After shooting a winter spearfishing episode of Off the Hook, Extreme Catches with Eric Young (you can find it on torrents, it’s season two) we continued fishing in the icy waters of the St-Laurent. JJ and me had our big mittens and all the winter neoprene trimming required. I got so used to shooting with the large 7 mm mittens that it did not pose any special challenge.

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Not spearfishing but who cares? You can see more of that stuff on miami2montreal.com

Most of the sailing stuff entertwines with the freediving.

Last October, I bought a 27 foot sailboat and I eventually sailed to the Bahamas. I stayed in Bimini most of the time since the good fishing is on the west side of the island string and the wind is invariably from the east… Anyway, it’s a really good setup for spearfishing.

As you may know, in the Bahamas you are not allowed to use spearguns. All fishing must be done with Hawaiian Slings or Pole spears. Those are two distinct instruments btw. The Hawaiian sling is a like a sling shot throwing a shaft, while a pole spear is a pole with an elastic at it’s base. In the videos, you will see mostly Hawaiian slings.

The fishing was done in 15 to 25 m. It’s really sporty since you have to chase your shaft and look around for sharks at all time. There are so many bull sharks that you cannot let your guard down at any time. Most fishing outings end when the bulls show up.

In general, any fishing below 22 m or 70 feet will result in bulls showing quickly since you’ll be close to the drop off. Fishing at more than 80 feet is almost impossible since the bull show up before you even reach the bottom.

Some people keep asking about my training advise. I had written something a while back. It’s still pretty much what I would suggest today. Here it goes:

Reaching for the bottom on one’s breath is an enjoyable exercise of defiance in a society that values more security and comfort than living. It also defies the land oriented human physiology or at least the perception that humans belong on land and require great amounts of equipment to go underwater. But that freedom comes at a price since freedivers rely heavily on their physical and psychological preparation.

Training

This is a mashup of things I teach my students at the University and routines that worked for me. I personally don’t subscribe to training regimens that promise immediate results although there are some very important short term results for people who follow the sort of routine I suggest.

I find that a safe and successful training program is one that enables you to use all that you’ve worked on. A common mistake is to work on skills that cannot be used for lack of another. For instance, it is marginally useful to work on breathold when you cannot swim properly.

In order to avoid imbalances, a program has to consider some sort of prerequisite hierarchy. I’ve chosen to place fitness and swimming techniques ahead of everything. I tend to put the emphasis on fitness since it will help beginners attain and use diving skills. One could argue that psychological preparedness should be placed before but it does not meet the prerequisite rule and it usually follows a sustained practice.

Breathold is the very last thing on the agenda because you need all of the above to freedive and hold your breath safely.

The pool-training program is largely inspired by underwater hockey. I taught hockey for well over a decade. That little known sport has a very rich and highly structured training tradition. It is also very safe and conducive to building a solid swimmer. The sport itself was conceived as a training activity before becoming a popular activity for its own sake.

That said, some works on apnea have inspired me, especially Francis Fèves’ book on monofin training: L’apnée glisse en monopalme. The book includes an account of the training of French elite freedivers that shows the importance of repetition and measured progression. The routines in that book as the ones I propose are meant to get you somewhere instead of comforting you on your present shape.

This program does not include hypoxia training. I am not impressed with the repetition of accidents that comes with it. I never will suggest long recuperation times before holding your breath within a training routine. Maximum breathold exercises can be useful but the danger associated to this type of practice is so great that I suggest doing them outside of the water. Furthermore there is very little resemblance between real life freediving, especially in the case of spearfishing, and controlled environment maximum breathold training. Instead I encourage people to hold their breath in diverse conditions of fatigue, under different sort of stress, in order to learn to deal with real life, thus imperfect, diving situations. You may not get 5 minutes to meditate before diving.

Fitness, technique and mental preparation

Doing laps improves your cardio, which helps the body burn less air. Most of the routines in this section include enough laps in quick succession to get your heart pumping.

While you do your laps you may as well learn to swim properly. Use the time to improve your technique. Well-coordinated movements are graceful. All that you do should appear easy, not laborious.

Rehearse your moves. Proper finning will come at the cost of many kilometers of swimming. Correct ducking and surfacing will become a second nature after a few hundred immersions. The dolphin kick will become an option only after weeks of practice. If you do something wrong rehearse until you get it right.

While you train, lower noise level in your mind. Focus on what you are doing, eventually stop thinking and do things without having a mental conversation about it. Meditation and yoga can be useful but the most immediate beneficial mental control exercise for a freediver is focusing on his laps.

Security

Always have someone spotting you when you engage in a breathold exercise such as laps underwater. Do not hold your breath past the comfortable level and be very wary if you feel too good while doing long stretches underwater.

Do not focus on breathold except perhaps to avoid holding it too long: one of the surest ways to die while training consists of doing static apnea by yourself. That said, static apnea is so dangerous that I don’t find it comforting enough to have someone spotting me since the best that person can do is save me once I blackout.

Static breathold is dangerous because it is very difficult to determine that you’ve had enough when you remain motionless and suppress the need for air by meditating. The only way I recommend practicing static breathold is on dry land. There you may faint and hurt yourself but it beats drowning.

Whether you are training or diving always remain conservative, take baby steps. Stay away from people and groups who have experienced many sambas and blackouts if you don’t want to experience them yourself.

Few people train for apnea records (personal, national or world records). It is debatable if anyone should but clearly no beginner should go in that direction. While it is easy to build a very impressive breathold capacity in very little time, there is much to learn before these abilities can be used with any measure of safety. Years of experience will chill most people’s static breathold ambitions. It is widely considered the most dangerous activity in a pool. It kills randomly even with safety precautions.

If breathold extension is what makes you tick and you don’t want to work your way through years of slow practice not necessarily aimed at such goals you can find groups that will help you. Do not pursue apnea records outside the close supervision of people who specialize in recuperating samba and blackout victims. The pure apnea record crowd will get you where you want to go faster and safer.

Pool size

Find the exact dimension of the pool you are going to use. All the routines are set for a 25-meter pool. Ideally you have access to a 50-meter or even a whopping 100-meter pool if you live in Australia. In the US you can come across 25-yard pools (23 meters).

Pool depth is less critical. The routines are set for a two-depth pool, i.e. 4 meters in the deep end and 2 meters in the shallow end.

4 speeds

The laps will differ in speed and style. Four different speeds are mentioned. They are measured in exertion, not in meters per seconds.

The speed refereed to as normal or intermediate is fast enough to be uncomfortable yet sufficiently slow to be sustained for a few laps. But everything being relative, intermediate can also be defined as sustainable for a particular routine. Therefore, intermediate or normal speed is faster if you only do 25 meters (1 lap) than if the routine calls for 150 meters (6 laps). Normal speed is the default all-around speed.

Slow speed is strictly for recuperation when done on the surface or a means of torture when done underwater.

Fast is not sprint. A person should be able to sustain fast for one, perhaps two laps. It is a very uncomfortable speed. Fast is muscle tearing and hearth pumping and gruelingly difficult but nothing compared to sprint.

Sprint is the maximum effort one can make. Most cannot keep giving that sort of effort for 25 meters. If you can do more than 25 meters by definition you are not sprinting. Sprints are strictly for underwater hockey players or advanced spearfishermen. It is very hard physically and mentally to do many sprints in a row, even with adequate recuperation time.

Standard swimming styles

“Crawl” means using legs and arms at the same time. Do not rely too much on the arms as you can get a lot of thrust from your legs when you wear fins. The snorkel also saves a lot of energy since you can keep your face in the water at all times and breathe continuously.

“Kick” refers to the normal scissors kick. Leave your arms in front of you. Hold one of your thumbs to make sure that your hands stay together. Extend your body as much as possible to offer the least resistance to the water. Do not bend your knees too much.

The “dolphin kick” uses most of your body. Your feet stay together. They go up and down at the same time. The trick is to undulate. When you go slowly you start the undulation almost at your hands and send it all the way to your fins. When you swim faster start the undulation almost mid-body and send it down to your fins in quicker successions. It is much easier to swim the dolphin underwater than on the surface.

“Arms only” is just that. Use a crawl movement. Leave your legs crossed so not to cheat. If you decide to cheat adjust the routine to make up for it.

Lap types

Laps can be done on the surface, underwater or both. A specific number of breaths can be prescribed when repetitive underwater distances are called. Sometimes underwater lapses are split in two with 1 to 3 breaths halfway.

An underwater lap means a continuous 25-meter crossing following the bottom from one bottom corner to the other. One can cheat by allowing a further start point, taking one breath on the way or not following the bottom. It may be necessary to cheat in order to progress and avoid pushing too hard. With some practice beginner are usually comfortable doing one lap but the routine may call for them after a few surface laps. Placing underwater laps in the middle of a routine when the person is out of breath is the preferred method since it works resistance and recuperation. Needless to say beginners should choose accessible routines or adapt them by reducing the underwater distances.

The “Marsoin” or dolphin includes surface and underwater swimming. It consists in touching the bottom three times and breathing only once every time you come back to the surface. It is the most technical type of lap. It requires efficient ducking and perfect timing. To do this sort of lap properly do not shoot straight down or straight up but move from the bottom and the surface at a 30-45 degree angle. From the surface duck normally, your arms should be in front of you when you reach for the bottom. Push the bottom with one arm and head back up. Once on the surface you reposition the arm that just pushed the bottom (and was clumsily on your side) in front of you for the next immersion. The whole thing should appear effortless, graceful.

Surface swimming is just that. When you reach the wall always do a proper swimming turn… The trick is to start your turn at the right distance from the wall. Once your head and torso are underwater send your legs towards the wall while getting you body in line for another lap and push. Describing this is a futile exercise. Observe how swimmers do it. Try and try again. It takes ten to twenty attempts to do a bad turn and a few hundred before you will think it is useful. Nonetheless do it every time you get to the wall. It will greatly work your agility underwater and eventually cut time on routines.

Time and Intervals

The time you take to do laps is a very good gage of your swimming abilities and fitness. Before starting a routine determine which part of your routine you will do in one sitting. Time the routine including the resting time and keep that information so you can monitor your progression.

An interval is the time given to do a routine including the resting time. For instance, 4 underwater laps on a 30 seconds interval means that you have about 20 seconds to cross the pool and 10 seconds to breathe: the four laps taking only two minutes. Swimming on intervals demands proper dosing of speed and resting time. If you swim fast you get longer resting times but your hearth rate may be too high to recuperate in that time. If you swim slowly you may get too little time to breathe. Intervals make easy routines difficult whether they are done on the surface or underwater.

Breathing

Breathing should be managed. Breathe deep starting from the belly and stay calm even if the routine calls for sprints.

Levels

To measure a freediver’s level you would have to take into account fitness, swimming abilities, diverse technical knowledge, experience of the sea, navigation, experience, breathold capabilities and so on. For the purpose of choosing a training routine that sort of evaluation is too thorough and unpractical. It is useful however to have some sort of idea of your level as a freediver even if it has no meaning in the larger picture.

The AIDA came up with a series of levels based solely on a diver’s capacity to do laps and hold his breath in set amounts of time. That’s called an objective scale in the scientific community because it measures something that can be measured. While it does not give a very good idea of freediving capacities in general, it serves its purpose when it comes to training. The problem is that this type of evaluation can become a deadly trap.

Because your level can change from day to day, on certain days expectations can no longer meet with your true limits. Therefore even if you officially estimate that you are a level “x”, don’t try to keep up with you training program if one day you feel like a level “x” minus 1. You may truly be a level “x” minus 1 that day and blackout before you reach your goal. You will see less variation in your abilities if you train more than once a week, every week, but you should always remain comfortable with your training routine. That said nothing short of an injury or cardiac limitations warrants you to skip or even slow down on the surface laps.

Rather than comforting you with easy to understand, no ambiguity tables and clear pseudo-scientific advice, I will suggest that you gage yourself conservatively and evaluate each routine according to what you think you can do.

I divided the routines by level of difficulty and tried to give some clues has to which divers should follow each routine. Again, these clues are only rough indications and you should evaluate each routine individually.

Security, before you start routines

You should have someone spotting you but the best policy is prevention. If you want to avoid blackouts I suggest three things:

1- When you feel the need to breathe you go back to the surface. If you have to push your breathold or have to hyperventilate to get through a routine, you are not ready for that particular one. You should reach your goal with air to spare.

2- This is perhaps the most important advice I will give: FORGET DETERMINISM. There is NO clear relationship between static breathold capacity and dynamic breathold capacity. Also, there is very little resemblance between what a person can do in a pool and what is achievable in the wild.

3- Furthermore, what you could do yesterday provides little information about what you can do today. Even people who train regularly for many years have good and bad days. By definition a beginner has NO IDEA what his limits are and should avoid pushing himself to reach yesterday’s performance.

Routines

I included over 20 routines for divers of three different levels. The routines are not meant to be done in order although they get harder and harder as the numbers go up. They are merely exemple of routines done by me and other divers (mainly my students).

Routines for beginners and bellying divers

Each routine should be preceded by a warm-up. Beginners should swim at least 500m before starting a routine. Count the laps you can do in a predetermined amount of time or the time it takes for a set amount of laps if you want to measure your progression.

Train at least twice a week if you don’t want to exert for very little returns on the fitness side. The repetition of basic skills such as kicking, ducking and turning at the wall, is very beneficial in mastering the swimming technique and the use of the equipment.

Routine #1 (Work on your surface skills, speed and endurance. Practice your turns and keep your arms in front of you).

This is a 600-meter or 24-lap routine (not including the warm up).

Take 30 seconds of rest between series.

Swim in succession 25, 50, 75 and 100 meters crawl

Swim in succession 25, 50, 75 and 100 meters kick (legs only)

Swim in succession 25 and 50 meters using only your arms (legs crossed)

Four times 25 meters dolphin style (touch the bottom three times breathe only once every time you reach the surface)

Routine #2 [700 meters]

Always take 30 seconds of rest between series (try to limit it to 30 seconds).

75k, 50k, 25k

25c, 50c, 75c

25d, 25d, 50d

The following laps are underwater with 3 or 2 breaths halfway but you can add one breath if you need it.

25u(3), 25u(3), 25u(3)

25u(2), 25u(2), 25u(2)

Routine #3 [800 meters]

100c, 100k,150c,150k

25c fast, 25k fast, 25c slow

50u( 3) [meaning 3 breath every 12.5 meters underwater]

50u(3,2,1) [meaning 3 breath after the first 12.5 meter, 2 after the second and only 1 on the last strech]

100u( 3,3,3,2,2,2,2)

25u [Take the time necessary and try one lap underwater. If you cannot make it, take one breath or more and try to finish the lap. Have a partner follow you for security.]

Routine #4 [650 meters]

50c, 25d, 25d, 50k, 50d, 50a, 50u(3,2,1), 100d

6 times 25u [You need a partner, take at least 30 seconds between laps]

50u( 1) [One breath every 12.5 meters]

Routine #5 [1000 meters, 40 laps]

250c, 125k, 125k, 250c, 50d, 100u(2 or 3)

6 times 25u

Routine #6 [750 meters]

250c, 250k

10 times 25u on 60 second intervals

Routine #7 [850 meters]

The first are combo series. For instance: 100kcdu(3) means the first lap is kick, the second is crawl, then dolphin and finally underwater with 3 breaths halfway.

Twice 100cku(3)c

Four times 100ckcd on a 2 minute interval

10 times 25u on 60 seconds or less

Routine #8 [735 meters]

Twice 100cu(3) ku(3)

250c

Twice 25u on 45 seconds

Four times 25u on 45 seconds

Four times 25u on 45 seconds

35u [take your time and be sure that someone is watching you]

Routine #9 [1205 meters]

200c, 150c, 100c, 100k, 150k, 200k

Four times 25u on 45 seconds

Four times 25u on 45 seconds

Three times 35u [take your time and be sure that someone is watching you]

Routine #10 [1050 meters]

500c in 8 minutes

50d, 100d, 100u(2)

Four times 25u on 45 seconds

Four times 25u on 40 seconds

Four times 25u on 35 seconds

Routines for intermediate freedivers

You are an intermediate freediver (as far as training is concerned) if you can swim 1000 meters in 17 minutes or less with fins. You should also be comfortable with repeated underwater laps and capable of doing 50 meters underwater on a good day.

These routines are appropriate for slightly out of shape advanced divers. The focus remains on cardiovascular training. The main difference with the beginner’s routines is in the way surface laps are intertwined with underwater laps. These routines aim at reducing recuperation time.

Warm-ups should precede every routine and include a minimum 500 meters of continuous surface swimming (within 8 minutes). Hopefully the warm-up does not present a challenge. If so, build your resistance by swimming long distances (1000-2000 meters) 250 meters at a time.

Routine #1 [750 meters]

150c, 100c, 50c, 50k, 100k, 150k

Four times 25u on 45 second intervals

Four times 25c on 40 second

Static 15 seconds then 25u

Static 30 seconds then 25u

Routine #2 [1000 meters]

Four times 100uckc on 2 minutes

Four times 75ucc on 90 seconds

The following series consist of a succession underwater and surface laps. It is a traditional training exercise. The trick is to pace yourself to be comfortable. If you find the right pace you will be able to do an indefinite number of laps.

100ucuc, 150ucuc, 200ucuc

Routine #3 [1000 meters]

500k (you can use a swimming board)

100d, 100u(3), 200ucuc

Four times 25u on 40 seconds

Routine #4 [970 meters]

Four times 100k fast on 1 minute 45 seconds

Three times 50c fast on 45 seconds

100d

200ucuc

35u, 35u, 50u

Routine #5 [1185 meters]

100ucuc, 500ucuc

Four times 25u on 35 seconds

Four times 75ucc on 90 seconds

35u, 50u, 50u, 50u

Routine #6 [1200 meters]

Four times 75ucc on 90 seconds

Three times 50ck on 45 seconds

100c, 50u(3), 50u(2), 200d

Twice 25u slow

Six times 50u

Routine #7 [900 meters]

100ucuc, 500ucuc

Static 15 seconds then 25u

Static 30 seconds then 25u

Static 45 seconds then 25u

Static 60 seconds then 25u

Four times 50u

Routines for the advanced and very fit freedivers

Divers in this category can be dropped off in the ocean and swim indefinitely regardless of weather or how they feel that day. Proficient divers are usually very independent minded and self-reliant as they should be. However, it is especially important for them to be monitored while they train since they are the most at risk of blacking out. Sadly the very advanced freedivers do more than their share of dying in pools while training.

I suggest that you push as hard as you can when doing the surface work but remain well inside your comfort zone when holding your breath.

Since you should be able to do 1000 meters with fins in 14 minutes to be in this group, the warm up consists of at least 1000 meters in 16 minutes or less.

Routine #1 [1700 meters]

4 * 100ukdc on 2 minutes

4 * 100k on 90 seconds

100d

4 * 25u on 30 to 35 seconds

6 * 25u on 30 to 35 seconds

6 * 25u on 30 to 35 seconds

4 * 50u on 1 minute 45 seconds

4 * 50u on 90 seconds

Routine #2 [1500 meters]

500ucuc, 500ucuc

4 * 50u on 2 minutes

6 * 50u on 90 seconds

Routine #3 [1500 meters]

4 * 50c fast on 45 seconds

4 * 100k fast on 1 minute 45 seconds

4 * 100d on 2 minutes

4 * 25u on 30 seconds

8 * 50u on 90 seconds

Routine #4 [1275 meters]

4 * 25u on 30-35 seconds

6 * 25u on 30-35 seconds

8 * 25u on 30-35 seconds

25u slow, 50u

5 * 50u on 90 seconds

10 * 50u on 90 seconds

Routine #5 [1695 meters]

4 * 75ucc on 90 seconds

4 * 75ucc on 80 seconds

4 * 100ucka on 2 minutes

10 * 50u on 90 seconds

3 * 65u [security!] with at least 60 seconds of break

Routine #6 [1550 meters]

4 * 100ucdk on 2 minutes

250ucuc in 5 minutes

5 * 50u on 90 seconds

5 * 50u+ on 90 seconds [50 meters underwater plus a turn at the end]

5 * 65u [security!]

75u [security!]

Routine #7 [1790+ meters]

4 * 25u on 30 seconds

6 * 25u on 30 seconds

5 * 50u on 90 seconds

Static for 15 seconds plus 50u [security!]

Static for 30 seconds plus 50u

Static for 45 seconds plus 50u

65u, 75u [security!!]

1000ucuc or more

          Training for a purpose

Training is much easier and sustainable when it is inscribed into a lifestyle and done in good fun. This does not mean that it should be easy since too little effort will bring few returns and training will become a chore but there is no reason to go overboard and apply north american work ethics. Balance is everything and just how much effort you should be prepared to make is unclear.

People who are in great shape do well in the water. They can stay down longer more comfortably and will recover faster once on the surface. Moreover, being fit also improves chances of survival in case of trouble or injury and it’s downright necessary if you want to help someone else.

Shimy and I left Montreal on Monday afternoon. It was the first time Shimy took the 8 hour trip to Rhode Island. We were going for three days of bass fishing on Block Island. Chris had offered us to sleep on his boat and I had been able to secure ferry reservations for my car. Once on the island we’d have the kayaks, the car and all our gear. This was a very good setup.

On Tuesday, we got to the island before noon and hit the water with the kayaks in the bay east of the ferry dock. We rounded the point and pushed a little further than the South West lighthouse. I chose to start fishing far from shore in about 50 feet of water. All the boats were trawling at that distance, so I figured we may as well join them.

The water was incredibly cold and a very surprising contrast with the super heated air. My five mil suit was barely enough and I cursed myself for bringing clot gloves. It was that cold. I wanted to work on my breathold and warm up so I did quite a few dives there but there were no fish. I knew that the cold water was not appropriate for bass anyway.

We slowly worked our way closer to shore. There were no big bass but I found plenty of scups and triggers. I also had a school of bonitos pass under me. I saw some blues and small bass close to shore but the noteworthy thing was the amount of sharks. I must have crossed half a dozen dogfish in as many dives.

A few hours into our dive, Shimy had ear pains. We headed back to the car a bit before sunset. Shimy ended up at the island’s clinic. The doctor filled him up with Vicadin, Ibuprophen, pseudoephedrine, topical and oral antibiotics. Shimy was in such pain that he was not surprised when he was told that he should not dive for a few days.

The next day, I dove Black Rock and got into obscene amounts of triggers. They were so thick that it got scary. What if they realized that they were capable of munching me to death?

As I laid on the bottom waiting for scups or bass, the triggers floated above me. I shot a scup and as I was putting it on my stringer, I started looking a little closer at the triggers and eventually realized that there were jacks among them. I quickly put the scup on my back, put the shaft in the mech and loaded one band without setting the shooting line. I lined the jack up and shot him in the gills. That jack really gave me a good run for its size.

I shot a second jack minutes later. They looked like lesser amberjacks. Unfortunately, I did not take a picture of them.

Later in the day, I decided to head to the Bluffs and walk the 500 steps to the water. I dove to the left of the stairs, in the rocks. I broke a fin right as I got in. I threw the broken fin to shore and continued with one fin.

The surf and the current were giving me a hard time, especially with the dive float. I was being taken west. Pretty soon I was into schools of bass and I eventually shot a 25 pounder.

Unfortunately with only one fin and a fish on my back, I was having a very hard time swimming around. So I decided to head back to my point of entry but that was not happening. Instead, I ended up exiting on the rocks a few hundred yards from my entry point. I had to drag everything on the rocks in the unforgiving heat and then go up the stairs. By the time I got to the car I was spent.

Chris wanted to go diving the next day at 5 am. Since I was sleeping on the boat, I knew that I could not escape the early morning follies.

Jimmy woke me up when he stepped on the boat. Shimy and Chris soon followed. We headed to the outer reefs. Chris had told me that there were very few bass close to the island.

Once on the reef, Jimmy and me started the first drift. On my first dive I landed in a pile of bolders but there was no school to greet me. I laid there for a while before a shadow approached. It stayed far but I had a 120 so I took the shot.

The 42 pound fish ran at the end of my shooting line but I managed to bring it to the surface without using the reel. I could see that my brand new shaft was bent.

We drifted a few times over the outer reef and landed two more bass. Shimy was witnessing this from the deck, still unable to dive, but there will be other occasions.

Shimy holding 42 pound bass

More and more often, the St-Lawrence Seaway becomes so warm that it is possible to dive without a wetsuit. It seems each new year we beat the previous’ year heat records. Here I am feeding tooty bluegills in my speedo.

L’ouverture de la pêche à Montréal, c’est surtout l’ouverture printanière de la pêche au doré.

Il y a bien une saison hivernale. Il est possible de le chasser jusqu’au 31 mars si vous avez une bonne combinaison et que vous savez où ils se cachent pendant l’hiver. Pour ma part, je n’en vois pas souvent l’hiver. À mon avis, les dorés se tiennent en dessous des grandes nappes de glaces, loin de ma flèche. JJ et moi avons fait un trou dans la glace pour tenter de les trouver, mais il aurait fallu être pas mal chanceux pour y arriver rapidement.

Il faut donc attendre le début de mai pour vraiment pouvoir chasser le doré. Pour nous c’est un événement qui marque le début de l’été et plus généralement de la vie estivale de Montréal; sauf que dans les rues nous célébrons autre chose que la sortie des dorés.

JJ et moi sommes allés en face de Montréal, dans un endroit où l’eau turquoise du fleuve vient se mêler à l’eau brune de l’Outaouais. Les dorés et le courant étaient au rendez-vous.

J’en ai profité pour essayer ma GoPro avec un nouveau port plat acheté chez Mako Spearguns. Sans le port plat, l’image est floue lorsqu’on filme sous l’eau en raison de la diffraction. Le port plat est une plaque de plexiglass qui vient remplacer le port rond de la GoPro.

Il ne suffit pas d’installer le port plat toutefois. Pour pouvoir utiliser le port plat, il faut sélectionner le mode R5 ou 1080p pour ne pas obtenir une image rognée. En fait lorsqu’on utilise les autres modes on obtient une image ronde sur un rectangle noir.

Le mode R5 est moins panoramique mais l’image est d’une qualité indiscutable. Les images qui suivent ont été prises dans une eau sale. J’estime que la vidéo s’approche et parfois dépasse ce que j’ai pu voir avec mes yeux. De plus, les couleurs sont justes. Malheureusement, la caméra étaient fixée n’importe comment sur ma tête. Elle pointe trop haut et les mouvements de ma tête produisent un film saccadé.

À l’avenir, je vais améliorer la position de la caméra sur ma tête. Avoir la caméra sur la tête est un compromis. En chassant, il est difficile de tenir une caméra dans une main et l’arbalète dans l’autre. Accrocher la caméra à l’arbalète résulte en une image de jeux vidéo qui est fort monotone.  On peut voir des images de gun cam partout sur le web.

Un autre défi, c’est le traitement des images prises en mode R5 car il s’agit du format MP4. Le format MP4 n’est pas supporté par Window Media Player et toute la panoplie d’éditeurs normaux. Pour pouvoir éditer les vidéo en MP4 il faut un éditeur spécialisé. J’ai fait pas mal de test et perdu beaucoup de temps avant de trouver Avidemux. Avidemux permet l’édition dans le format MP4 mais il ne permet pas vraiment de transformer le fichier suite à l’édition. Il demeure en format MP4. De plus, lors de l’édition je n’arrive pas à voir mon travail final sans plantage. Je dois le mettre sur youtube pour voir ma version définitive. C’est vraiment n’importe quoi le manque de support du MP4.

Since the lionfish population is targeted for eradication we decided to help and try our hand at pole spearing lionfish. We were quite successful. We speared dozens without much incident… until this time.
We were diving a wreck in 70 feet of water.

Freediving under the ice has attracted a lot of attention. These pictures are the most talked about.

Even in this environment you can find breathing holes though sometimes only the snorkle passes.

It’s best to spot your breathing holes from the surface and make sure to have enough air to back away if you cannot fit.

Far, far offshore…

The air temperature was an issue. I had to pry my belt off. Total dive time was 2 hours and 20 minutes. We used 5.5 mm Dessaults.

Benjamin freezing his butt off in a 7mm Beuchat.

Jean Jacques wearing the Dessault face mask. He could not feel the 0C water (32 F).

At one point you have to find an exit.

This time I had to push the ice appart.

The Esclapez did not like the cold water I guess.
I spent another 40 minutes swimming with one fin.

These contraptions block the ice before they enter the channel and ram the bridge.

To stay in place in the current the best option is to stay behind the tanks.

In november 2008, I had an opportunity to Island hop on the Carnival Victory Cruise Ship. The kissing puffers were taken with a now ancien Canon A95, in JPG! I had to suffer the indignities of Photoshop to correct the white balance without loosing too much quality. These pictures are a testament to the incredible advantages of the RAW format.