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Hello from St Helena Island - middle of the South Atlantic

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.

Jeremy Harris

Active Member
Oct 26, 2016
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Hi all,
Just joined the forum but been here many times to check out stuff and get advice from various threads. I'm a casual freediver and spearo having only really become hooked in the last year or so. Thanks to living here, I manage at least one dive almost every week all year so hoping to get better quick. The deepest I know I've been (my own watch is ordered - OMER UPX1R which didn't get great reviews here I confess) is 17.8m when I borrowed someones watch. I can hold my breath for a measly 2 minutes at the moment but am working on my tables!! For spearing I use a lance (pole with elastic) for in close and a Cress Geronimo Elite 95 for bigger things out of holes. Can't think of anything else that anyone might be interested in...

Excited to be in touch with other freedivers/spearos! If you visit St Helena be sure to drop me a line!
 
Welcome aboard Jeremy. All I know about St. Helena is that the British stashed Napoleon there, but he never reported on the diving. I would think that it must be terrific, and I'm looking forward to your reports.
 
Last edited:
....as you venture off the coast you should meet best environment to do some good bluewaterhunting.
you may think of getting a bigger gun....probably worth it....
there is not much on the net about spearfishing your island, but this video....
 
Welcome to DB, Jeremy. That video makes your island look mighty good.
 
Thanks Bill - I will put some stuff up for sure. So far I have been picking off White trevally, Pseudocaranx dentex - usually around the 5kg mark, amberjack, Seriola dumerili largest so far was 10kg but I have seen way bigger, Dorado, Coryphaena hippurus, blue runner, Caranx crysos, rainbow runner, Elagatis bipinnulata, and lots of what we call 'Jacks' or 'Grouper' which is actually a Rock Hind or Rock Cod I think Epinephelus adscensionis. They get pretty big here and I'm actually fairly sure I have had a record breaker in the past (more than 5kg but wasn't aware of the record at the time!). The ones I regularly see and bring in are 3 to 3.5kg. We do also have wahoo, tuna, and marlin around but I don't have a float line set-up and do most of my diving swimming out from the coast since it's easier to arrange... I'm yet to see one of these species in the water but know that when I do, float line or not it is going to be hard to resist!! The water has been a bit murky and cold (well, 20c or so) for the past couple of months but when I was in on Saturday visibility was pushing 20m again and it was a little warmer. The wahoo in the picture came in on a line. The other stuff is stuff I shot.
Feb 2015 Wahoo.jpg
Breem.jpg
Rock Hind.jpg
Peter with Trevalli.jpg
Ambe jack.jpg
Thanks for getting back to me!


Welcome aboard Jeremy. All I know about St. Helena is that the British stashed Napoleon there, but he never reported on the diving. I would think that it must be terrific, and I'm looking forward to your reports.
 
....as you venture off the coast you should meet best environment to do some good bluewaterhunting.
you may think of getting a bigger gun....probably worth it....
there is not much on the net about spearfishing your island, but this video....

Hi Subunit, thanks for the reply - I do love a bit of blue water but need to kit myself out a little better to bring in the really big fish. I haven't got a float line or flashers yet so they will be the first things I sort out when the savings have built back up again after my watch purchase! That is a great vid - I wasn't into using a gun when those guys visited and was doing most of my diving like this:

I've become hooked on my gun now though and have upgraded to 2x16mm bands and a 7.5mm spear so have a good deal of bang for the bigger fish... could use the extra range of a longer gun though its true! Thanks for getting in touch!
 
Welcome to DB, Jeremy. That video makes your island look mighty good.
Thanks cdavis - this island is awesome and I'm thankful every day that I can jump in the water when I want and swim among giants and bring something home for the family. Come visit!
 
Welcome to Deeperblue! Those are some nice pics and videos. Makes me want to go travelling.
 
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I know so little about the island, so it was interesting to read the Wipikedia description. It sounds as if it would be very hard to get there.

The ship RMS St Helena runs between Saint Helena and Cape Town on a five-day voyage,[51] also visiting Ascension Island and Walvis Bay, and occasionally voyaging north to Tenerife and Portland, UK. It berths in James Bay, Saint Helena, approximately 30 times per year.[52] The RMS St Helena was due for decommissioning in 2010, but its service life has been extended to July 2017.[53]

And it says that an airport was scheduled to open this year, but hasn't due to wind shear problems.

Is this still all true?
 
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Hi Bill,

Yep - the UK Government really bungled this one it seems. They're working on fixing it but it's all taking a lot of time. At the moment the only way (besides a private jet or ocean going yacht) is the Royal Mail Ship (RMS) that comes monthly up and down from Cape Town. You can fly with the British Military from the UK to Ascension too which cuts time on the RMS down from 5 days to 2 - but the whole cost stays up around the £2,000 return mark. It's a challenge but also part of the charm of the place I think. We only just got mobile phones earlier this year and there are no bank cards (so forget trying to use a credit card in the 'shops' if you do visit :)
 
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....as you venture off the coast you should meet best environment to do some good bluewaterhunting.
you may think of getting a bigger gun....probably worth it....
there is not much on the net about spearfishing your island, but this video....



Excellent video

But I see the dangerous , when the gun is aimed at a person!

This can lead to tragic consequences
 
Excellent video

But I see the dangerous , when the gun is aimed at a person!

This can lead to tragic consequences

Yikes - yeah, just watched that video for the first time (limited bandwidth here on the island) and that leaves you cold eh! It looks like he's actually aiming at the guy (I'm guessing to make the go-pro point at him) but from what I hear (I wasn't there for this trip), they loaded their guns out of the water so presumably the gun would be loaded too... terrifying.
 
I wanted to tell all
This is a bad example to direct the gun at the friend
I know a guy, he was wounded Harpoon
Happy hunting!

Please
repeat
correctly
in English!
 
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