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Good show Octo

Thread Status: Hello , There was no answer in this thread for more than 60 days.
It can take a long time to get an up-to-date response or contact with relevant users.

Angus

New Member
Apr 2, 2001
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My brother Octo took the Krack-LeMasters course a couple weeks ago. Not only did he crack 4 minutes static apnea, he also broke 105 feet. Then last weekend he got his first two fish hunting with some members of national spearfishing team. After the K&LM course the instructors also encouraged him to compete in the regionals. This his third month freediving. Your big brother is proud of you Octo. Love, Angus
 
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Octo's numbers

Congrats Octo, it's always nice to hit a personal best. Your report on the clinic was great; how about an update on your fish and depth stories? Come on, out with it.....we're waiting.
Cheers, Erik
 
Indeed...

Indeed congrats Octo!

Perhaps we'll see you competing next to Tanya or Pipin next ;)
 
Thanks Guys,

I am pleased with what I have been able to learn from the hotshots.
Per your request Eric, I will write about my trials last weekend:

The Central California spearfishing club held a benefit halibut round-up to support the local folks who are selling all of their spare gear so they can get to Florida this month. I took my son with me because he is facinated with the idea of skewering fish. In a borrowed kayak, Ivan and I set out of otter cove located near Monterey. I know nothing about poking fish, so I questioned many to find out how to land one of these halibut things. We anchored in the kelp about 200 yards offshore. If you have never seen a neophyte diver and his seven year old son getting ready to dive off of a one person kayak, you simply must someday. Ivan (my son) decided he would like to paddle in the middle of me finning up. We almost went diving earlier than intended. After that fiasco, I decided the water was a safer place to don mask, gloves and rig the speargun. I took me a couple of attempts to rig the gun while wearing gloves. And of course, once Ivan observed me during a test shot, I was cajoled into doing a couple of more test shots.

So, enough embarassing truths-on with the cool part.
Breathing up at the surface I noted the water had about 15' of vis at the surface. Going down for my first easy dive, I was surprised the bottom was so close (25-30'). After a few easy dives, I did a "no breath" dive to get the old dive reflex going. During the first dive, I came across a yellow nudibranch (yellow sea slug type thing that I have no idea how to spel) that was quite fascinating and beautiful. After looking at the yellow nudieprank, I speared a large rock fish for our dinner ( I already had the idea that mr. halibut and I were going to be strangers this day). Anyhow, Ivan thought I walked on water when I showed him the fish. After a few more test shots for Ivan's sake, I got seroius about getting us a real fish (I am going to stop hunting rockfish because the commercial fisherfolk are cleaning them out-rockfish take about 8 years to reach sexual maturity and all reef fish are slow in reproduction). Scouring the bottom, I saw nothing of halibut, but all sorts of cool stuff. Sea cucumbers are great to watch as they graze the surface of the rocks. Sea anenomes in this area get larger than dinner plates and come in colors and patterns I could not do justice with the limitations of my writing skills. Three short hours into diving, I had stretched the patience of the son (he was back in the kayak wearing a spring suit, a full suit and a lifejacket), so we decided to paddle back to the beach. Ivan was cold and stayed on the beach and I went out for another round. Diving to depths of about 45', I began to see new (to me) types of fish. One species is black and white, slow moving and similar in shape to a scorpion fish (ny ideas about species?).

As I was going in, I noticed a scuba class in the area and absolutely had to go down and mess with their heads. I asked (signed) one guy what time it was and he asked me (on his writing tablet) how long I could stay- I shrugged and swam off along the bottom until I was sure I was out of sight.

Ivan was having a great time stacking sand and showing off the fish to anone who was in his field of vision. We went back to where the other spearos (fishpoker poeples) were hanging out and saw some impressive halibut. I could see the "walking-on-water" adoration fade quickly from his eyes. Oh well, better he learns the truth now. :D BBQ Halibut is great and we sent the guys off to Florida off a bit richer than they had been that morning. Ivan was asleep before we finished the 1 hr drive to the house and I was wishing I could join him.

Go deep for long...
 
Story

Great story. I assume that's Octo writing under the Angus pseudonym? These are the kind of things I really enjoy reading. It's nice to step into someone else's world for a few minutes, eh?
Cheers and thanks Octo,
Erik
 
Spot on

Yep Octo was visiting and apparently his computer has been offline for a couple weeks and he never thought to log on on my computer so that post is from Octo and not from me. I will share our weekend of diving later but I will spare you our new line of Elwood and ChiChi jokes as few people are as truly ill as Ocot and I when it comes to humor. Angus
 
Help me Rhonda

Originally posted by Rhonda
Thanks to Octo for another good story! Keep 'em comin'!!!
Sorry about that Rhonda. Have you been diving this season? How's the training going? Trips coming up? New gear?
Warmly, Erik
 
Oh boy, I've heard that one before!! As a matter of fact, I just returned from a trip to Germany and while I was there I had the pleasure of diving with a friend near the town of Hemmoor, not far from the North Sea. It was a chalk quarry at one time and now it is a lovely, clear blue lake. I understand it is only used by divers and swimmers. It was the site of the German Freediving competition this past weekend.
My friend really knows her stuff and what I learned most of all is there is a lot I don't know, but the advice I received was greatly appreciated and I hope to continue to build on it. I have alot of work, well, FUN work to do as far as training goes!
Thanks for asking!
BE SAFE ALL!!!
Rhonda
 
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