Spearing invites
I see many people jumping on spearing groups on facebook and saying something like.
hi I’m….. I’ve just moved into the area. Would love to go out. Happy to pay my way shout beers etc.
my question as a boat owner is always are you safe? And that is something that is really hard to know from a post on facebook, it really doesn’t matter what depths you say you can do or who you have dived with that’s just words… will you be watching my ascent if we are diving 10-40m +depth? Will you check me when I’m on the surface? Will you be keeping an eye on me or looking for the fish that is just over there.
One of the fin makers I know of likes to solo swim with a reel gun and has admitted that he has had a few moments where he has partially samba’d? the very last thing I want to do on a day out is be looking for a diver or heaven forbid recovering a body and unfortunately it happens to often.
What then Is the best way to get a ride in a boat?
Firstly get involved in your local spearing club, I love our local club here in cairns and they are super friendly bunch of people. I am far more likely to take someone out I am beginning to know, if they are a beginner it is pretty easy to establish their character as you form a relationship with the person and you can have some input into their spearing practice. It is an unfortunate aspect that a lot of male spearo’s are happy to talk big but there actual knowledge of dive safety is woefully low.
Secondly get involved in your local freediving club, Not only will you learn safe dive practices but you will get to practise diving in a safe and controlled way and you can push your limits pretty hard. A fairly large proportion of the freediving community I have met are into spearfishing and it is a great way to meet people and know realistically their dive capabilities. The local cairns freediving community is pretty friendly.
Thirdly The best investment you can put into the sport of spearfishing is to do a freediving course with an instructior who is a spearo. So many beginning spearo’s would become significantly better spearo’s if they understood more than a youtube clips worth of information, like anything getting good at diving involves practice and time to let your body adapt to what you want it to be able to do. The reality is doing a freediving course most likely puts you in touch with other spearos and is a great way to meet new people.
Thirdly if you like a bit of travel with your spearfishing then I would recommend jumping in and learning to play underwater hockey. It’s great CO2 training and a great way to keep your underwater fitness going midweek so that when the weather comes good you can dive all day repeatedly. You’ll also make some good spearing buddies along the way. At least 50 percent of uwh players are also super keen and confident spearo’s and know their local scene. Uwh has hooked me up with some great spearing in AUS and NZ
Some of the big names in the spearing community have all played the sport at one time or another.