Ken Kurtis
Contributor
Getting ready to start packing . . .
LEAVING FOR THE MALDIVES NEXT WEEK - Half our group leaves Saturday night and flies east through Doha (Qatar Airlines) and half the group leaves Sunday morning and will head west through Singapore (Singapore Airlines). But we'll all arrive in Male, Maldives. on Monday, October 14, and will board the mighty Manthiri the next morning. There's no Wi-Fi on the boat but I may be able to snag a SIM card and set up a hotspot so maybe I'll be able to post some stuff or maybe you'll get a two-week break from me. Either way, we're anticipating a fabulous trip and we're going to some new spots for us, heading north this time to Baa Atoll, home of Hanifaru Bay, where this time of the year you can get hundreds of Manta Rays coming in with the tide to feed. Fingers crossed and hopefully we'll have some decent stills and videos to share with you.
SPEAKING OF VIDEO . . . - I decided to upgrade my GoPro4 to a GoPro7-Black and have been playing with it a bit (dry) over the weekend. Jury's still out. Definitely better processor and I'm really looking forward to the image stabilization which should be especially useful underwater. But it's definitely geared to a not-underwater crowd because, unlike on Hero4 where you could still make most camera adjustments through the housing, that's the not the case with the 7-Black. You lose a lot of functionality once it goes inside the housing. It's supposed to be waterproof down to 33 feet, so I may play with it shallow to get some of that functionality back, but it also says the touch screen won't work underwater so we'll see. Jury is out. But if any of you have been using the 7-Black underwater and have any thoughts or tips to share, they'd be appreciated. Call or e-mail. I'm around all week.
ONE FATALITY OPENING WEEKEND - It was in Orange County and not reported until a few days later, so that's why we missed it here. Also not directly lobster-related and not scuba, but lessons to be learned. As best I can tell, the diver was free-diving with two other buddies and was spearing fish with a speargun. He apparently missed and his spear may have gotten stuck in something. He then apparently got entangled in the line while still underwater. His buddies saw what was going on and responded, cutting his line and bringing him up. But there are also reports of high swells and surf so it took them a while to get him in and he didn't make it. This accident is a good reminder that anytime you're underwater, but especially when free-diving, you only have as long as you can hold your breath to solve any problem that includes loss of air supply.
GSBs STILL POPULATING AVALON - More reports this week of the group of Giant Sea Bass in the Avalon Underwater Park. Some people are seeing them in ones and twos, others as groups of six or seven. They seem mostly to be in the center of the Park, more or less straight out from the stairs, in the 50-70' range. But they've been spotted elsewhere as well and certainly are free to move around. If you've never seen them, it's definitely a thrill. The secret to a long encounter with them is, once you spot them, just move slowly and settle down. You'll literally see them checking you out. And don't worry if they start to slowly move off. A lot of times, they're just adjusting their position and will circle back in to take a look at you. But if you start making sudden moves or chasing them, they'll split. Patience is virtue. In general terms, they'll probably hang around through about Thanksgiving.
GREAT CONDITIONS AT SANTA BARBARA - This may be the hot spot to get to. More reports of good viz and great animal encounters. I also saw some reports that Laguna was fairly nice this weekend, with up to 20-foot visibility. Not too shabby.
ANXIOUS TIME IN DODGERLAND - I'm typing this with Game 3 of Dodgers/Nationals on TV. They just finished the 6th inning. I'm suddenly feeling a bit better. Of course, there's still three more innings of Dodger bullpen pitching to go through. And that's why it ain't over till it's over . . .
And that'll do it for now. Have a great week, and let's go diving soon!!!
- Ken
LEAVING FOR THE MALDIVES NEXT WEEK - Half our group leaves Saturday night and flies east through Doha (Qatar Airlines) and half the group leaves Sunday morning and will head west through Singapore (Singapore Airlines). But we'll all arrive in Male, Maldives. on Monday, October 14, and will board the mighty Manthiri the next morning. There's no Wi-Fi on the boat but I may be able to snag a SIM card and set up a hotspot so maybe I'll be able to post some stuff or maybe you'll get a two-week break from me. Either way, we're anticipating a fabulous trip and we're going to some new spots for us, heading north this time to Baa Atoll, home of Hanifaru Bay, where this time of the year you can get hundreds of Manta Rays coming in with the tide to feed. Fingers crossed and hopefully we'll have some decent stills and videos to share with you.
SPEAKING OF VIDEO . . . - I decided to upgrade my GoPro4 to a GoPro7-Black and have been playing with it a bit (dry) over the weekend. Jury's still out. Definitely better processor and I'm really looking forward to the image stabilization which should be especially useful underwater. But it's definitely geared to a not-underwater crowd because, unlike on Hero4 where you could still make most camera adjustments through the housing, that's the not the case with the 7-Black. You lose a lot of functionality once it goes inside the housing. It's supposed to be waterproof down to 33 feet, so I may play with it shallow to get some of that functionality back, but it also says the touch screen won't work underwater so we'll see. Jury is out. But if any of you have been using the 7-Black underwater and have any thoughts or tips to share, they'd be appreciated. Call or e-mail. I'm around all week.
ONE FATALITY OPENING WEEKEND - It was in Orange County and not reported until a few days later, so that's why we missed it here. Also not directly lobster-related and not scuba, but lessons to be learned. As best I can tell, the diver was free-diving with two other buddies and was spearing fish with a speargun. He apparently missed and his spear may have gotten stuck in something. He then apparently got entangled in the line while still underwater. His buddies saw what was going on and responded, cutting his line and bringing him up. But there are also reports of high swells and surf so it took them a while to get him in and he didn't make it. This accident is a good reminder that anytime you're underwater, but especially when free-diving, you only have as long as you can hold your breath to solve any problem that includes loss of air supply.
GSBs STILL POPULATING AVALON - More reports this week of the group of Giant Sea Bass in the Avalon Underwater Park. Some people are seeing them in ones and twos, others as groups of six or seven. They seem mostly to be in the center of the Park, more or less straight out from the stairs, in the 50-70' range. But they've been spotted elsewhere as well and certainly are free to move around. If you've never seen them, it's definitely a thrill. The secret to a long encounter with them is, once you spot them, just move slowly and settle down. You'll literally see them checking you out. And don't worry if they start to slowly move off. A lot of times, they're just adjusting their position and will circle back in to take a look at you. But if you start making sudden moves or chasing them, they'll split. Patience is virtue. In general terms, they'll probably hang around through about Thanksgiving.
GREAT CONDITIONS AT SANTA BARBARA - This may be the hot spot to get to. More reports of good viz and great animal encounters. I also saw some reports that Laguna was fairly nice this weekend, with up to 20-foot visibility. Not too shabby.
ANXIOUS TIME IN DODGERLAND - I'm typing this with Game 3 of Dodgers/Nationals on TV. They just finished the 6th inning. I'm suddenly feeling a bit better. Of course, there's still three more innings of Dodger bullpen pitching to go through. And that's why it ain't over till it's over . . .
And that'll do it for now. Have a great week, and let's go diving soon!!!
- Ken
