Posts by Oscar

  • Blood presure and med guestion w/ freediving

    I take 5 mg of Benicar every evening to control minor occasional high BP. Seems to keep mine under control without any side effects. That's a lot of weight loss Don - congratulations, I need to drop 10 pounds I picked up after I stopped going to the gym due to travel, and two weeks in Itly and just finished another two weeks teaching in Mexico City not known for healthy food.


    Hope you can resolve that dizziness soon. My bottom time sucks so wouldn't bother me much. Let us know how it turns out for you but not sure it is your meds causining the dizziness - maybe change of diet and weight loss?

  • Frickin' Jake.. spearfishing Belize

    Hank - I envy your life. Hope the Boy(s) are OK and just a minor cold/bug. You found this juvenile Jewfish on a shore dive? How shallow? I used to spear a lot of these, guess he is around 50 lbs, in relatively shollow water and undr piers in Panama.


    Hope the kids are better soon.

  • Choosing a speargun

    Quote from Josediaz

    No es la flecha, es el indio. :)


    Si Es verdad - pero la flècha puede ayudar <img src= " class="smiley" srcset="https://spearfishing.world/forum/images/smilies/emojione/1f606@2x.png 2x" height="23" width="23" loading="eager" data-tooltip="biggrin" aria-label="biggrin">

  • Old Timer stories, adventures, scares, etc.

    Part 4 - Continuation Title "Life or Death a matter of a few feet"


    Been busy and sitting in a hotel room in Mexico City and thought it would be a good time to continue the saga.


    Recall that I was on a Gaff Rigged Sailboat, the "Southwind", sailing from Panama north by north east to the Lesser Antilles but our sailboat did not point well and we had been rebuffed several times trying to round Cabo de Vella (Cape Wind) on the far north coast of Colombia. We had returned and anchored off shore from a small fishing village not far from the cape with no bay or cove after another attempt around the Cape. Winds were strong off shore and choppy shallow water (20-25 feet) over a shallow bank that extended far off shore.


    We had just returned to the boat in the late afternoon from visiting the only small store in the village in front of our anchorage and we were all sitting on the stern chatting and waiting for sunset which was less than an hour away. The dingy, a small light weight high floating fiberglass boat (approx. 8 feet in length) had been tied to the stern by its painter.


    Someone noticed the painter had come loose and the dingy was being pushed away from the sailboat and shore by the strong off shore wind aided by the choppy water. I had my back to the dingy, turned around, and said I'll get it - and dove in and started my free style swim towards the dingy. With the wind and choppy seas - I was unable to reach it as quickly as I had anticipated and started swimming as hard as I could and would get close and my fingers would push it way as I reached out. Thinking this was not good I turned around and waited for a wave to push me up and realized the sailboat and shore were a long long ways from my position. Oh Shit, I've GOT TO make it to the dingy now or I'm in very deep caca.


    I turned and gave it my all and was unable to reach the dingy and last thing I remember was drifting off to sleep. My mind was very calm and peaceful and I just drifted off ...................


    I don't know how long I was "out" but I came to on the deck of the Southwind with all of my colleagues around me and Les Taylor, the Skipper, giving me CPR. I threw up a few times, was in a complete daze, and finally asked "what happened?"


    It was a while before I was able to make sense of my surroundings and I slowly became aware of being on the sailboat with no idea of how I got there. Last I remembered was falling into a calm peaceful sleep.


    I was told, after becoming more coherent, that everyone realized how fast the dingy was being blown out to sea and watched helplessly as the dingy and me trying to reach it, went further away from the sailboat. They threw several life jackets into the sea hoping one would drift close to me and at the same time were trying to break loose the anchor which was on a long long chain to prevent coming loose.


    As they were in the process of hauling in by hand the long anchor chain a small wooden cayuca (wood boat carved out of a whole tree trunk), was coming toward them yelling loudly with the dingy in tow and me laying on the bottom of his cayuca unconscious.


    After getting me onboard the Southwind he told the crew that he was on shore preparing to go out fishing when he saw the dingy break loose and went after it. After reaching the dingy and tying it astern, he started motoring towards our sailboat that was just a dot on the horizon, when he spotted me lying face down in the water. He was able to drag me aboard and started as fast as he could to deliver my dead body to the sailboat.


    After a while, and a shot or two of rum, we discussed what happened and started to realize that had he been just a few feet left, or right, he would never have spotted me in the choppy water. That was even after realizing how fortunate we were that he was launching his boat and saw the dingy floating away from us.


    I've had numerous close calls, mountain climbing, accidents, getting lost at night in the jungle, etc., etc., etc. But nothing like this which occurred when I was still in my teens. Luck? Fate? I don't know but still remember this as if it was yesterday.


    Incidentally we did lose the dingy a few nights later.


    Next - trying to round the cape again then finally going home and back to school the long hard way.


    Oscar

  • Old Timer stories, adventures, scares, etc.

    Quote from Marco

    This is a great thread Oscar! :) I really enjoy the reading.


    I like your new avatar. Are you going to post something about your last trip?


    Hi Marco - I'm in Mexico City on a two week teaching assignment. Been busy, La Paz
    over thanksgiving (photos in link) and Holidays in Italy.


    Family trip was really great - we swam with lots of Whale Sharks, made one trip to Los Islotes to swim with the Sea Lions and did some spearfishing for small snappers to bring home. Family had a great time and we plan to return this summer to give my twins (age 14) a little experience spearfishing in the shallows for small good eating fish.


    Here are the photos in my fliker link: Oscar Roos' photosets on Flickr

  • New member

    Bienvenido youngster! My 2nd or 3rd speargun was also a springun, owned 2 in the 50's. Great introduction - welcome.

  • Old Timer stories, adventures, scares, etc.

    Muchas gracias Marco.


    Thank you, yes but it will be more effective with my photos of our Thanksgiving trip to La Paz and I also have some photos to add to my post. Can you, or anyone help me with simple instructions on posting photos? I'm on the road teaching and did not bring my computer - but I don't think that is my problem (using iPad). ?(

  • Old Timer stories, adventures, scares, etc.

    It has been a while but here is a continuation of my Sailboat adventures - Part 4


    Part 3 was meeting up on the Southwind in Panama, Southwind was the 40 foot wooden Gaff rigged Sailboat built in Oregon in the 50's without winches or pulleys. Everything was belaying pins and bollards. Southwind was built to old sailing vessel configuration.


    We moved the Southwind from the Pacific side to the Atlantic with a nice easy fun transit of the Panama Canal with friends and families on board. We spent a few days in Christobal on the Atlantic side getting the boat ready for a week spearfishing and diving in the Panama San Blas islands (photo below) with several of my diving buddies from Panama before continuing on to Colombia with ultimate destination The Dutch Netherlands Antilles.


    The sail from Christobal to Porvenir in the Eastern San Blas archipelago was an easy night sail arriving early morning for the crossing of the outer barrier reef into the San Blas Islands and Porvenir the provincial capital of the quasi independent and unspoiled waters of the San Blas Islands. A week later we sailed back to Porvenir so my dive buddies could catch a flight back to Panama and we continued our trip across to Colombia. The crossing from San Blas Islands to Cartagena was one of the roughest crossing I have ever taken. We spent a few days in beautiful Cartagena then sailed on to Barranquilla where wee spent a few more day. Cartagena and Barranquilla are two beautiful coastal cities on the northern coast f Colombia and are great vacation destinations.


    Our next stop was Santa Marta, last town of any size before sailing into Venezuelan waters. We only spent a few days in Santa Marta but I did get to dive a few more times for lobsters and fish to feed the crew. Between Santa Marta and the northern most tip of Colombia aptly named Cabo de Vella - there really was not much outside of a few really small fishing villages. This portion of the coast is relatively barren with no inlets or harbors just relatively shallow water along the coast and strong off shore winds.


    Our last land fall before rounding the northern tip of Colombia was a small fishing village with nothing more than a small store that sold a few food items and a limited supply of warm beer. This little village was visited once a week by an ice truck and mail delivery. We ended up in front of ths little village several times after unsuccessful attempts to round Cabo de Vella (Cape Windy) in the Southwind. The head winds were very strong and the Southwind was built with wide beam and old Gaff Schooner Rigged sails that did not point or tack very well. We tried numerous times and ended up back in front of the little fishing village.


    The coast here was shallow with no protection and a strong westerly off shore wind that made for very rough anchorage. We had to anchor about a hundred yards off shore in shallow (20-25 feet) of rough choppy waters.


    Next: The difference between life and death as measure by chance


    Help - have some San Blas photos to add but having senior moment - How can I add photos here Dan?

  • Picked up a 130cm Pathos Laser open carbon

    Quote from Dan

    When a company has the resources to design and manufacture a handle from scratch, making it exactly to their idea of what a perfect handle should be, it boggles my mind that they'd end up with a grip like the laser. It demonstrate a complete disregard for comfort in loading, which in turn reflects on the individual's running the company actual experience/time spent in the water hunting. Subsequent improvements in my mind will never make up for such a blatant blunder, I will always question the suitability for the task of products from this company. More so because of my experience with the Pathos foot pockets. It's not unusual however for European spearfishing gear manufacturers, to opt for product designs that look fancy and different, but lack basic functionality.


    By contrast I can assure you that Speardiver's first speargun handle will be every bit functional as it is pretty. It will reflect everything I know about what a good speargun should be. If it would have any serious flaw like the Pathos Laser, I might as well be in another line of work.


    You are being too subtle Dan - tell us what you really think of Pathos <img src= " class="smiley" srcset="https://spearfishing.world/forum/images/smilies/emojione/1f606@2x.png 2x" height="23" width="23" loading="eager" data-tooltip="biggrin" aria-label="biggrin">

  • Video of a cubera taken by me in a deep wreck

    Felicidades - bien Hecho.


    Congratulations - well done!


    Question: in front of Maiquetia where you are diving (or anywhere else) no sharks that could take the Kingfish left on the stringer in the water where the boys are waiting in the inflatable? Not sure you could do that in Panama for very long before a shark stole your catch.


    Great video. Nicely done.