Mentoring a new diver the minimalist way

[gonphishing]

I saw a big shark diving with Eric at the channel islands. he didn't see it. it was about 7' or bigger. some kind of leopard. I'm (sure) we have been noticed. thay are there. I seen others but nothing that made me pucker and hug a rock. seen some while fishing. Its all kinda sharky around here. I was free diving the lost coast this summer. I hear thats sharky waters. taoH was there.

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[TaoH]

The only shark I've ever seen was a leopard shark at Point Lobos on Thanksgiving Day '04 or '05.

I wanted to follow it, but me and my buddy were returning to the entry/exit and didn't have enough air to continue chasing things. I was also green with maybe 15 dives at the time and didn't have very good navigation skills/techniques. I would estimate the leopard to be about 5-ft in length.

 

[TaoH]

We switched to M&B wetsuits because they are sweet. No ripped seals, no leaks, no issues, no missed dives.

I've never used a drysuit and I never liked the idea of additional seals, valves, hoses and all that extra baggage. I did start to consider it at one point when I felt like my one piece semi-dry wasn't cutting it for SCUBA because I was beginning to feel cold.

After getting the 9mm Yamamoto M&B, it was like night and day. I was warm and comfortable diving around 50-ft at maybe 50F. Took it to 100-ft at Monastery and only felt brisk, on the way back up, I was feeling heat.
Like Brian has told me before I bought mine, "It's a dream suit."

I'm glad I never had to touch a drysuit...except when having to help someone with their zipper.

 

[Thalassamania]

When I was young and foolish I took my boat and a few friends out to the Farallons to do a little spearfishing. We'd heard that there were lots of lings and cabbies there. Well ... I shot a ling and something that I swear was the size of a Greyhound Bus went by, took my fish, jerked the gun out of my hand and disappeared at the limit of what was about 20 foot of visiablity. That was all, we waited a few minutes and then went up to the boat, got out and went home.

 

[MichiganScott]

Wow, I've thought about the minimalist diving possibilities, for some time. I am so naturally buoyant my BC is used mainly to make my surface time a bit easier as I have to wear a ton of lead..., When I was a kid used to strap 10 lbs of lead onto a web belt to be able to dive down to 15 / 20 feet (no wet suit, no air, just fins and mask/snorkle) in Whitefish Bay of Lake Superior to examine the rocks. I've not heard of anyone in my area (now lower Michigan) who is into this; I'll have to ask my LDS.
Are there any other threads I've missed or sites dedicated to minimalist diving?

 

[captain]

Do you ever get that funny feeling on your dives that you are not alone? I am not talking about your buddy either.

When you are in 5 foot vis and you start thinking too much about what's lurking 10 feet out you begin to get paranoid.

 

[Nemrod]

Wow, I've thought about the minimalist diving possibilities, for some time. I am so naturally buoyant my BC is used mainly to make my surface time a bit easier as I have to wear a ton of lead..., When I was a kid used to strap 10 lbs of lead onto a web belt to be able to dive down to 15 / 20 feet (no wet suit, no air, just fins and mask/snorkle) in Whitefish Bay of Lake Superior to examine the rocks. I've not heard of anyone in my area (now lower Michigan) who is into this; I'll have to ask my LDS.
Are there any other threads I've missed or sites dedicated to minimalist diving?

There have been other threads over the last few months, do a search.

Your "lds" aka retail dive equipment store will be of no service to you in this quest, their job is to sell you equipment, not teach you how to do without it. When you get out of the mainstream, on the edge, you find us minimalist, we are out there, back pack divers, vintage divers, free divers, not everyone is on the silly PadI master diver tank clacker program.

Diving in the old way, without a BC, octo, spg, computer, all of that fuss and bother is not as simple as taking the equipment off and jumping in the water, there are methods and techniques and skill sets involved that we used to learn. In lieu of the fact these skills are no longer taught by any mainstream abc agency does not invalidate them, but it does mean the only way to learn them is through mentoring.

N <---more zen-er diving, less equipment

 

[Nemrod]

A bull chased me and my buddy out of the water at the Destin Jetty. He was about 7 feet, maybe less. He was like a pitt bull. He ruined our dive and after tiring of him we decided to leave the dive. As we walked up onto the sand these tattooed spring breakers ask, "hey, scuba steve, see any sharks?" and we said, laughing, "yes, as a matter of fact we did." They didn't believe us, oh well, I guess it was not a Darwin Award day.

N

 

[gonphishing]

A bull chased me and my buddy out of the water at the Destin Jetty. He was about 7 feet, maybe less. He was like a pitt bull. He ruined our dive and after tiring of him we decided to leave the dive. As we walked up onto the sand these tattooed spring breakers ask, "hey, scuba steve, see any sharks?" and we said, laughing, "yes, as a matter of fact we did." They didn't believe us, oh well, I guess it was not a Darwin Award day.

N

darwin had a anniversary yesterday.

those bulls can get aggressive. i've been warned a few times. I had seals mug me during my safety stop and all the way to the boat for my game bag loaded up with lobster and scallops at santa rosa island. there is a seal rookery there. yah hoo.. freaked me out good..

 

[Blackwood]

Then there's whitey. - ever run into our not so little friend?

Great Whites live as far south as San Diego.