WI Spearos got to F.I.T. 2008

[ILDiver]

I was trying hard to focus at work all day Tuesday April 1st. 4:00 rolled around and I bolted for the door. On my way out El Whoppo called and was sitting in my drive. I live 2 minutes from work. I got home and started tossing stuff in the car and tried to get outta town as fast as I could!

The drive was fairly uneventful, other than Scott trying to get pinched between a bus and a semi in Atlanta around 1 a.m.! We stopped in Lutz FL to see Ray Odor and buy a couple of pole spears. Well, Ray's wife helpped us SINCE RAY SKIPPED OUT TO GO GET FISH! I can't blame him, but I can be jealous. So we got Ray's custom pole spears and they look and feel great. I am hoping we can get out and test them here in Sarasota tomorrow.

So from Ray's house we headed to Sarasota. As we got near my parents place I got a call from mom *awwwwwwe*. We decided to head up to the Oyster Bar to get lunch.

From there we ran to a couple of dive shops to get some info on where to get in the water and have a chance at some fish. We have a place to try. I'm also trying to find another option if I can. But so far it looks like Point of Rocks on Siesta Key will be our target of opportunity! The WI Spearos look to try their hand at the salt water!

 

[T2K]

you guys should hit up the state freedive tourney on friday in tarpon springs.

 

[ILDiver]

Yeah, I caught that on another board and REALLY thought about it. But we have to drive to Ft Lauderdale and check in to the hotel on Friday. Plus we are wanting to check out a couple of shops there and check out the area a little. There are SO many things I want to do, we can't do it all. I thought hard about the tourney, it would just be too much I think.

 

[dotey]

are you g going with my guy from spetton ??? i wasnt sure if you were or not :martialknock out some fish for me

 

[ILDiver]

Don't know yet Dusten. We have to get to Lauderdale and talk to him,

 

[dotey]

yeah i guess that is true well hope you guys have fun and see ya when you get back

 

[Whopperhead]

Today we started out by heading north of Tampa Bay to the house/shop of RAY ODER Spearfishing. Spearfishing Supplies by Ray Odor We got to visit with Ray (aka LOBSTER MOBSTER) for quite some time and got to listen to some great stories. This guy is 80 years old and still goes Spearfishing - OFTEN! It was Great to see how Ray makes the Polespears and Spear shafts. Ray also gave us an AWESOME deal on a Polespear for the contest!!!!

Then we headed to Tampa Bay to do a little Spearfishing :friday- We brought along ILDiver's dad to let him try it out. The water temp was about 73-74 and the vis varied in different areas between 12- 20 feet. Saw Lots of Sting Rays, Conch, small Sheepshead and a few Cow Fish, filefish, Porkipine fish, Mullet, Mutton Snapper, I even saw a Large Black Grouper but he tucked under some pillers before we could get a shot. I ended up getting a 14" Sheepshead. :martial

It was a Great Day!!! Got pretty Tired swimming against the current. Had a Great meal of BBQ Ribs, Corn on the Cob and Baked Beans :friday At ILDiver's Parents house.

 

[Whopperhead]

A Few More Pics

 

[ILDiver]

MAN! Ray was AWESOME. His walls are a history of diving. He has a 16.5lb Hogfish mounted over his TV, that was impressive. The spiny lobster he had around were cool too. He had pictures of some big fish from over his years, one or two :hmm shells laying in the front room and on shelves.

Like Whopperhead said, the tough of the factory was cool too. The lathe and assembly. His friend was out there working away as Ray was showing us around. Then the prize for the comp. A 6' pole spear. Scott and I each bought one too, also an additional 2' section to make it an 8'. And of course, we got the shaft from Ray

I spent the entire 7 hour dive learning the ways of the polespear. I got some shots at some sheephead, but shot high, low, behind....I'll get it down. I could have had some fish today if I was using a gun, but I decided I was going to use just the pole spear.

It was a good time. My dad enjoyed the dive, he wanted to try snorkling. He's been Kayaking a lot and wants to explore under the water a little more. It was a long day. Tomorrow we move on to Ft Lauderdale to see the monkeys! Also to see a couple of dive shops and hopefully to meet Pablo from Spetton.

More adventures to come!

 

[nostres]

You lucky Bastards..

 

[dotey]

i cant wait and go next year i hope they have one around the same time

 

[ILDiver]

Day 4 of the adventure. Today is a day of travel and rest. We drove down to Ft Lauderdale today and hit a couple of shops. Scubas World/home and Florida Freedivers - Spearfishing & Freediving Gear. Both stores are great. I overspent my cash and I'm now stranded here in Florida. I can't get home, please send gas money! Wait...maybe this is not a bad thing

So then we get to the hotel. So far, no monkeys. We are on the lookout though. We ran down to the beach, well walked. Scott swam a bit and I just walked the beach to take in the sights. We are off to the store to get provisions for our stay here in the backwoods of the Bonnet House backyard... (Resort, Inn, Lodging - Fort Lauderdale, Florida.)

Class starts tomorrow, time to chill out and rest up!

 

[bgill]

I'm soooooooo jealous! :t

Well you guys will just have to show us non-FIT guys the ropes!

Glad to see you guys are having a blast!

I wish I was there with you!

 

[T2K]

From there we ran to a couple of dive shops to get some info on where to get in the water and have a chance at some fish. We have a place to try. I'm also trying to find another option if I can. But so far it looks like Point of Rocks on Siesta Key will be our target of opportunity! The WI Spearos look to try their hand at the salt water!

Did you get a chance to check out point of rocks?

 

[ILDiver]

No, we went to the North side of the Skyway bridge and dove the rocks and structure out there. Since we went up to meet Ray Odor, we followed his advice. It worked out well for us. We could have taken more fish had we tried. I actually saw a hogfish, but it was small and moving away. I will get to Point of Rocks on my next trip down I think.

 

[ILDiver]

Day one of the F.I.T. course! The reason we came to this joint! It was a good day overall with two trips to the pool. We started out in the classroom and went through the usual classroom stuff with intros and the basics. Then into the safety and such. After the lecture it was off to the pool for practical application of the skills.

From there it was a quick break and back to class. Now we are into the good stuff! We started on the keys to success in freediving There was a lot of good information in the class and very well explained. I've read some of these things before, but having it all put together in this way and seeing it first hand, along with the proper keys to making all work. The next part is where it all came together, time to practice these new techniques. Off to the pool. I set a new personal best at 3 minutes myself (prior to that I was at 1:30). Scott has done more than 3 minutes in the past. I felt great at 3minutes too. I could have done more. I don't know how much more, I guess we find that out tomorrow.

I must say, it was a good experience and this one day alone was worth the price of admission. Each day will build on the one before. We are not complete freedivers, and even though this one day was worth the cost, we know the rest of the class is a must to be full on freedivers and safe divers.

If you ever get a chance, this class is a must. I am pleased so far. I hope the weather goes as Paul predicts so we can have good open water dives.

More tomorrow, we need to get some food!

 

[cdavis]

Thanks for posting Odors pic, He hasn't changed appearance in 25 years, must be older than 80. May I be so lucky.


Connor

 

[ILDiver]

Thanks for posting Odors pic, He hasn't changed appearance in 25 years, must be older than 80. May I be so lucky.


Connor

For as well as he moves around and still gets out to fish and dive...may we all be so lucky! Must be the Lobster Mobster lifestyle!

According to his site, he was born in Bradenton Beach in 1927. He was in jail for 45 days in the Keys in 1989 I believe it was
http://members.aol.com/aeromech/LobsterMobster.wma

 

[Whopperhead]

Open Water and Personal Best

Lots of cool training and it's STARTING to come together. I really enjoyed the pool training. When you think you have technique down - think again But that is what this class is for- Training and educating. Once I learned the proper way to "dive down" it made things so much better.

I also set a new PB for static of 4:15 . I believe I could of done better, but I was uncomfortable cause I had to pee. :head ILDiver did an awesome job- as I'm sure you'll see in his post. Good Job Chris! :friday

The physics part of the class made my head hurt- I couldn't believe all that is involved - TO DIVE!!! It's almost over whelming.

The Open Water!!!!!! Was flipp'n cool! I've never seen water that clear and that blue! Huge waves though- we were told 2-4' waves but they were more like 4-6'. The whole set up was really unique and greatly done. I can't wait to see what the next 2 days are going to be like.

OH!!! one of the Funnies things I've ever seen was today- A older guy in a motorized wheelchair was pulling 2 other people in thier wheelchairs at the same time another old guy was in a wheelchair Hauling Arse to catch a ride! (last Photo- might have to click on it and zoom to see what I mean)
It was Great rofl

We also got to witness a BLACKOUT- while doing our Statics, another Student was going past the 4 min mark and had blacked out. He had actually release his air while his face was still in the water. His Safty diver was right there along with Martin and Paul (w/ Camera)- the safty diver did what he was suppose to and he came too. The funny part -(of a not so funny situation) was Martin asked "how was that one?" He said "good-I felt good" Martin then told him he was out for about 5 seconds. And he was confused and I think at first thought we were joking with him- He had no idea he had blacked out. It can happen "Like That!"

 

[ILDiver]

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times....

Well, today was....eventful. We started the day at the pool. I felt great, but the weather was bad at 5 am with a thunderstorms, but the water was great at the beach right by us, hardly any waves.

So, we are at the pool, we get the gear on and do some negative pressure stuff. From the videos I've seen, I was a little worried. But really it was a very good warm-up and an excellent tool to use in the future.

From there we moved to the shallow end and it was time to find out if we could do what we have come here to learn. My breath-ups felt awesome and we worked from a 2 minute hold that was a cake walk, then a 3 minute hold that was no sweat. Then a 4 minute hold and we could hold if we wanted. I did 4 minutes and could have kept going, but we had one more hold to do so I "saved it" for that hold. In hind sight I should have held that one. The third hold actually was a better first 4 minutes than the last hold. So I set a PB of 4 minutes.

Now the final hold. I felt good, but I thought maybe I was too relaxed. My body twitched because I felt like I was rolling. But everything was clear. I was so relaxed that I could have gone to sleep and felt myself going that way. Once I realized that my mind was wondering, I blinked to refocus myself and continued on. My chest felt a little tight but nothing major. I just felt like I was about to have a contraction, so I came up....at 4:45. WHY!?!?! I still had plenty oxygen I think, my lips were blue, but I still had some gas in the tank. It was really more of a reaction to the feeling I had than a conscious thought. I'll take 4:45, 5 minutes would have been awesome, but who am I to complain? Two days ago my PB was 1:30!

Back to the classroom for a short lecture, then onto the boat. (The worst of times ) I knew I was at risk of sea sickness from a couple of scuba dive trips in rougher water. The clam water we saw on our way to the pool, was no longer calm (we were told it should be 0-2ft seas, but it was at least 4-6). I thought I should avoid Dramamine, so I tried Bonine. Yeah that did not work for me. I'm swithching back to the hard stuff tomorrow I'm not worried if I feel sleepy tomorrow after the class, I want to learn the techinique and dive. It was not a total loss, I did dive, just not much.

Once in the water I kept my head in the water and spent a lot of what little mental power I have focusing on not getting sick. So my technique was garbage, I just wandered through the step. I got to 60' pulling the line and stayed there for a few seconds, I could clear, everything but my brain was doing well at this point. After trying a couple of dives to work through it, I decided it was not working and I got back on the boat and laid down and got a sun burn. I was the third (of six in the class) to get back on the boat. The rest did their dives. By the time they were done I was feeling much better.

We also met some DBers and got a few good stories from returning students that we there practicing. Overall it was a nother good day, I just need to turn things around in Open Water!