BC Spearing Trip: Round Two!

[BatRay]

Originally Posted by harbour seal

hey there batray,

you were the very first person at deeperblue to welcome me, so you simply have to go this year; seeing how deeperblue was a significant source of inspiration for me to actually buy gear so i could possibly take a trip just like the one i read aobut in last year's thread.

i am of the mindset that even more divers than last year heading up to telegraph cove would be most excellent.

so come on people, all you have to do is read about last year's trip, check out some of the beautiful pictures, and you will be hooked.

i haven't even recieved my wetsuit from elios and i can't wait (two more weeks to go).

cheers,
sean
vancouver, canada

Aww, thanks! I do want to go; it just depends on my work schedule in a job I don't have yet. That makes it difficult to schedule, just a bit I'll keep you posted.

[JMD]

Originally Posted by Erik

Some of the most important people in my life have been met through freediving.Erik

ahhhh gee Erik, I feel the same way...

I'm trying to rope Jer into this trip, but we may be headed to Maui in June to dive / spear...

[Fondueset]

Not to throw a crescent wrench at the moon or anything - but what are the odds of putting something together during the school-year - say August/Sept? Perhaps a completely separate trip.

[Oldsarge]

It would sure fit my schedule better!

[JMD]

I would be down for a second trip then as well... Theres a good chance I would make the coast for both trips.

[BatRay]

Anyone else driving over from Vancouver? If I can make it, it'd be nice to ride-share to the site.

[tylerz]

Umm, my name is Tyler... I am a diver that does not use scuba tanks... I like to go down. There are fish down there and other wierd things. When I go down I get really nice feelings. It all is very much like those dreams where you are under the water... and you are swimming... and you get to look at all the sea life. Yeah... I like that. I banged my head on the bottom of a swimming pool once. I also like how rain rolls right off the feathers of ducks... they are fortunate. Well, I hope when you folks go diving in BC that I go diving too, then we can all like... dive together. And I have a camera. Maybe a photo or two of some of you under the water. I am sure you all look pretty neat in them tight underwater clothing. I like tight clothing.

[Fondueset]

Hi Tyler. I found more under-water things here! Also you can see really far! Will you have fins this time? Would you like me to bring some extras if I get there? My new suit has painting on it.

PS - Cormorants looks like mercury underwater in the right light. But they do have to dry their wings after while.

[feign]

Hey guys,

I agree that the TC is an awesome choice, since we have done the run before. Haddington island was a gold mine. I could dive there every day. The other option that sounds appealing is the west side of the island - uculet or tahsis. Still good regs for spearing.

Gabe, you mention halibut. This is the one thing we missed last trip. We had a lead on a reachable spot on the other side of Malcolm island of the last day, but didn't have the gas to get there. By reachable I am speaking in spearo depth terms of less than 25 m. This excludes the monofin gods that were their last year, who could probably find the halibut in the deep trenches at the bottom of the ocean.

Colin, can we work out those crab gauges? Anyone else interested in a dungeness crab gauge?

I have an idea for those crab traps though. Dump them off the dock, basically where Tyler found the other one. I am not sure if this style would work under the regs. The fish debris at the docks brings in the crabs in hordes.

lee

[tylerz]

Yes, you can count on my appearance sans-fins. After diving the rest of last summer under numerous conditions without fins, and with Christmas holidays training in the Bahamas with no fins, I will be pushing beyond what I managed during last year's trip.

I have some information for you all regarding dive locations:

- Heading north from Campbell River, water temperatures last summer were generally 11 degrees celcius or less, therefore there is little to no water temperature advantage to doing a trip sooner or later to such destinations.

- Late July to mid-September had mostly sunshine last year with beautiful temperatures but degraded water visibility often, although further north of Campbell River in the colder waters it would probably be better.

- West coast has waters that will most likely remain below 15 degrees and depending on where one is probably 12 or lower. Although inlets from the west coast will reach up to 19 degrees late July to mid-September. Chance of hitting a serious algae bloom in these inlets greatly increased during these times.

more to come... have to run...

[efattah]

I'd love to try to pole-spear a halibut at 30m+. However it would most likely be done with a more strict buddy scenario due to the increased risks of dragging what could be a very big fish from the depths.

[flyboy748]

Schedule and money. If I can work out those two things, I'll be there.

Cheers,
Aaron

[Erik]

What I'm intending on doing is this: take 2 weeks when Indo family comes and take them on holiday- probably to the west coast, then take 1 week whenever the spearo meet will be, so you guys have at it!
Erik

[feign]

Originally Posted by efattah

I'd love to try to pole-spear a halibut at 30m+. However it would most likely be done with a more strict buddy scenario due to the increased risks of dragging what could be a very big fish from the depths.

Eric, I would love to spot you on such a feat. Though, my role could only come in to play as an ascent spotter/second spear hand off or other job within sane range. Based on what I have read and heard about the large halibut, this could be quite an undertaking with a pole spear, unless it was stoned. They essentially go berserk when tagged.
lee

[Seacidal]

This sounds like it will be a great gathering and trip. I'd love to come up and join the festivities if the dates would fit in my schedule. It looks like I'm already going to be headed to Vancouver some time in April, and then up to Alaska in May and possibly July. Perhaps I could arrange a stop-over of some days to join everybody and get some diving in.

On a side note, what thickness suit do most freedivers wear for those waters? And what thickness socks and gloves? I wear an old 7mm here off of Ventura, California when the water is in the low 50s.

I'm wondering what would be best in even colder water. Particularly if you wanted to be able to dive effectively for hunting. Anybody have any suggestions? comments?

Hope to see you this summer in BC,
Chip Bissell
a.k.a. Seacidal
Ventura, CA