My good friend Angela (platypus) AKA Rick's fiancee, invites me to stay with them in Hawaii. Who am I to turn that down? So, I book the ticket and ask what to bring......I'm told NO regulator, NO BCD, NO gun. I'm gonna get a crash course in freediving in one of the most beautiful places in the world. Now, the deepest I've dove is snorkeling in a bikini without a gun to maybe 20 to 25 feet to scout what other divers are doing in the water. So, I get a pair of Cressi Gara fins, a 3 mil wetsuit. Fly to Hawaii. Greeted at the airport by Angela, Rick, and Brandi Easter (BTW - she's now Brandi on Spearboard, so feel free to PM her welcome to the board ) and get lei'ed promptly on the spot - LOL. After one day of jet-lagging, we get on the boat to try out some freediving.....now, I'm a little worried about how things are going to go - after all, never freedove, unfamiliar gun, unfamiliar fins (from split fins to freedive fins!), and unfamiliar turf - with some of the best freedivers out there! Talk about jumping straight into things!
I'm paired with Daryl and the first two sites we're off to try to get ono (wahoo). I watch Darly freedive easily to 80 feet and just sit there - wow! We chum the water and watch for 1 hr and 40 min respectively and watch and swim and watch and swim. No one's home, but Angela shoots a yellow spotted papio (island jack). Then, off to some ulua houses - holes where these easily spooked fish live in - Daryl says the're prized like Cobia in Florida - and some shallower reef spots. At the end of the day, Daryl and Rick tag team a NICE white ulua who they end up shooting THREE TIMES and land him into the boat. At this same spot, Brandi shoots a omilu, which is potentially a new Hawaii state record at 14.59 lbs!
I shot Daryl's hybrid gun about 4 times, missing each time - after all I'm SUCH a beginner at this stuff - LOL! Rick rescues my spear stuck in the coral rocks in 35 feet, cause the deepest I'm diving is 30 feet and I can't quite reach the spear! Then the other three times, I'm at a shallower site and can get the spear myself....which helps me build some confidence. Rick, Angela, Brandi, and Daryl are such good freedivers and spearos and I'm spending time watching them too and learning tips and learning what fish to shoot and how they behave.
Sunday, rained out - small craft advisory - go to mall
Monday - still small craft advisory, but we go out. The boat is packed with Joe S., Pete W., Daryl, Brandi, Rick..............and me - LOL! First two dives are searching for ono (wahoo) again. No one's home - again! But fish start coming on the boat - red and blue uhus, emperor fish, etc. After diving at a site where the bottom is 40 feet and looking at fish too far for me to get, I start to leave my gun on the boat..............yep, that's when fish within my range start showing up - LOL! Parrotfish, unicornfish, Hawaiian hogfish start showing up.......but I've decided that I need to get a little more comfortable spending time under water without a tank and just practice freediving. At the end of the day, I can easily go 30 feet and hover there for a while and probably could reach 40 feet if I could get my ears to clear that final time, but there's still a week left. I'll get there.............
Boat gets a decent showing on fish - 14 + uhus (parrotfish), kumu (whitesaddle goatfish), nenue (chubs), mu (emperorfish), palani (eyestripe sturgeonfish) and ALMOST ANOTHER ulua (watched Rick and Daryl harass it for about 30 minutes ). Water calmed in the afternoon but was overcast and rained all day.
Tuesday off day, Wednesday - today - 20 knot winds and increasing swells - so typing today.
