How I Became a Waterman Part II
Oct/090
Lobster season came and went, probably in perfect time. Lobsterring had worn me out – too much of a good thing isn’t always that good.
April 2009 set in and the summer was approaching. I met my buddy Brian in Ocean Beach for a morning surf session filled with perfect 3 ft mushy san diego waves. At least the breakfast across from the Pier was good! On the way home we drove past the spear shack in OB (619-226-2406). Cindy urged me to stop and take a look. I am glad we did. For whatever reason I hadn’t considered building on the lobster diving and working on spear fishing / free diving but after talking to Mark, a super cool guy, I committed to taking his free diving class. I also talked to my buddy Chris who agreed to try the class out as well.
Our schedules didn’t match up for a few months but we finally joined Mark for the free diving/spear fishing excursion in early August. We were joined by 2 others on the boat. After meeting at Mark’s in Point Loma we drove to Mission Bay and launched by about 10 a.m. On an early August sunday. Mark provided everything including the spear guns. We just had to bring lunch. It was a great deal for $100!
So we anchored in 35 ft off of boomers beach in La Jolla. Mark says alright, let’s start by swimming to shore and back two times! What?! I think we all said “you’re kidding right?”, but Mark was already half in the water and raring to go. That was the toughest probably 2 mile swim I have ever done (the only one too)!
It set the tone for the day. Mark did not mess around, he highlighted the importance of safety, breathing, and technique. I learned more that afternoon then I did the previous year. I thought I would be the one with the short breathhold while the others were excelling but after using Mark’s techniques I blew myself away with comfortable breathholds of one and a half minutes to 35 ft followed by dives to 55 ft with ease! We finished the day by learning the ins and outs of spearing which was cool. Mark is a patient and experienced waterman and I would recommend his class to anyone short of an expert freediver.
So that did it. I was hooked. Not only with the challenges of free diving but also the excitement of spear fishing. In the following weeks I came across an excellent website: www.spearboard.com . This is a great forum for spear fishers (spearos) and the place where I have excellent my learning curve.
With the tips I learned at spearboard I went out and started to get my gear together. I started with a spetton excell mask ($52 ebay) and a spetton flexa snokel ($21 ebay). Now these were recommended on spearboard and I like them very much. Although I now know that Mark at the spear shack will match any internet pricing and has the best top of the line gear(I also bought from the spearshack a cressi lince mask and hammerhead snorkel, both of which are very much similar to the spetton products – although I slightly prefer the spetton versions)! I also bought freediving fins(cressi 2000, $50) used from ebay and those have worked great. I had to get the neoprene booties from the spearshack to wear with the fins. I already had weight belts from the year before (I use 4 lbs with my 3/2 and 8 lbs with my 4/3). …but the best purchase was the Ray Odor Pole Spear($55) I bought from Ray Odor’s site.
I wanted to start with a spear gun but the good advice I read was to learn with a pole spear because it is much easier to load between shots(just place the band in between thumb and finger and stretch the band!), it teaches one how to approach fish, and generally just helps one to become comfortable in the spear fishing arena. The pole spear has excellent follow through because of it’s weight but the deceleration is so fast that you need to be within 5′ of the fish to spear it! The spear came ready to use from Ray, although I did buy a separate tip($15 approx) to put on the spear.
So I am all geared up and ready to go at this point, but where to go and what to do? That’s when I turned to spearboard to introduce myself. It turns out that spearboard is not only a great place to talk and learn spear fishing, etc, but a great place to team up with like minded people and go diving.
My first few free dives with the spear I did by myself. I went out locally in Leucadia off of Beacon’s beach. I kicked out to the kelp and proceeded to take a look around with my new spear. I quickly realized I had two problems. Problem #1: what happens if I shoot the pole spear and lose sight of it, won’t I potentially lose it?
Problem #2: sharks! Swimming in open water by myself is spooky. Swimming with a spear is just a little comforting and making it out to the kelp is just a little comforting as well. …but it’s constantly in the back of my head! More on sharks later.
So problem #1 I solved really quick when I posted the question on spear board. The answer was “don’t let go of the spear”. What?!? Sure enough I tried it out next time. Naturally when you shoot the spear your hand grabs onto the rubber band. Therefore you never worry about losing it, just pay attention to grabbing the rubber band and all is good. It actually feels natural!
So at this point I feel a little comfortable with the spear and I feel increasingly comfortable in the water. My next step is to start spearing fish. …but where to go and what to do?
Breathing Techniques
Oct/090
I need to start out by saying- don’t ever try these techniques on your own without a dive buddy watching. Breathing techniques not only slow down your heart rate but also oxygenate the blood AND remove CO2 from the bloodstream. Why is this dangerous? Because CO2 is what tells the brain to take a breath. Less CO2 equals less brain signals which equals longer bottom time but also potential to stay down too long! …at least this is my understanding.
So now that we understand the fun aspects of breathing techniques let’s get down to the nuts and bolts 
. There were 4 techniques that we were taught by Mark. the advice was to try all 4 but also never perform hyperventillation as the last technique. Also these techniques can be done during the 4 minutes on the surface between dives.
Technique #1: hyperventillating. This is a series of short inhales and exhales, less then a second a piece, which quickly remove CO2 from the blood. These also cause lightheadedness so be careful. If trying these at all which I advise against, always do these as the first technique and only for approx 30 seconds.
Technique #2: deep breaths
Breath in and out in a slow controlled manner. All the way in till absolutely full, then all the way out pushing every last bit of air out. These take about 3 seconds for every inhales and about 3 seconds for every exhale. No faster then this pace. These are my preferred method.
Technique #3: hook breath
Inhale till lungs full and hold for about 4 seconds. Flex chest muscles by crossing forearms in front of chest then exhale. Repeat for one minute.
Technique #4: deep slow breaths
Similar to technique #2, these should be the final breaths. Take deep, slow, yoga type breaths which act to really slow the heart down and relax you. There is no pushing or over filling like technique #2.
Finally when you are ready to dive, inhale your breath using your stomach (diaphragm) and inhale as much as possible (see diagram below). This will fill your lower lungs. Finally fill your upper lungs by expanding your chest and capture as much air in the lungs as comfortable. DO NOT PACK BREATHS. If you do not know what packing is then don’t worry, there is no need for it and it can be dangerous.
…And the last step to a long breath hold is to kick out your snorkel mouthpiece! This causes the mammalian reflex when your lips are pursed and under water. This technique should help with a longer breath hold.
So that’s it! With these techniques you should be able to really increase your bottom time. Remember, CO2 is your friend, so if diving alone do not perform breath holding techniques.
Diving Saftey
Oct/090
Diving with scuba has it’s dangers. Likewise, diving with just a breath hold has it’s dangers too. The one thing that is most important is never dive alone. …and when I say dive I am referring to free diving where a person uses some type of breathe up exercise (a method of breathing that relaxes the heart rate while removing CO2 from the bloodstream and adding oxygen to the bloodstream) to maximize the time under water (bottom time) and hold for an extended period of time. Performing in this manner should be done with a partner because shallow water blackout is a possibility.
Hospitals in La Jolla…on a calm day
Article about blackout
http://www.divewise.org/articles/pollock_bh_review.pdf
Both divers should be trained in CPR and should dive with a few strategies in mind.
If the dives are not too deep and there is constant up and down then each diver should periodically look over in the other diver’s direction and make sure they have visual confirmation that they are moving. If the dives are deeper and the breath holding techniques are more deliberate then a one up one down system needs to be used where one diver is always watching the other diver dive from the surface (or following them down after 15 – 30 seconds to check on their progress). The time between long breath holds or deep dives must be at least four minutes, preferably and advisably four minutes. If the limits are pushed then shallow water blackout (SWB) is possible. This is where a diver passes out under water. Time is of the essence and the diver needs to be given CPR to revive them asap!
Please watch the following educational video on blackouts, it’s great!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PBnEIMTrgFk
Other things to consider for safety are:
- using the proper weight. The weight on the weight belt should be such that a diver is neutrally buoyant at fifteen feet. Theoretically the diver will not sink if they pass out on the way to the surface and would float to the surface if something was to occur.
- ensure weight belt can be easily undone and dropped in the event a quick ascent is necessary.
- research the dive location for hazards. For instance, one dive spot in particular where I look for lobster recently had a shark attach in less then 10′ of water. The shark was small and the damage minimal but one must be prepared to handle all situations. Also be prepared for surge and rocks.
- do not enter confined spaces under water. This is self explanatory, don’t get stuck because you may run out of air.
- be careful of man induced hazards: lobster traps and lines can catch on your equipment. Boats, kayaks, and surfboards can hurt! Consider diving with a dive float and/or flag to notify others that you are in the area.
- use a dive watch. This way you can monitor time below and your surface time. I really recommend the timex helix dive watch for starting out only because this can be found on ebay for $20. …and here is the manual:
http://dl.owneriq.net/b/b35a87eb-9ce7-41a8-80bf-1925543e0c18.pdf
- knife. Use this to scare sharks away, and if nothing else to look cool while strapped on your leg.
- of course to keep warm before and after(and change under) you’ll need a surf-fur:
www.surf-fur.com
Some other good reads about free diving can be found here:
www.Divewise.org