level of effort to bring it on a dive trip.

Huh? You don't feel comfortable paddling further?

6) Any pointers on locations to dive down in Big Sur? Tomorrow is my first time going that far south.


Yeah, prepared to have people trash talk you if you post any pictures.

7) Are there any free diving courses in Monterey area?


Yeah, Kris might have one in the near future but he's been pretty busy.

Thanks for letting me be a pest and ask a ton of lame questions. I'd be all kinds of down for a few experienced divers to let me tag along with them. If you have any questions or need clarifications, please let me know.

Quote from: Otter on March 31, 2018, 06:44:24 AM

You should plan to spend some time in big sur on your way down. Plasket Creek has Good camping, surfing and fishing. Lime kiln and Kirk Creek are nice also but no surf break.

Hope you guys have a great trip!

-Eliot

X1000

BigSur has a lifetime of areas to explore...I've never ventured south of there so really can't give any advice.

Good luck and have fun!!

 

Sincerely,

Jim

You really blew it Jim. Now this person has a 100% chance of diving on someone else spot.


 

I thought Santa Rosa was the armpit?

It’s all relative. Paying 500k for a dumpy house smooshed up against neighbors with the same homeless problems as elsewhere and the constant cow manure odor sounds like an armpit to me.  But to each their own.

Isn't Willits just north west of Potter Valley and north east of Comptche?

I Zod Out

20 mins north of Ukiah on 101 at the 20 junction.