Posts by Bulit 7

  • East Coast vs West Coast: or: how to dive away from home


    Avg bottom: Rock and sand where the rock ends. Norcal and Socal are very different animals in themselves.
    It gets deep pretty fast. Some places you may have a quarter mile, if that of reachable bottom.
    Kelp is beautifull and erie when murky. It does bive you a sense of security when diving in it. Some people have tangled and died in it. It is a food source for giant snails called abalone. In some places it is so thick that you have to swim under it.



    wetsuits are 6.5-7mm. Hooded vests are a must. Coolers filled with plastic milk jugs filled with supper hot water are great for warm ups between and after diving. Winters are cold as hell and we dive all year round given a break in the cold fronts long enough to settle the silt down and improve visibility.


    I remember days when your face , in between the mask and hood, would burn like it was on fire from the cold. To the point where it made you scream under water when you first entered.


    West coast has a lot of different underwater environments. Northern merine animals mix in with the southern ones. As you travel north or south, you loose some species and gain others.


    I equated the type of diving we did there to a mission. The only real pleasure came at the end of the dive when you were safely on shore. White sharks and poor vis have a way of making on feel very vulnerable. Of course there was a natural beauty in the undersea but the sea is not welcoming like S Florida.




    :toast:

  • Spearboard reject!

    Quote from Brian

    Welcome Lee, freediving is the way to go. Hope you enjoy it as much as we do.


    Brian, I used to freedive way more than I do these days. Back in California it was an every weekend deal. After all them years of messing with chemicals, I diminished my lung capacity. I was never a 2 plus minute apnea kind of guy. Few are. So the little breathhold I had, I killed. Im down to 45 to 60 seconds working breathhold and that gives me a max depth of 60 for a quick peek or a little more working time at 40. 40 feet is where Im comfortable. As you know, You aint gonna shoot much here in Florida at 40 feet. That is how I switched into tank diving. No sport, strictly to fill the dinner plate. Still better than sitting in a boat with a beer in one hand and a rod in another. That shit even sounds gay!:laughing:

  • Spearboard reject!

    LOL! Yeah, you got it. It is also the license plate on my bike.
    Remember the movie Bullet with Steve McQueen? A take on that!


    Thanks for the welcome guys! I like this board. Way more civilized than Spearboard. No mega egos...


    Dont mind me if I dont contribute much. I read a lot and as soon as things mellow out here, Im gonna start to freedive again. Maybe even post a report or two with some speared ornamentals! LOL!


    Cheers! Lee

  • California Dreamin

    Quote from Don Paul

    Your a freediver that's for sure, I'll be the first to say I don't have the balls to dive Fort Ross and a couple of those other spots.:@


    Thanks for sharing mate, that was fun .


    Cheers, Don



    Thanks Don,


    Yeah, I used to free dive a lot. Here In Florida I took up bottles. Just to fill the fridge.
    Still can drop to 60 or 70 and fish in 40-50.
    Cheers!

  • California Dreamin

    I miss diving in a place where you are part of the food chain. bad vis, huge flesh eating sharks, you look like a seal, stringer of dead fish around the waist, solo,... Yeah, it sucked diving solo. Hard to find partners that consistently dive there. You either grow some balls or take up another sport.


    Thanks guys!

  • California Dreamin

    Few more for the record:


    Pedro Point haul. Off the wreck. Solo freedive.


    Montara freedive. South end in epic conditions with baitballs exploding in the sunset and 40 foot visibility. Unbelievable.



    Another nice halibut.



    And another pair out of Linda Mar:



    Camping at Ocean Cove:



    A haul out of Fort Ross. Solo freedive.

  • California Dreamin

    Most of you probably dont know that I'm from california. Lived in San Fran until January 2000. I dove those waters a lot and as per some of yous request, here are some pics. Mostly from the 1990s. Mostly freediving.:toast:



    Lingcod and a few other rockfish from Fort Ross in Sonoma County, Norcal.



    My Avon 13',Gettin ready to dive Monterey.


    15lbs(aprox) Lingcod from Ocean Cove Campground, in Sonoma County.


    Me and Julian Locatelli after an afternoon of diving south of San Fran in the summer, on one of those rare days when you get 8-10 feet of vis. The spot is called Pedro Point, in Linda Mar Beach. There is a steel wreck there at the point that is scattered all over the place. Productive for cabs, lings and rockfish.



    The next pic was from a CENCAL/USofA Randy Fry Memorial tournament in Vanne Damme State Park, Mendocino County. I met Mark McGuiree and a few other legends of the Norcal dive scene that day. The ling went 16 pounds and earned me a trophy for largest fish and third place. I was not about to shoot 20 small fish to rack points. Luckily I found this bastard in a hole and nailed him.


    I will post more as time allows. Got some excellent halibut pics!:toast: