OP
Flutter
Contributor
Yes, I was waiting for the "dust to settle" before I returned to thank everyone for their comments and various (passionate) viewpoints. 
Meeting any of you, poolside, would be fascinating as well, if perhaps a bit intimidating. 
And not to "open another can of worms" but just a few closing thoughts. In our conversations & on our dive, the french woman:
1) Did carry a speargun but returned from her dive, our day, with no catch.
2) (I believe) dived with air in her 80 cu (it lacked Nitrox or other markings), but perhaps dives trimix as well on her home reef system (since she commented she had also dived with it).
3) Very much believed she was diving within her training; was planning and diving her plan; and Was taking necessary precautions by adding a computer & a pony bottle, which when she was certified & dived for years, had never been used. (She commented her training had also included "what if" scenarios which she always kept in mind).
4) Stated she had needed to use her pony/bailout bottle only once, since she had added it to her gear pack.
5) Also stated that when she was younger (?) she had done 2 such dives per/dive day, but had reduced that to just one over the years.
6) And as some posters stated, she may die while diving someday (it occured to me), but I think she had already reconciled herself to that possibility years earlier while she was diving solo, without a computer, or any "bail-out" bottle.
She was about 5'2", 135lbs, had 45+ years solo diving, & was between 70-80 yrs (her mother & aunt were in their 90's). We were shore diving; I understood that was her preferred method in her home country, as well. How she managed these dives, when some of you have said this is impossible, I don't know - perhaps some type of freediving (but let's not get into that).
She may indeed be a dinosaur from a bygone era, but I believe she was at peace with her odds and quietly enjoying her life, while putting no one else at risk (She certainly didn't put us at risk. As my husband & I turned our dive, we looked 30+ ft down at her, and saw she was watching us turn back to the reef, before she waved & dropped down the wall to continue her dive by herself) - with a quiet smile, she stated, "Diving is my life".
Meeting any of you, poolside, would be fascinating as well, if perhaps a bit intimidating. And not to "open another can of worms" but just a few closing thoughts. In our conversations & on our dive, the french woman:1) Did carry a speargun but returned from her dive, our day, with no catch.
2) (I believe) dived with air in her 80 cu (it lacked Nitrox or other markings), but perhaps dives trimix as well on her home reef system (since she commented she had also dived with it).
3) Very much believed she was diving within her training; was planning and diving her plan; and Was taking necessary precautions by adding a computer & a pony bottle, which when she was certified & dived for years, had never been used. (She commented her training had also included "what if" scenarios which she always kept in mind).
4) Stated she had needed to use her pony/bailout bottle only once, since she had added it to her gear pack.
5) Also stated that when she was younger (?) she had done 2 such dives per/dive day, but had reduced that to just one over the years.
6) And as some posters stated, she may die while diving someday (it occured to me), but I think she had already reconciled herself to that possibility years earlier while she was diving solo, without a computer, or any "bail-out" bottle.
She was about 5'2", 135lbs, had 45+ years solo diving, & was between 70-80 yrs (her mother & aunt were in their 90's). We were shore diving; I understood that was her preferred method in her home country, as well. How she managed these dives, when some of you have said this is impossible, I don't know - perhaps some type of freediving (but let's not get into that).
She may indeed be a dinosaur from a bygone era, but I believe she was at peace with her odds and quietly enjoying her life, while putting no one else at risk (She certainly didn't put us at risk. As my husband & I turned our dive, we looked 30+ ft down at her, and saw she was watching us turn back to the reef, before she waved & dropped down the wall to continue her dive by herself) - with a quiet smile, she stated, "Diving is my life".
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