Intro from California Newbie

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www.scubamazing.com:
Jim, welcome.

So why don't you just be a freediver?

Good idea. I was a wannabe so yesterday I went out and became one. Spent five hours in the water at Casino Point Underwater Park and Lover's Cove, Avalon, Catalina Island, California.

Had a great time and today every muscle in my body was sore. But a good sore.

I found reaching depths in the 30-50 foot range pretty easy. As I was diving solo (BAD, BAD, BAD- SHAME!) I didn't linger on the bottom. Just down and back up, except one time when a sea lion came in to play with me.

Jim
 
wannabe nothing - the fact you went out and did it is far more than most - I've come across more than my fair share of arm chair/internet freedivers... I'm all about the phrase "Just shut up and (free)dive"

It doesn't matter if you dive 10 feet, 10 meters, or 30 meters - I'm of the belief that freediving is becoming too focused on performance instead of actually doing for the sheer joy of freediving...

From my perspective, we just need to move away from the performance aspect - which is very much ego driven - and bring people to the sport as a way to enjoy the aquatic environment if they are not comfortable with the idea of scuba diving.
 
I think I'm going to call it skindiving, since "freediving" has been narrowly defined by many as the specific competitive disciplines. For me, training that focuses on competitive constant ballast diving will be useful so that I can find and push my limits in a safe, controlled environment. Knowing those limits will allow me to be safer when sightseeing in the ocean, which is my goal.

Armchair freedivers huh? I guess I'm lucky to live near the ocean. Tuesday after work I drove out to Palos Verdes and spent an hour in the water checking out purple urchins, surf perch, anenomes, and several octupus- one being close to 2' long. Also got to experience breathing through a snorkel in big surge. Maybe those dry snorkels are a good idea after all.

Jim
 
You're lucky to live that close to the ocean dude.. :wink:

For a snorkel, you might try the Impulse from Aqua Lung - get the rigid one - I used one for awhile but now it just sits in a box. I have gone old school so to speak - using a Picasso snorkel along with my Waterway glass composite blades and Cressi Minima mask...

Skin diving eh??? Now that really is old school.. :wink:
 
In another thread Cliff said:
5ata:
...
Jim - For someone who is just beginning - the very fact you have actually did research and made a common mistake like that is not out of the ordinary. Even so, the fact you could even jump into this discussion is great. Are you going to be taking any freedive courses???

I'm taking the Performance Freediving intermediate class in two days! I talked to Mandy and she said the two day basic class would probably leave me wanting more so I went with the four day intermediate. I don't know but I suspect that they're combined for the first two days.

Read my journal "starting from zero" over on the deeper blue place.

Jim
 
Yeah - that is more or less how it was for me when I took the Int. class in 2001 in Long Beach. You should have a great time for your first freediving course - advice - don't push it. Don't let your ego get the best of you - in my course - there were a couple of blackouts and I wasn't too happy with that going on.

Set a reasonable goal for yourself - and then revisit that goal to make sure it truly is a reasonable one. Work on technique - Aharon Solomons is right - a 1% improvement in technique translates to a 10% improvement in performance, but a 1% improvement in performance without technique is still only a 1% improvement in performance.
 
Welcome to board Jim
 
Welcome from Texas! It's nice to see you on Scubaboard. If you ever need any advice or help, we're here for you. Here's one piece of advice...take scuba!
Britt
CrazyScuba.com
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/peregrine/

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