One my early freedive mentors lived on Manihi Atoll in the south pacific, his name is William Tetake. His dad Tetake Williams was a freediving legend. He rose to stardom in 1965 by diving off an aircraft carrier with out fins or mask, and bringing up a hand full of sand from the bottom at 65 meters.
Like his dad, William was a deep diver, he was the first spearfisherman to teach me advanced deep spearfishing.
In his outrigger he kept 3 to 5 kilo stones. We would paddle the canoe over
the ''secret spot',. cock the gun, pick a stone that matched the needed rate of decent, slip on the nose clip, breath up for 1 min, close our eyes and slide into the blue while equalizing.'' When you hit the reef, start making a croaking sound in your throat to attract big Ulua'', replied William.
On one such dive I watched William shoot a pan sized fish, slide it down the shooting line, re-cock the gun, croak some more, shoot another fish, before giving me the thumbs up and a big smile.
Later that day I asked him why we close our eyes on the drop to the reef ?
'' This way Raira (gray reef shark) less worries.''
Later William Tetake would introduce me to JJ or Jungle Juice, but I'll save
that story for later.
Cheers, Don Paul