I recently bought the movie Blue freediving the Californias. After
watching that movie I got the desire to go a little bigger than my
usual 10 to 12 foot dives and also try and increase the possibility
of shooting some different fish.I packed all my gear in my van including my 9 foot sea kayak and headed out to huegonot ,a state park that has a jettie about a mile long . As I drove in the park I had my fingers crossed hoping the viz would be good. and that I would not have any problems equalizing. I found a close
spot to park my car and not have to worry about the tide coming in.As I was putting on my suit I started getting those (what the hell )looks from the beach goers ,I don't think they ever saw a camo suit before or a freediver for that matter.The water was not as clear as I hoped it would be but it was't as bad as it could have been,at the worst it was 8'. As I started paddeling out I looked back on the beach at all the cars and people and wondered If I wasn't out there freediving would I be there sitting on the beach listening to the sounds of car stereos rumbling and engines revving I think not .Finally after 30 minutes of paddeling I
reached my destination about 3/4 ths the way down the jettie in 20+ feet of water I suited up and droped in. The viz out there was a lot better than it was closer to the shore.I was a little scared being so far from shore and not knowing what i'd run into down there but you'll never know if you don't go so down I went
dropping down below my kayak to a sandy bottom to warm up .
I slowly finned closer to the rocks and started making some decents looking around exploring this new spot and hoping to get a bead on a fish, with each dive I lost that bit of fear and started to relax.After about 30 drops and no sighn of fish I started towards the end of the jettie and stoped to talk to some
fisherman in a boat to see if they had any luck. They had only caught three fish and wasn't having any luck so I started back towards the end of the jettie where I saw a spotted eagle ray
playfully jumping out of the water and several poagies skipping across the water.I started heading back towards the shore and was felling a little bad about not getting any fish then started to realize that the trip wasn't a total lost. I saw lots of sea urchines,
coral and sea plants I also realized that I could equalize my ears without holding my nose,something I couldn't do before .I read some post on equalizing in this forum and there was a thread about not needing to hold your nose to equalize and I practiced
at home but just got around to trying it in the water.After coming home and washing my gear of I reflected on the trip and thought of how proud of myself I was and how lucky we are to have the ability to share our knowledge and our experiences with each other thru this forum. I have been on many dives and traveled across the world without leaving my bedroom.I truly appreciate
everyones imput and questions and will try to soak up all the knowledge I can.What a great day.
watching that movie I got the desire to go a little bigger than my
usual 10 to 12 foot dives and also try and increase the possibility
of shooting some different fish.I packed all my gear in my van including my 9 foot sea kayak and headed out to huegonot ,a state park that has a jettie about a mile long . As I drove in the park I had my fingers crossed hoping the viz would be good. and that I would not have any problems equalizing. I found a close
spot to park my car and not have to worry about the tide coming in.As I was putting on my suit I started getting those (what the hell )looks from the beach goers ,I don't think they ever saw a camo suit before or a freediver for that matter.The water was not as clear as I hoped it would be but it was't as bad as it could have been,at the worst it was 8'. As I started paddeling out I looked back on the beach at all the cars and people and wondered If I wasn't out there freediving would I be there sitting on the beach listening to the sounds of car stereos rumbling and engines revving I think not .Finally after 30 minutes of paddeling I
reached my destination about 3/4 ths the way down the jettie in 20+ feet of water I suited up and droped in. The viz out there was a lot better than it was closer to the shore.I was a little scared being so far from shore and not knowing what i'd run into down there but you'll never know if you don't go so down I went
dropping down below my kayak to a sandy bottom to warm up .
I slowly finned closer to the rocks and started making some decents looking around exploring this new spot and hoping to get a bead on a fish, with each dive I lost that bit of fear and started to relax.After about 30 drops and no sighn of fish I started towards the end of the jettie and stoped to talk to some
fisherman in a boat to see if they had any luck. They had only caught three fish and wasn't having any luck so I started back towards the end of the jettie where I saw a spotted eagle ray
playfully jumping out of the water and several poagies skipping across the water.I started heading back towards the shore and was felling a little bad about not getting any fish then started to realize that the trip wasn't a total lost. I saw lots of sea urchines,
coral and sea plants I also realized that I could equalize my ears without holding my nose,something I couldn't do before .I read some post on equalizing in this forum and there was a thread about not needing to hold your nose to equalize and I practiced
at home but just got around to trying it in the water.After coming home and washing my gear of I reflected on the trip and thought of how proud of myself I was and how lucky we are to have the ability to share our knowledge and our experiences with each other thru this forum. I have been on many dives and traveled across the world without leaving my bedroom.I truly appreciate
everyones imput and questions and will try to soak up all the knowledge I can.What a great day.
