Wednesday, October 24, 2012
Idyllic fish-clubbing
I took myself for dive today before my writer's group meeting. The water was still, clear, and the tide low, and the temperatures are coming up slowly. It was an idyllic dive, a lot of it not more than 5-6 feet of water. I have put an extra weight on the weightbelt (I am always nervy about this, but it worked perfectly, I am JUST postively buoyant.) At this rate I'm going to need a golf cart to get the weights into the water, because walking with it on my waist kills my hips. I was just sorry to be there alone (Yes, I know. I was, as a result paranoid careful). Having got quota, I went to look for some fish to spear - with 3 prongs left on the spear. That didn't last past the first fish, a zebra perch. I then shot a beardie, and lost it and the next two prongs (not in the fish on the rock) and with the last, another zebra perch, and then broke that prong on a rock. So as I now had a club, I swam out, and barely got to my meeting in time. I should have tried clubbing. I believe it's all the rage.
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Wear braces to take the belt weight to your shoulders and back.
ReplyDeleteSeriously.
Disconnect {not loosen} the braces as you enter the water, so your weight distribution isn't moved to a body end rather than balance point.
Reconnect as you emerge.
Ian
It's not a bad idea - I'd need to find some super braces though. The belt adds about 18% to my body weight.
DeleteI suggest
ReplyDelete~~ 2nd hand spear gun rubber for the verticals
~~ 2nd hand seat belt for the shoulder pads and back cross brace
~~ heavy duty sanitary napkins for the shoulder pads, wrapped and sewn into an old tea towel. The drying towel must be cotton, synthetic has a tendency to spark a fire in the pads in dry weather. I assure it is very disconcerting. Wool gains too much weight on being wet.
~~ attach the verticals to your waist belt with rubber bands. This will keep them to hand for emergence. Weak rubber bands - easy to break in need.
~~ set a fixed loop in the end of each vertical, and attach it to your waist belt with small carabiners with larger than normal handles. In an emergency situation, you don't want to be stuffing around trying to undo a crab so you can drop the belt. With your background, I'm sure you can come up with a better emergency release. I'd be very interested to read your ideas.
I worry you dive alone. I hope you carry a lifebuoy. The one we used when I was a scout was a balloon tied inside a tea towel buttoned to a large button on the front pocket. The mouth of the balloon was taped to a CO2 bottle opener, with bulb. In emergency, open pocket, press button on bottle opener, get dragged to surface. Again, I'm sure you have modern and more efficient means at your disposal. {What I wrote was early 1960's :-) }.You never mention them.
I've never bottle dived, but I did manage to get 3rd degree sunburn snorkel diving on a scout trip to Fiji.:-(
Ian