Old old spearo , from Crete.

[lavrax]

Hi to all the community out there. I'm excited to share and receive feedback from you all. I'm Paul , from Crete now and I have been spearfishing for close onto 45 years ( yeah not 45 years old btw). I have always kept my hobby mostly to myself , as most friends and acquaintances of mine are nowhere near as hooked on my hobby as me. They are around when we chow the fish ...hahaha.
I'd love to share ideas and thoughts with any who share my passion for the sport. Looking so forward to hearing from u all.

 

[rollerGR]

Γεια σου μάστορα, always good to have more Mediterranean spearos in the forum!

 

[lavrax]

My first query . I swim long distances from shore while fishing. This means I haul around a buoy all this way. It feels like a ton of bricks after 8-10 km swim ( with diving/fishing much more) . Am I alone in feeling buoys need a major overhaul?

 

[lavrax]

Γεια σου μάστορα, always good to have more Mediterranean spearos in the forum!

Γεια σου πατριωτη . So good to hear from someone close to home!!

 

[Leander]

Hi to all the community out there. I'm excited to share and receive feedback from you all. I'm Paul , from Crete now and I have been spearfishing for close onto 45 years ( yeah not 45 years old btw). I have always kept my hobby mostly to myself , as most friends and acquaintances of mine are nowhere near as hooked on my hobby as me. They are around when we chow the fish ...hahaha.
I'd love to share ideas and thoughts with any who share my passion for the sport. Looking so forward to hearing from u all.

Γεια σου φίλε. Από πού στην Κρήτη είσαι; It's a big island. I'm mostly South Heraklion, but since I live in a van I often spear other spots as well.

Yes the bouy... I know the pain. My best solution so far was to get a more useful buoy, one that can hold gear, tools, treasure (and garbage) as well.

 

[lavrax]

Γεια σου φίλε. Από πού στην Κρήτη είσαι; It's a big island. I'm mostly South Heraklion, but since I live in a van I often spear other spots as well.

Yes the bouy... I know the pain. My best solution so far was to get a more useful buoy, one that can hold gear, tools, treasure (and garbage) as well.

Καλημερα Πατριωτη . Απο Σητεια κοντα ειμαι. I especially like southern Crete , places like Plakias , Agia Galini , Sfakia right up to Elafonisi. Amazing . I am going to introduce a buoy concept I am working on , because I have tried everything else out there , and they suck!! Look forward to hearing from you.

 

[rollerGR]

Regarding buoys, I've thought of making a prototype with foils or surfboard fins underneath but it increases the chance of getting tangled on rocks during shallow/shore diving. Theoretically a multi-hull buoy would be great but it'd be unrealistic for production (too expensive, simple plastic balloons are a fraction of the price). Unless maybe two solid (non-inflatable) tuna/marlin floatline-style buoys fused or glued together.

 

[lavrax]

Regarding buoys, I've thought of making a prototype with foils or surfboard fins underneath but it increases the chance of getting tangled on rocks during shallow/shore diving. Theoretically a multi-hull buoy would be great but it'd be unrealistic for production (too expensive, simple plastic balloons are a fraction of the price). Unless maybe two solid (non-inflatable) tuna/marlin floatline-style buoys fused or glued together.

Much appreciate the feedback rollerGR. I will upload my prototype asap. One thing I have to redo, is increased funnel space for new type guns, rollers and inverts!! By your name I am guessing you must know what I mean. Its pretty windy here quite a few days now , but I'll get wet soon enough . Καλα να περνας. Thanks.

 

[lavrax]

I am going to go all out in coming up with a buoy system that actually works!!! I would appreciate any and all comments about what everyone DOES NOT like about buoys. This so overlooked piece of essential equipment has to be seriously refurbished.
I really like diving solo ( which is not recommended , but nearly 45 years! now ) because I can choose any spot I like , find my way down to the sea and start exploring. This means LOTS and LOTS of swimming . So that buoy has to follow me everywhere , and come the end of the dive it can feel pretty heavy!! Even when I go out with my rubber duck , I still end up doing the same thing. I need to improve the buoy for us all!!! Guys please let me know what you all think . Thanks.

 

[Leander]

I am going to go all out in coming up with a buoy system that actually works!!! I would appreciate any and all comments about what everyone DOES NOT like about buoys. This so overlooked piece of essential equipment has to be seriously refurbished.
I really like diving solo ( which is not recommended , but nearly 45 years! now ) because I can choose any spot I like , find my way down to the sea and start exploring. This means LOTS and LOTS of swimming . So that buoy has to follow me everywhere , and come the end of the dive it can feel pretty heavy!! Even when I go out with my rubber duck , I still end up doing the same thing. I need to improve the buoy for us all!!! Guys please let me know what you all think . Thanks.

There's nothing wrong with diving or spearfishing solo. The risks are different, but that's a personal choice.

There's plenty I like about my buoy and plenty I don't like, mostly the line getting tangled in whatever is hanging from the buoy like reef hook, fish stringer, etc. Perhaps it's worth making a separate thread on this in the gear section.

 

[lavrax]

There's nothing wrong with diving or spearfishing solo. The risks are different, but that's a personal choice.

There's plenty I like about my buoy and plenty I don't like, mostly the line getting tangled in whatever is hanging from the buoy like reef hook, fish stringer, etc. Perhaps it's worth making a separate threat on this in the gear section.

I hear you! . Look , I'm going to come up with something much improved , but not perfect!. There will always be some issues , but what I want is for them to be minimal. Lets face it , if any contraption, no matter how good , gets capsized by waves , its going to need you to go back and take care of it. I'll upload some photos of an old system I had worked on a looong time ago. It improved a lot of issues , but needed customizing and adjustments , that I never got around to doing. But I will soon. Thanks a stack for the feed back , guys. As we say in Greece , good seas to all of you.

 

[Mr. X]

Welcome Lavrax What sort of buoy and float-line are you using currently (e.g. solid/inflatable, size/volume, shape)??

 

[Scott Valentine]

Hi to all the community out there. I'm excited to share and receive feedback from you all. I'm Paul , from Crete now and I have been spearfishing for close onto 45 years ( yeah not 45 years old btw). I have always kept my hobby mostly to myself , as most friends and acquaintances of mine are nowhere near as hooked on my hobby as me. They are around when we chow the fish ...hahaha.
I'd love to share ideas and thoughts with any who share my passion for the sport. Looking so forward to hearing from u all.

Greetings. I've been spearing since '72, I guess that makes me an old guy as well.

 

[lavrax]

Greetings. I've been spearing since '72, I guess that makes me an old guy as well.

Scott hi and pleased to hear from you. Yea that puts you in the old spearo club for sure! . Wow keep it up.

 

[lavrax]

Welcome Lavrax What sort of buoy and float-line are you using currently (e.g. solid/inflatable, size/volume, shape)??

Mr X , hi ,great to hear from you. I have 2 buoys. One plain inflatable for quick short dives (the most common found here in the med ) which is absolutely useless . It serves only to mark a fishing spot and to comply with mandatory buoy law. The second is a stainless steel frame I made MANY years ago that takes 2 inflatable buoys with protective covering . Now this is a huge improvement in drag , direction and especially in extra equipment. I will proceed to customize and change some aspects that need improvement IMO. I will upload photos asap. Let me know what improvements you would enjoy seeing. Will help me a lot in refining the changes.

 

[lavrax]

Hi to all , went for a dip yesterday , and took my buoy contraption to note what refinements I'm going to implement.
I'm going to improve direction ( once the buoy is dragged ) , I will improve the cord attachment so it does not get tangled up in everything as much , and I will refine storage since rollers and inverts are thicker guns . I look forward to what the rest of you have to add , to be improved. Help me out chaps , because the more issues you bring up , the more I can look into it.
Also it's quite complicated and time consuming , because it's all trial and error based!!!
Thanking you all in advance! ( Also I did enjoy myself yesterday , photos attached)

 

[lavrax]

Welcome Lavrax What sort of buoy and float-line are you using currently (e.g. solid/inflatable, size/volume, shape)??

Mr X hi . I use 2 buoys , one plain elongated inflatable which is terrible(the classic orange/yellow buoy most people use) , and a customized double buoy system I made long ago. My cord is normal floating line , nothing coated or special. This buoy looks like a little raft , that is a huge improvement with drag and equipment storage ( which stay out of the water) The inflatable plastic buoys have a protective covering I made 30 years ago. They have never been punctured ! I want to customize direction the minute its dragged , and incorporate improvements for storage , how fish are stored , improved storage etc. Any feed back from spearos with comments on the matter really interest me. Thanks for taking notice.

 

[Aemmon]

Hi to all the community out there. I'm excited to share and receive feedback from you all. I'm Paul , from Crete now and I have been spearfishing for close onto 45 years ( yeah not 45 years old btw). I have always kept my hobby mostly to myself , as most friends and acquaintances of mine are nowhere near as hooked on my hobby as me. They are around when we chow the fish ...hahaha.
I'd love to share ideas and thoughts with any who share my passion for the sport. Looking so forward to hearing from u all.

Hello nice to hear of someone spearing in Crete, I'm going there in June basing around Plakias, and would really appreciate any local advice or pointers. I'm currently living in Germany but I'm from Australia south coast. I have absolutely no gear and have to buy all the essentials in the next weeks!