Monterey Newbie

Okay guys.  I have done three outings now and I am loving the free diving,  Clearing isn't a no brainer yet so I am probably only going down about 15 feet max.

So, are any of you in the Carmel Bay/Monterey area and up for going out during the week?  I am not spearing yet, just getting the hang of the swimming.

I've found that depth comes with being comfortable more than anything.  Once everything is automatic and you can relax on the surface without any anxiety you'll be in great shape.  Being comfortable just takes practice and lots of little tricks.  I adjust my weight belt so I'm ballasted upright and don't have to fan with my hands at the surface, and if I have to move up there I do it by wiggling only my right foot - I think of that as my kicker motor. 

If you're not spearing, try diving with a floatline and a camera.  The floatline will get you back to that lingcod for a photo, and you can clip the camera to the float until you find something to photograph.

Nice tip.  Thanks Josh.

I do not have a floatline.  That is just polypropylene rope with something holding air?  Or is it something specific.

You could use a poly rope but a regular freedive floatline is better. When you're spearing, you attach it to your gun and the other end to a float. The float lets people (ie boats and buddies) know where you are, and if you spear something you can just dump the gun and follow the floatline back down to it after you've caught your breath. For kelp you can use a small pool float. White sea bass divers often use nothing on the end of their float line because they are in THICK kelp. I came up with a solution for that which I brought to the Channel Islands last week but didn't try out. I attached some 3' red and yellow cordura strips form the fabric store to the end of the float line. I'm hoping they will still be somewhat visible from the dive boat, but will slide throught the kelp.
I use an inflatable float for non-kelp diving; there are foam float set-ups for big fish (tuna). Boogie boards work too. It's nice to have something to store a few things in; I put my flashlight in my float, then after I get skunked on the halibut  I can look for lings. I also strap my Tevas on the float after walking to the water when shore diving.
Good, reasonable floatlines: http://www.neptonicsystems.com/floatlines.htm
Floats: http://www.spearfishinggear.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?page=SG/CTGY/FFFL
The Master torpedo is a great entry-level float; you can stuff a flashlight in the bottom. I just noticed Pirate is selling the Neptonic floatlines now, too.
And of course, your local dive shops...
PS - I just took a breath-hold class last night from Jennifer Housley, the coach of the US apnea team. Very cool and helpful. I managed a 3 1/2 minute breathhold laying in the pool; never tried that before. My usual dives are 45 seconds to a minute. I'm going to work on that now!

Nice tip.  Thanks Josh.

I do not have a floatline.  That is just polypropylene rope with something holding air?  Or is it something specific.

although a poly rope can be used as a floatline , a floatline as a tool serves its purpose by not winding easily into a knot and does not have frays on it allowing it to smoothly guide itself through water and around your body. there have been people who have used poly rope and gotten wrapped since sometimes poly can be kind of sticky to wetsuits.

another advantage to a floatline is that they tend to have a swivel end you can attach a gun to and as you trail it through kelp beds it stays untangled. poly lines can get wrapped in kelp if you do one round around a kelp stalk.

i think neptonic systems in the east bay sells them reasonably priced as opposed to the riffe lines which are sometimes over 100.00.

i have a 50 ft riffe line, 75 was way too much for me locally but in clear water and blue water its desired to have a longer one.

floatlines come in blue, black, clear and fluoro colors as well. i have a black one. i think its important to be able to see it underwater. especially when conditions are not that great. i like my neon orange one for local waters most. its so easy to see and i dont go that deep usually so the 45 ft orange one serves me well. and if i drop my gun, i just look for the orange line floating to the surface and i can mark spots the same way.

Thank you again for the gear lesson fellas.

30' of 5/16" tubing makes a great beginners floatline too and only costs about $10.  I shoot some spraypaint in it and spin it over my head like a lasso to color the inside flourescent yellow.  I make a mark on them every 10' with a sharpie, so when it's floating straight up off the bottom you can read the depth off of it within a foot or two.  That's great for beginners because you can accurately measure the depths you dive and keep track of your improvement over time.  Commercial floatlines are usually made of a slightly more flexible material, but I've never had occasion to pine for one.  Mainly they lay down neater for storage.

Floatlines work best when they're about 50% longer than the depth of the water you're using them in when there's kelp and rocks about.   

This brings two new questions...........

What kind of tubing is your 5/16" tubing?

When you say clip your camera to the floatline until you find something to photograph..........you are trailing the line and the camera is floating at the surface until you take it with you?

I got mine at ACE, just plain clear tubing on rolls in the back around the plumbing area.  I think it's vinyl - it should have a slick finish.  The price doubled between 5/16 and 3/8, so I went with 5/16 and am happy with it.  Those are OD numbers.  My first floatline was 25' 1/4" aquarium tubing and I found that it didn't hold up as well as the 5/16" - it looks kinked up and crappy now but my friends take alot of abalone with it since it's still in service as my 'loaner'.

I generally have a piece of pool noodle at the end of my floatline, then I can leave it on the bottom, drop off a fish or ab in my kayak, and return to the float easilly.  I usually have a clip or stringer on the back of the float to clip stuff to like my camera, flashlight, ect.  When done I just wind the line around the noodle. 

I built a 50' floatline with 1/2" tubing but I found that stuff was too stiff to roll up so it's stored as a bulky coil.  It still works great though, and with a 3/8" rope down the middle I could probably take whales with it.    Rather than try to coil it on the kayak I usually just tow it behind me.

Hmmmmm, sounds like you've done this a few times PS............

I'll run by Ace when I go out to shop for a light.  The one I borrowed today was really hard to turn on and off.  I will make sure my new one is easy.