Diving with Friends

I have many friends who come to visit and do weekly dives with a close group of friends, here is a report on a few of our dives.

Aloha Spearos,

I haven't posted for a while. The weather wasn't that great but our gang did go out. . Super bowl Sunday it was only the patriarch Pete and I. everyone else was tied up watching a late season football game. Pete and I got out and the pier was empty. We were the second boat out. So you can see who has the right priorities. We did a few dives and checked our usual ono spots. It looks like they have left. The season started early, but it also ended early. We shot a few fish and Pete shot some Uhus while I took a pole spear to shoot some Kole to fry up later that eve.
One thing good out of that day is I got to test out one of my new slip tips. The one I tested was a spectra tip that I designed to fit on 9/32 shafts. The diameter of the tip is 9/32in and has a 700 lb spectra cable. This tip is a pencil point with a tiny tri cut to help get maximum penetration. I checked two ulua houses before I could connect on one. It was 30 lbs and the tip worked flawlessly. This tip will be great for the WSB and smaller pellagics. As for Ulua, I would still recommend cable due to the coral we have here.

This past Sunday, we had the gang back out. Joe, Matt, Pete and I got out early and because the weather was calm went to check and see if any stray onos were still in. at the second spot, I saw an Ulua on the edge of our deep pinnacle. It went under some rocks at the base and was hanging out. Matt had lost one under the same ledge three weeks ago and ended up with a thoracic squeeze from not being warmed up enough for an 88ft dive. I wasn't warmed up, so I called Joe and Matt to spot me. The boat was anchored nearby so I went and swapped my magnum for my GR ulua gun. I had changed out the spectra tip to try out the other new tip I have. That tip is a 5/16 pencil point tri cut tip that has 900lb SS cable and a 6mm threaded adapter.

I did a long breath up and then did my drop. When I got to the top of the ledge, it seemed like hours before the ulua came around and I got a shot into its head. While coming up, the ulua came out of the hole and started dragging me around. Matt did a short dive and helped grab the line and we got the spunky ulua up. This is what diving with buddies is all about. We can watch and help each other out. In the meantime, only feet away, Joe got down to the top of the pinnacle at 68 ft and dropped on a really nice uku. Joe comes up with the fish of the day! His Uku was big. The funny thing is it had a deformed tail. So we kidded Diver Joe about shooting handicapped fish! We both took pictures and I got some nice shots of my slip tip to add to the other weeks ulua and sliptip. You can cehck out the tips on my website along with a new whale video from a recent encounter whle blue water diving


Both our ono spots had very little bait so we left early. Looking to shoot fish for dinner, we did a quick dinner dive with our pole spears and gathered a gallon baggy of Kole. On the way home we did one last ono drift and then called it quits. That evening we met with the gang, did our BBQ, ate fish and had a blast as usual.


Aloha,Daryl

About fins.....

Just spent last month hosting Joseba Kerejeta. He's the current men's world champion from Spain. You can learn a lot by watching and listening. So of course my buddies and I picked his brain 24/7. He is a machine. He didn't get to where he is by talent or luck. He has been preparing himself to become the worlds best by analyzing all the different facets of spearfishing his whole life. Gear, diet, techniques, everything. Also travelling around the world spearfishing to perfect and learn as much as he can on spearfishing.

One of the questions I asked was about fins. His answer was there is no one fin that will do it all or especially work for everyone. Like shoes, some brands fit individuals better than others.

The key he said was to find the fins that fit best and work best for that individual. C4's like I use might be great for me, while Dive R fins by Ray Powell might be perfect for someone else. The best thing to do is try out fins and see what works best and most importantly is most comfortable. Without a good fitting pair of fins you are dead in the water.

C4 just came out with an entry level CF fin. It is called Skorpios.
I was lucky enough to get a pair to try out. I use C4 Falcons exclusively so it was more of a comparison test.

I got the Skorpios fins and they are by C 4. They are the entry level carbon blades. Compared to the regular C4's I have, I actually like the skorpios better. The blades are 30 like my C4 but a little softer. I have two pairs of C4 falcons in 30 and both have different stiffness. I guess like anything else not all blades are created equal. I do know I like the rails on the Skorpios better because they are subtle and not so pronounced as on the Falcons. The higher rails on the falcons makes the blade only want to go one way. This can be hard on your ankles when doing turns and maneuvering while swimming. Whereas the Skorpios have a little "slop" which lets the blades slip in the water a little but is also easier on your ankles.
I have learned that stiff blades are fine when you want to just go one way, but for the type of diving we do, its like riding a bike. We aren't biking long distances.... we do a lot of stop and go and change in direction and speeding up and then slowing down. If you had a bike, you don't want the gears in high gear. You want it in low that is easier to pedal. Joseba Kerejeta the Current men's world champion explained that to me when He came over to visit. His fins seemed like noodles compared to mine. Same with Skorpios. They let me change direction, and stop and go without killing my ankles.

Where can you get these fins? There is a member on DB who will be gettting them. I liked the way they performed. Allessandro knows more about these than any one I know!

Aloha,Daryl

Aloha,

Yes the Skorpios are a blend of 50% T 700 and 50% T300. This is how the cost is kept down. C4 is all T 700. Performance wise they both work well. The Skorpios have been down past 100ft and no problem. In fact I used them to recover my lost C4 that had gone over into the deep and when I found them, I had a friend spot me and then recovered it with no problem. So far they are holding up fine. I don't cut them any slack when diving our reefs. I crawl into holes, under ledges and beat them up. Great fins at a pretty good price.

Aloha,Daryl