JimQPublic
Registered
I just had my first day of real freediving Sunday (May 28) and it was phenomonal!
I went to Catalina Island, which is the only island off the California coast with regular passenger service and a town with tourist services. My plan was to get a bit of practice before I take the PFI Intermediate freedive class next weekend. (I figured that one day of freedive experience is better than ZERO if I'm taking an Intermediate level course). My intent was to stay safe and just practice surface manouvers, pike dives, and ear equalization but not go deeper than ... I'm not sure how deep I planned.
After picking up some better fitting fins (Riffe 40-42) instead of the too-big ones I started with, ankle weights, and gloves on Friday I decided to rest up Saturday and dive Sunday. Good thing too as Saturday was rather windy here. Still, having the whole day to pack up my kit there I was at 10:30 PM shoving it all in a bag. Alarm sounded WAY too early at 5:00 AM. I was out the door at 5:30 to catch the 6:15 Catalina Ferry.
The wind had died down but left the occassional Large swell to make it interesting- even on the big Jet Cat Express. Otherwise just a quick, pleasant crossing. I got off the boat and started walking to the Casino Point Underwater Park, which isn't far across the harbor mouth but by foot is a ways- 3/4 mile.
Getting to the underwater park my first impression is that it's very small. With an island 22 miles long how come their famous dive park is only about 50m x 100m? All around are moorings where people with far more money than I anchor their boats.
I suit up, put my things in a locker, and prepare for my first real dive. Previous experience is two days snorkeling and one check dive with my new equipment in muddy water.
My fins are a real struggle to get on and then a bit tricky to navigate the stairs and surge. I'm afraid of damaging a fin on my first dive so I flop around a bit until a bigger surge comes in and I can get over the rocks at the entry point without risking a fin getting bent.
I'm wearing my 5 mm wetsuit and 12 pounds on the weight belt. I have 2x2 pound ankle weights for 16 total pounds of ballast. Surface swimming is easier than on my practice swim because the ankle weights keep the fins in the water. Unfortunately as I stop swimming to breathe up for a dive my feet sink and I'm vertical. The only way I can float horizontal is to lightly fin. Also the nylon straps on the ankle weights keep loosening- very annoying.
The water is very clear and there are lots and lots of small fish. Many different types- the only one I knew the name of is the bright orange Garabaldi. By day's end I saw a young seal; Sheepheads- male and female; Scorpionfish; Catalina Half Moon; Sargo; Surf Perch; what I thought were small yellowtail but someone told me were Barracudas; and many more that I either forgot or can't ID this morning from online pic's. http://www.ccd.org/CatalinaSpecies/index.html
I swim out and get myself adjusted. I try to get the excess air from my suit. Reposition the mask so the seal is UNDER the hood, etc. Then try to relax and breathe up. Ha. Relax? I did my best at a pike dive and ended up back on the surface face up. Another try and though my legs were kicking in the air for a moment I managed to dive down. Equalizing was accomplished via freznel method. It was different than expected. I was thinking I could keep just enough pressure to constantly equalize but it didn't work out that way.
I went down about 20 feet on that first dive. After I stopped kicking down I easily shot back up to the surface. With 16 pounds of weight I was quite bouyant.
I had a brand new wristwatch that claimed to be waterproof to 200m so I was using that as a timer. The buttons are inset so it was very hard to press them with gloves on. I ended up just using it to ensure adequate surface intervals. I only dove on the "5's", giving me at least 4 minutes surface interval after a 1 minute-ish dive.
I did a lot of dives. Initially I stayed well clear of the tall kelp as I didn't wish to become entrapped. With each dive my technique got better. After about two hours in the water I saw another freediver with a wrist computer and asked him the depth. He dove to the bottom right where we were and reported it as 45'. Also he said another spot with an anchor and float used by the dive classes was currently 27'. There was a thermocline at about 25' where the temperature dropped by several degrees.
Wow. I sort of suspected that I was going more than 30' but 45? Wow. It was also good to know the float was at 27'. I had found that I was neutral just above its anchor- so probably about 25'.
One thing that happened on my third or fourth dive was lots of fun. A young sea lion swam in as I was down about 20'. He did a lap around me and seemed like he was going to head off again. I stopped descending and spun in a circle to entertain him. He did a few manouvers but unfortunately I was already heading to the surface with my bouyancy. After a quick breathe up I headed back down but didn't see him again.
My inital topside impression of the dive park was way off. Underwater it was great- lots of fish and plant life and underwater topography. Plenty big for a good time. Visibility was very good- probably 40'.
I decided I really hate the ankle weights. I ended up latching them onto my weight belt and that made diving much easier. I still have a lot of trouble staying head-down on the dives and the ankle weights made it worse. I tried tucking my chin for better equalization and hydrodynamics but doing that I have a lot of trouble pointing down. If I dove alongside a kelp stalk it helped a bit. If I crane my neck and look at the bottom I don't have much trouble. I do notice that equalizing is easier with my chin tucked.
After three hours in the water I decided to take a break. I decided to buy 4 pounds more weight and not carry the ankle weights. The little airtank/weight rental operation only had 5's and suggested a place in town. I decided to walk there and continue on to the other underwater reserve- Lover's Cove. No hunting or SCUBA is allowed there and boats are restricted. It's primarily used by snorkelers and the glass bottom sightseeing boats. The walk was LONG in flip-flops, wetsuit bottom and 16 pounds of weight. I was fairly exhausted by the time I got in the water. The diving was fine but not nearly as good as at Casino Point. Not nearly as much variety of fish or underwater terrain. Still it was nice and I did some good deep dives out near the guard bouy. Visibility wasn't as good as Casino Point though.
After about an hour I decided to walk back to Casino Point- since my dry clothes were still out there in a locker. Another mile walk with 16 pounds of weight and sand chewing my toes in the sandals. Fins and the wetsuit top seemed to get heavier too.
Back at the Casino I spent a while resting and chatting with divers before getting back in the water. I was definitely more tired by now but my technique and confidence was better. I was venturing deeper and found that while equalization took effort it always worked and I never experienced any ear pain. My ears have always been sensitive and that was my biggest concern for freediving.
My last deep dive was in a small clearing in the kelp. I was doing my best to keep my chin tucked so the bottom surprised me. I leveled off and found I was in a hole about 5' deep in a reef. Upon reflection I think I had found the "Little Casino Reef" which is 35' down, but it seemed deeper. It's possible that I found one of the sunken boats that have become reefs- the Kismet or Glass Bottom Boat. However they're at 65' and I don't think I was that deep- but maybe I was.
After that I was getting rather tired. My lungs seemed tired and my legs had each cramped a few times. Also although not cold, I wasn't quite as toasty warm as I had been in the morning. Still I was having too much fun. I did a bunch of dives in shallower areas of kelp forest. I would go to the bottom at 15 feet or so and just swim through the kelp, sightseeing. As my experience increased I was able to stay down even though I was positively bouyant.
Finally as I found myself near the entry stairs I decided that with a total of more than five hours in the water, my first day diving, with no dive buddy it was really time to call it quits. It was 4:00 PM.
I got my gear and walked down to the pay shower facility. For $2.00 I got five minutes of hot shower bliss. Gear packed up I couldn't find my new watch, which I had taken off at Casino Point when I was taking my dive gear off. I presumed it was in the bottom of my bag. Of course you know the end of that one- when I got home and emptied everything out it was not there. Glad it was a $40 watch and not a $300 dive computer!
After dinner in Avalon I caught the ferry home.
Summary of first day diving.
Deepest dive: 50 or so feet.
Longest dive: ??? probably less than 1 minute.
Time in water: 5+ hours
Distance swum? not much
Distance walked: 4 miles total.
Fun had? !!!!!!!!!
I went to Catalina Island, which is the only island off the California coast with regular passenger service and a town with tourist services. My plan was to get a bit of practice before I take the PFI Intermediate freedive class next weekend. (I figured that one day of freedive experience is better than ZERO if I'm taking an Intermediate level course). My intent was to stay safe and just practice surface manouvers, pike dives, and ear equalization but not go deeper than ... I'm not sure how deep I planned.
After picking up some better fitting fins (Riffe 40-42) instead of the too-big ones I started with, ankle weights, and gloves on Friday I decided to rest up Saturday and dive Sunday. Good thing too as Saturday was rather windy here. Still, having the whole day to pack up my kit there I was at 10:30 PM shoving it all in a bag. Alarm sounded WAY too early at 5:00 AM. I was out the door at 5:30 to catch the 6:15 Catalina Ferry.
The wind had died down but left the occassional Large swell to make it interesting- even on the big Jet Cat Express. Otherwise just a quick, pleasant crossing. I got off the boat and started walking to the Casino Point Underwater Park, which isn't far across the harbor mouth but by foot is a ways- 3/4 mile.
Getting to the underwater park my first impression is that it's very small. With an island 22 miles long how come their famous dive park is only about 50m x 100m? All around are moorings where people with far more money than I anchor their boats.
I suit up, put my things in a locker, and prepare for my first real dive. Previous experience is two days snorkeling and one check dive with my new equipment in muddy water.
My fins are a real struggle to get on and then a bit tricky to navigate the stairs and surge. I'm afraid of damaging a fin on my first dive so I flop around a bit until a bigger surge comes in and I can get over the rocks at the entry point without risking a fin getting bent.
I'm wearing my 5 mm wetsuit and 12 pounds on the weight belt. I have 2x2 pound ankle weights for 16 total pounds of ballast. Surface swimming is easier than on my practice swim because the ankle weights keep the fins in the water. Unfortunately as I stop swimming to breathe up for a dive my feet sink and I'm vertical. The only way I can float horizontal is to lightly fin. Also the nylon straps on the ankle weights keep loosening- very annoying.
The water is very clear and there are lots and lots of small fish. Many different types- the only one I knew the name of is the bright orange Garabaldi. By day's end I saw a young seal; Sheepheads- male and female; Scorpionfish; Catalina Half Moon; Sargo; Surf Perch; what I thought were small yellowtail but someone told me were Barracudas; and many more that I either forgot or can't ID this morning from online pic's. http://www.ccd.org/CatalinaSpecies/index.html
I swim out and get myself adjusted. I try to get the excess air from my suit. Reposition the mask so the seal is UNDER the hood, etc. Then try to relax and breathe up. Ha. Relax? I did my best at a pike dive and ended up back on the surface face up. Another try and though my legs were kicking in the air for a moment I managed to dive down. Equalizing was accomplished via freznel method. It was different than expected. I was thinking I could keep just enough pressure to constantly equalize but it didn't work out that way.
I went down about 20 feet on that first dive. After I stopped kicking down I easily shot back up to the surface. With 16 pounds of weight I was quite bouyant.
I had a brand new wristwatch that claimed to be waterproof to 200m so I was using that as a timer. The buttons are inset so it was very hard to press them with gloves on. I ended up just using it to ensure adequate surface intervals. I only dove on the "5's", giving me at least 4 minutes surface interval after a 1 minute-ish dive.
I did a lot of dives. Initially I stayed well clear of the tall kelp as I didn't wish to become entrapped. With each dive my technique got better. After about two hours in the water I saw another freediver with a wrist computer and asked him the depth. He dove to the bottom right where we were and reported it as 45'. Also he said another spot with an anchor and float used by the dive classes was currently 27'. There was a thermocline at about 25' where the temperature dropped by several degrees.
Wow. I sort of suspected that I was going more than 30' but 45? Wow. It was also good to know the float was at 27'. I had found that I was neutral just above its anchor- so probably about 25'.
One thing that happened on my third or fourth dive was lots of fun. A young sea lion swam in as I was down about 20'. He did a lap around me and seemed like he was going to head off again. I stopped descending and spun in a circle to entertain him. He did a few manouvers but unfortunately I was already heading to the surface with my bouyancy. After a quick breathe up I headed back down but didn't see him again.
My inital topside impression of the dive park was way off. Underwater it was great- lots of fish and plant life and underwater topography. Plenty big for a good time. Visibility was very good- probably 40'.
I decided I really hate the ankle weights. I ended up latching them onto my weight belt and that made diving much easier. I still have a lot of trouble staying head-down on the dives and the ankle weights made it worse. I tried tucking my chin for better equalization and hydrodynamics but doing that I have a lot of trouble pointing down. If I dove alongside a kelp stalk it helped a bit. If I crane my neck and look at the bottom I don't have much trouble. I do notice that equalizing is easier with my chin tucked.
After three hours in the water I decided to take a break. I decided to buy 4 pounds more weight and not carry the ankle weights. The little airtank/weight rental operation only had 5's and suggested a place in town. I decided to walk there and continue on to the other underwater reserve- Lover's Cove. No hunting or SCUBA is allowed there and boats are restricted. It's primarily used by snorkelers and the glass bottom sightseeing boats. The walk was LONG in flip-flops, wetsuit bottom and 16 pounds of weight. I was fairly exhausted by the time I got in the water. The diving was fine but not nearly as good as at Casino Point. Not nearly as much variety of fish or underwater terrain. Still it was nice and I did some good deep dives out near the guard bouy. Visibility wasn't as good as Casino Point though.
After about an hour I decided to walk back to Casino Point- since my dry clothes were still out there in a locker. Another mile walk with 16 pounds of weight and sand chewing my toes in the sandals. Fins and the wetsuit top seemed to get heavier too.
Back at the Casino I spent a while resting and chatting with divers before getting back in the water. I was definitely more tired by now but my technique and confidence was better. I was venturing deeper and found that while equalization took effort it always worked and I never experienced any ear pain. My ears have always been sensitive and that was my biggest concern for freediving.
My last deep dive was in a small clearing in the kelp. I was doing my best to keep my chin tucked so the bottom surprised me. I leveled off and found I was in a hole about 5' deep in a reef. Upon reflection I think I had found the "Little Casino Reef" which is 35' down, but it seemed deeper. It's possible that I found one of the sunken boats that have become reefs- the Kismet or Glass Bottom Boat. However they're at 65' and I don't think I was that deep- but maybe I was.
After that I was getting rather tired. My lungs seemed tired and my legs had each cramped a few times. Also although not cold, I wasn't quite as toasty warm as I had been in the morning. Still I was having too much fun. I did a bunch of dives in shallower areas of kelp forest. I would go to the bottom at 15 feet or so and just swim through the kelp, sightseeing. As my experience increased I was able to stay down even though I was positively bouyant.
Finally as I found myself near the entry stairs I decided that with a total of more than five hours in the water, my first day diving, with no dive buddy it was really time to call it quits. It was 4:00 PM.
I got my gear and walked down to the pay shower facility. For $2.00 I got five minutes of hot shower bliss. Gear packed up I couldn't find my new watch, which I had taken off at Casino Point when I was taking my dive gear off. I presumed it was in the bottom of my bag. Of course you know the end of that one- when I got home and emptied everything out it was not there. Glad it was a $40 watch and not a $300 dive computer!
After dinner in Avalon I caught the ferry home.
Summary of first day diving.
Deepest dive: 50 or so feet.
Longest dive: ??? probably less than 1 minute.
Time in water: 5+ hours
Distance swum? not much
Distance walked: 4 miles total.
Fun had? !!!!!!!!!
