Aloha Gang,
I normally don't post, but this past week was an experience that my dive buddies and and I will always remember.
The blue water season is still happening. Just not as good as it was a few weeks ago. Much of it depends on the moon phase. Full moon is best. This past week has been a whirlwind of activities for our gang. I've been hosting a special guest for the past week. His name is Joseba Kerejeta.
I first met Joseba a few years ago. It was during a visit in Florida for Sheri Daye's Blue wild dive expo. Joseba was in Florida to visit one of our friends and also guest speak at the dive expo. Joseba had also set the men's Black marlin record that year with my Ono gun . He gave a great talk on his diving around the world. We met up again this past year at Sheri's expo and he told me he was coming through Hawaii and wanted to do some diving. Of course I said come on over! Who wouldn't want to dive with a record holder and now the current men's world spearfishing champion from Spain!
While in town Joseba was treated to a tour of Oahu where we live. Matt on his day off gave him the grand tour of the island. They saw the big surf, experienced the local "grinds" ( Food). And each day we all met to eat something different so he could see and taste the cultural diversity that Hawaii has to offer. The best part is a few nights we stayed in and ate what we harvested when diving. One night we fried and grilled Kumu and Kole, and the last night we ate fish tacos with the nice ono Diver Joe shot on Sunday.
The first day out, we did a half day of drifting for onos. The water was a little choppy and although three days earlier I had shot three onos in the same area, the onos just weren't there. Sunday the next day we met at 6:30 am and our group was joined by another friend of mine from the bay area Heiko Sacher. Heiko is an internationally recognized product designer who has multiple international design awards to his credit.
This was his first shot at blue water diving. We launched and hit all the regular spots. We even stopped by and introduced Joseba and Heiko to our pet turtle chomper. The only ono we saw on the first dives was a skittish one that came by Joe and then me. Joseba didn't see anything and decided to do a little reef diving.
I asked him if I could tag along and watch. He said sure and I could be a safety diver. Joseba is in a class of his own. I can see why and how he is now the current men's world champion. He put on a clinic.
Dropping to 110 ft is nothing. He glides down, does and aspetto for a minute, and then when the fish doesn't come in, moves underwater to another spot 50ft away and does the same technique. Then he came up. Average bottom time was 2-2:45 minutes. His recovery time about 3-4 minutes. Diver Joe watched him in the shalllows in 60 ft and said Joseba would move sometimes to three different spots to find fish.
The highlight of the day was the gang drifting into a big school of onos. They came by Joe and he shot and landed a beauty. Heiko saw his first ono school and is now hooked on blue water. Later we did some more reef diving and of course Joseba put on a clinic but Joe,Matt and I also got in a few fish.
In the evenings we would get back and pick Joseba's brain. He is so analytical about gear, technique, stalking and where and what to do for different fish it that we soon realized he is a machine that is always reinventing himself to adapt to any type of condition, location and fish. While looking at a globe and showing us his favorite places to dive around the world, we realized, there are few places in the world he hasn't dove. The only continent he hasn't dove is Antartica!
And the beauty of it is you could see he loves any type of diving. Shallow, deep, rough,calm, clean dirty or cold. As long a he can swim and there is fish, he is happy.
Our gang had a blast with a very special person. Joseba was always informative and more than happy to give advice and helpful tips. Now that we have seen what hard work, dedication to detail can do, we hope that we can improve our diving with the huge amount of knowledge we gained in such a short time.
I want to wish Joseba the best of luck in the next worlds this year in Croatia, and hope our paths cross again soon.
Aloha Daryl
www.wongspearguns.com
I normally don't post, but this past week was an experience that my dive buddies and and I will always remember.
The blue water season is still happening. Just not as good as it was a few weeks ago. Much of it depends on the moon phase. Full moon is best. This past week has been a whirlwind of activities for our gang. I've been hosting a special guest for the past week. His name is Joseba Kerejeta.
I first met Joseba a few years ago. It was during a visit in Florida for Sheri Daye's Blue wild dive expo. Joseba was in Florida to visit one of our friends and also guest speak at the dive expo. Joseba had also set the men's Black marlin record that year with my Ono gun . He gave a great talk on his diving around the world. We met up again this past year at Sheri's expo and he told me he was coming through Hawaii and wanted to do some diving. Of course I said come on over! Who wouldn't want to dive with a record holder and now the current men's world spearfishing champion from Spain!
While in town Joseba was treated to a tour of Oahu where we live. Matt on his day off gave him the grand tour of the island. They saw the big surf, experienced the local "grinds" ( Food). And each day we all met to eat something different so he could see and taste the cultural diversity that Hawaii has to offer. The best part is a few nights we stayed in and ate what we harvested when diving. One night we fried and grilled Kumu and Kole, and the last night we ate fish tacos with the nice ono Diver Joe shot on Sunday.
The first day out, we did a half day of drifting for onos. The water was a little choppy and although three days earlier I had shot three onos in the same area, the onos just weren't there. Sunday the next day we met at 6:30 am and our group was joined by another friend of mine from the bay area Heiko Sacher. Heiko is an internationally recognized product designer who has multiple international design awards to his credit.
This was his first shot at blue water diving. We launched and hit all the regular spots. We even stopped by and introduced Joseba and Heiko to our pet turtle chomper. The only ono we saw on the first dives was a skittish one that came by Joe and then me. Joseba didn't see anything and decided to do a little reef diving.
I asked him if I could tag along and watch. He said sure and I could be a safety diver. Joseba is in a class of his own. I can see why and how he is now the current men's world champion. He put on a clinic.
Dropping to 110 ft is nothing. He glides down, does and aspetto for a minute, and then when the fish doesn't come in, moves underwater to another spot 50ft away and does the same technique. Then he came up. Average bottom time was 2-2:45 minutes. His recovery time about 3-4 minutes. Diver Joe watched him in the shalllows in 60 ft and said Joseba would move sometimes to three different spots to find fish.
The highlight of the day was the gang drifting into a big school of onos. They came by Joe and he shot and landed a beauty. Heiko saw his first ono school and is now hooked on blue water. Later we did some more reef diving and of course Joseba put on a clinic but Joe,Matt and I also got in a few fish.
In the evenings we would get back and pick Joseba's brain. He is so analytical about gear, technique, stalking and where and what to do for different fish it that we soon realized he is a machine that is always reinventing himself to adapt to any type of condition, location and fish. While looking at a globe and showing us his favorite places to dive around the world, we realized, there are few places in the world he hasn't dove. The only continent he hasn't dove is Antartica!
And the beauty of it is you could see he loves any type of diving. Shallow, deep, rough,calm, clean dirty or cold. As long a he can swim and there is fish, he is happy.
Our gang had a blast with a very special person. Joseba was always informative and more than happy to give advice and helpful tips. Now that we have seen what hard work, dedication to detail can do, we hope that we can improve our diving with the huge amount of knowledge we gained in such a short time.
I want to wish Joseba the best of luck in the next worlds this year in Croatia, and hope our paths cross again soon.
Aloha Daryl
www.wongspearguns.com
