#157
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I’ve newly moved to the area and haven’t been in the Gulf yet. Visited Clearwater/Tampa many times in the past, but always above the surface.
The guy who invited me is newly scuba certified, so he’s taking it easy. His main motivation is to see the sites he’s been fishing for the past 11 years. These are sightseeing and practice dives, but if you would like to spear, that’s fine with all as long as it’s done safely.
After nine years doing my best to practice without a buddy and sticking strictly to what you might call "advanced snorkeling", I recently completed the Certified Freediver class in Tampa from PFI (Performance Freediving International). The local PFI instructor is Bill Van Deman (Abyss Freediving). Great class, great instructor, and worth every penny. I did 55’ very comfortably during the class and was working on going past that level on my very next dive at Blue Springs when my buddy cracked his forehead and split his upper lip on one of those ledges you mention in your profile. I’ll be back to have a look at the danger sign where the daylight starts giving out. Blue Spring is cool and all of the springs are fantastic but, like you, I’m ready for something different.
Speaking of Ted Harty, the best approach is probably to do the first class with Bill Van Deman and then do the Intermediate Freediver class with Ted next June. You can learn more by studying under different instructors. That’s my plan and I think it would be great to have someone I’m familiar with in the intermediate class to buddy with. Bill holds at least a class a month, so scheduling the first class is no problem. You can bunk with me if that makes it easier; I have several spare beds. Bill will teach you enough to practice for many months in preparation for the intermediate class, and you’ll get more out of the intermediate class when you do take it.
We’re looking at diving the artificial reef off of St. Pete Beach where a bunch of army tanks were turned into reefage as well as a wreck or two. I forget the names or exact plan (to the extent we managed to put a plan together since the conditions were crap this past weekend), but we’ll be out all day and hit several sites. Depth 25-40 feet. Should leave us both plenty of time at depth to glide around and do some underwater meditation.
Vis in the Gulf is a crap shoot, I’ve been told. Surface conditions reportedly don’t mean anything either, necessarily. A staff member at one of the LDS’s in St. Pete said there’s currently an inverted thermocline, but what that means for vis in 5 or 6 days is well beyond my experience; I can only speculate on the physics and ignore the random nature of the currents in the Gulf. FWIW, I think it’s a favorable prelude to a great day diving. Too bad the buoys don’t have visibility sensors like the aviation data stations. I’m sure the barnacles and scuzz would have them reporting blackout conditions at one foot depth pretty quickly, though. Maybe a laser shot into the water could be detected by a sensor above the surface. Getting off topic...
So you can head over this weekend?
Do you have any freedive safety training? (Not an issue because we can go over that during the ride plus some initial time in the water when we arrive. If you’re diving to darkness at 70+ feet in Blue Spring, chances are you have.)
Ever dove the Gulf? If so, where?
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