I'm hanging it up.

[Bill McIntyre]

There are plenty of fish that can be taken without diving. Mahi-mahi never goes down, amberjacks come to the surface... Yes you reduce your chances but still much better than to sit at home

I appreciate you guys trying to save me from the consequences of old age but:

Mahi-mahi (dorado) don't always come as far north as I am in SoCal and we don't have amberjack ever. We do have yellowtail which are close to amberjack. But both of them require driving around far offshore at high speed looking for floating kelp paddies. Some days you hardly even see paddies. When you do see one, you stop near it and divers jump in and swim to it to see if there are fish. Many times they don't. That requires a lot of putting on fins, swimming to the paddle, climbing back into the boat, taking off fins, and looking for another paddie. If it's a hot day it's not fun being in your wetsuit all day while driving around. I don't enjoy that and quit doing it a few years ago even when I was physically capable. It burns a lot of gas too.

 

[Bill McIntyre]

If it was always like this great day I might keep it up, but that's the best one ever.

 

[Mr. X]

You've done your fair share Bill, take a well earned break

 

[Virgili]

''...Guantanamo Bay Cuba..'' I've been doing over twenty freediving/spearfishing trips to Cuba and I was told there by local colleagues/ friends about a freediving school named ''waterboarding'' in Guantanamo...

 

[Bill McIntyre]

''...Guantanamo Bay Cuba..'' I've been doing over twenty freediving/spearfishing trips to Cuba and I was told there by local colleagues/ friends about a freediving school named ''waterboarding'' in Guantanamo...

When I was a USMC pilot I few a photo reconnaissance flight out of Guantanamo Bay but that was before they opened that freediving school.

 

[Bill McIntyre]

I finally took the final step. I had previously sold all my dive gear. You may have heard that old saying about boat owners. The two happiest days of their lives are the day they buy the boat and the day they sell the boat. I have owned boats continuously since 1968- a total of five- and I just sold the last one. I'm actually a little sad. It's hard for me to get my arms around the idea of a boatless me. I'm always supposed to have a boat. That's just part of who I am. I did put the boat up for sale and it was a big pain in the ass dealing with scammers, low ballers, brokers who wanted to sell it for me, etc. so I'm glad its sold. But it's still bitter sweet.

I guess the good news is that now I have more money to spend on my wife's horse habit.

 

[TonyG]

I finally took the final step. I had previously sold all my dive gear. You may have heard that old saying about boat owners. The two happiest days of their lives are the day they buy the boat and the day they sell the boat. I have owned boats continuously since 1968- a total of five- and I just sold the last one. I'm actually a little sad. It's hard for me to get my arms around the idea of a boatless me. I'm always supposed to have a boat. That's just part of who I am. I did put the boat up for sale and it was a big pain in the ass dealing with scammers, low ballers, brokers who wanted to sell it for me, etc. so I'm glad its sold. But it's still bitter sweet.

I guess the good news is that now I have more money to spend on my wife's horse habit.

Bill,

I was a long time lurker on spearboard as a younger lad. Reading YOUR descriptive reports, stories, and sharing your knowledge spawned my love of spearfishing and love of the water in general. It may seem odd, but you were a huge influence on my life. Thank you for sharing your countless adventures with guys like me.

P.S.
If you wanted to PM me with all of your honey holes, I wouldn't stop you

 

[jimqpublic]

Bill,

Your dive stories have always educated and entertained. I enjoyed hanging out with you in Florida for the Blue Wild expo back in 2007.

Sorry to hear that you had to give up diving, but age gets us either slowly or quickly. I hadn't really done any diving for at least a decade until taking up warm water snorkeling with a trip to Hawaii in 2021. Since then we've been back to Hawaii at least a dozen times and I'm enjoying the snorkeling and freediving more each time.

Jim White
Long Beach

 

[Bill McIntyre]

Bill,

I was a long time lurker on spearboard as a younger lad. Reading YOUR descriptive reports, stories, and sharing your knowledge spawned my love of spearfishing and love of the water in general. It may seem odd, but you were a huge influence on my life. Thank you for sharing your countless adventures with guys like me.

P.S.
If you wanted to PM me with all of your honey holes, I wouldn't stop you

Wow! Thanks Tony. It's humbling to think I changed anyone's life, but I'm glad you think it was for the better. I was never really a great diver but I guess I was better at writing about it.

 

[deeperthanblue]

Bill,

Was great reading all your posts on spearboard, which is now gone. Hope you find another hobby to keep active.

db

 

[coinoc]

I had a hard time deciding which forum to post this in, or if I should post it at all. My diving has included periods of spearing, shell collecting, photography and sight seeing, but it started with spearfishing and ended with it, so it's in the Spearo Board.

I started diving when I was maybe 13 in Florida and am 85 now, so I guess that's about 72 years. After I graduated from college I spent 20 years as a USMC pilot and that gave me the opportunity to dive in the Philippines, Wake Island, Guam, Hawaii, Okinawa, California, Texas, North Carolina, Florida, Mexico, and even Guantanamo Bay Cuba once. I was also stationed in places like Mississippi and Vietnam where diving was not possible but those periods were blessedly short. Since retiring from the USMC I've lived in California.

It's not easy deciding when to quit but it had to be sometimes so it's now. My buddies have had to help me get into my booties and wet suit for three years. I had four injections to my spine recently and they didn't help. If there is much current, I have to choose between swimming against it or diving, but not both. I could keep diving a bit, but I don't want to put some guys the age of my grandsons in the position of having to save my old ass. I just spent two weeks selling every bit of my diving gear, so now it's too late to go back. I still have to find a buyer for the boat, but I won't be tempted to use it without any diving gear. I've been diving, thinking about diving, reading about diving, etc. for so long that it's going to be hard to figure out what to do when I grow up. I'll still be checking this place every day out of habit and will probably post now and then, but I'm not a spearo. I'm a has been spearo.

Hey Bill, i'm not sure if we ever met, maybe once or twice through the OC Spearos club? Anyway, when I saw this post I just had to tell you that I always enjoyed your posts. You always stuck out to me for your friendly nature, great attitude and generosity... That and still knocking down fish when a lot of folks have trouble walking up the stairs. When I grow up I wanna be like you! Best of luck

 

[Bill McIntyre]

Hey Bill, i'm not sure if we ever met, maybe once or twice through the OC Spearos club? Anyway, when I saw this post I just had to tell you that I always enjoyed your posts. You always stuck out to me for your friendly nature, great attitude and generosity... That and still knocking down fish when a lot of folks have trouble walking up the stairs. When I grow up I wanna be like you! Best of luck

Thanks.