3.28.2015 SAT - Ethan's Freedive Practice [kid]

Previous weekend Ethan got skunked at SWS due to the water temperature being too cold for him to enter, then the forecast for this weekend was too windy.  But like any weather report you read as a kayak fisherman/diver, you know you can't always trust them reports.  As a parent with kids, you always know to be prepared and have a backup plan.  Ethan's mission was to learn freediving in Monterey Saturday, my mission was to make sure the whole family was going to have fun.  Woke up in the morning and Ethan's grandma called saying she wanted to tag along with Ethan's cousin, so we told them to come on down.  As soon as they arrived, we had everything loaded in the van.  Didn't bring the kayak thinking worse case scenario.

Arrived at Monterey with slight fog and temperature at 63 degrees.  We knew that it was going to be too cold for the kids, so we switched to the backup plan and headed to the Aquarium.  After 1.5hrs looking at fish, practicing who can ID most of them correctly, we left to head to Lovers.  As we headed to our van, we noticed the sun popped up and it was a couple of degrees warmer.  YAY!  We geared up with the scuba people in the parking lot and headed down to the beach.  IT WAS A EPIC DAY!  It was not windy in the cove, visibility was decent, very toasty day, and it was just a good day to have the gopro charged.

Ethan ran off to the water, checked temperature and then started to gear up.  As he geared up I noticed that he was not liking his mask from Costco at all.  He was getting frustrated, so we tossed it off and I gave him mine.  Sure enough he was happy with no leaks and my snorkel.  (which sucked for me since I couldn't watch underwater)  Ethan received a weight belt and we tested it for the first time.  We started with weights in the shallow to check buoyancy, then adjusted to find it just right.  Then trying to explain to a 8yr old what a pike dive was, just had us going in circles.  " Dad, a what? do what? I don't get it "  I got to a point and said, watch me, figure it out.  Eventually he got the motion and was able to grab sand at the bottom.  He spent the rest of his time diving for little things on the ocean floor and was having a blast.  It takes a lot of patience, but the reward is definitely there.

Here is the video below, next week we will video the salmon opener!!

NICE!!!

Great job guys!!!

I was out on Friday night and Sunday morning... 

 

Sincerely,

Jim

Very cool report,

Somewhere in a box I have a little ab shell that my son plucked off the bottom at Van Damme when he was 9,  I marked it "Michael's first treasure from the bottom of the sea".  He's forgotten all about it, but I haven't,

Good times for you and yours for sure.

Thanks guys, cant wait till he gets older and we can open a beer together and watch it with his kids.

Great Progress! Cant wait for my little one to grow old enough for this