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SpearBlog 2007

Written by: Bob Diaz
Category: SpearBlog 2007
Sat10Feb2007

Feb 10, 2007

Information
Bob Diaz | SpearBlog 2007 | February 10, 2007 | Print

Winds: 5-10 variable
Seas: 1-2 feet
Surf Temp: +/- 73F
Viz: 20-35 feet
We decided to get an early start this year, and the weather shaped up for a few days so we went out on Saturday. We only went down for the day, but it turned out to be a good one.

Things started out a little rough, but you know how it goes when you go out for the first time of the year. Practically everything went wrong. It started out with my forgetting the key to the lock hitch on my truck (I was supposed to tow the boat down).  Then we realized we had no lights on the trailer. After checking a few connections, we found that the lights had pretty much corroded off over winter months. So its off to Super WalMart at 6:30am to find some lights (this of course after our master plan to be on the road by 6:00am fell through). I decided to take advantage and head back home to get the missing key, since I was waiting for the new lights anyway.

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Written by: Bob Diaz
Category: SpearBlog 2007
Wed4Apr2007

April 4, 2007 (Spring Break)

Information
Bob Diaz | SpearBlog 2007 | April 04, 2007 | Print

Winds: 5-10 east (morning) 15-20 east (afternoon)
Seas: 2-3 (morning) 3-4 (afternoon)
Surf Temp: 77F
Viz: 35 feet
Trying to take advantage of a lull in the spring winds, we headed out at about 8:00am. The day looked like it was going to shape up nicely. The forecast had predicted 5-10 in the morning with 15-20 in the afternoon. The winds had laid down for a couple of days and we decided to see if it had allowed the local waters to clear up some. We headed out of Key Biscayne from the Bay into the Atlantic.

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Written by: Bob Diaz
Category: SpearBlog 2007
Wed2May2007

April 30-May 1, 2007

Information
Bob Diaz | SpearBlog 2007 | May 02, 2007 | Print

I had to write about this weekend even though I wasn't the one that got to go spearfishing.  I didn't get to record the conditions, although I know they were great. The water was still a little cool (around 76 F), but it was warm and clear out and the winds had laid down.

My brother-in-law and a friend of ours decided to take advantage of a couple of days off down in the keys. They were going to try for some dolphin or blackfin tuna in the mornings and then try to get in some spearfishing at some of our regular spots in the afternoons.

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Written by: Bob Diaz
Category: SpearBlog 2007
Sat12May2007

May 11-12, 2007

Information
Bob Diaz | SpearBlog 2007 | May 12, 2007 | Print

Winds: 5-10 south
Seas: less than 1 foot
Surf Temp: 78F
Viz: 25 feet
As far as the above water weather, it would have been hard to do much better than this weekend. The winds were next to non-existent and we experienced seas of less than a foot up to 7 miles out and could see it was flat as far as the eye could see. It definitely made for a quick trip out to any of our spots offshore. The only real issue was the haze from the brush fires in the Everglades that made the entire sky look like we were in the middle of a nuclear winter. The other very odd occurrence was the fact that the tides were acting like we had a full moon (no, there was no full moon). The slack didn't last long and when it switched, it switched hard!

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SpearViews

Bob Diaz - Tuesday, 06 May 2014 02:55

After trying and being disappointed by the Omer Zero Cubed mask last year, I picked up a couple of other masks ( Mares Star and Sporasub Mystic ) that fit fairly well and did not disappoint, but were not the perfect fit I've been looking for in a low volume freediving mask so I didn't feel overly compelled to write a spearview about them. In defense of these masks, they are both low volume masks that are relatively inexpensive so for the money they are great purchases. Of these two, the...

SpearViews

Bob Diaz - Saturday, 30 January 2010 08:16

Throughout my relatively short history in spearfishing (as of this writing), I have only used a few different spearguns. Now obviously, my opinion in this matter is not one of extreme trial and error. Mostly it consists of recommendations made to me by those I spearfish with along with some of my own common sense. In the beginning (early 1990's), I used one of my brother-in-law's extra guns. Specifically, a 38" Arbalette. Now this gun had already seen finer days by the time I started using it....

SpearViews

Bob Diaz - Saturday, 30 January 2010 08:18

I finally bit the bullet and decided to sell my No-Ka-Oi. It had gotten next to no use in the time I had owned it and it seemed a shame to have it just sit there so I Ebay'd it. With the funds from that sale, I invested in a gun that is a little more multi-purpose (at least that is how I convinced myself to get it :). I was extremely torn among 3 choices. I was considering the Euro 120, 120x and 130. After a couple of weeks of deliberation and a lot of flip-flopping, I decided on the Euro 120....

SpearViews

Bob Diaz - Wednesday, 21 December 2011 15:51

I realized recently that I had overlooked the fact that I had purchased and used some new SpearGear at the beginning of the Summer of 2011 and hadn't gotten around to posting about it (here or in SpearGear). This article is going to be one that definitely crosses over between SpearViews and SpearGear because of the fact that I do own it but I definitely think it's worthy of a review as well. In the end, SpearViews won the coin toss deciding where I would put the article (especially after I...

SpearViews

Bob Diaz - Monday, 26 July 2010 15:11

This year at The Blue Wild I was fortunate enough to meet Mike Hickey. I know of Mike from his appearances on Speargun Hunter on the Outdoor Channel with Sheri Daye. Mike was orginally a guest on the show and in later seasons participated as an underwater videographer. Mike is the USA distributor for FreeDivers ( FreeDivers USA ) spearfishing equipment. I came across his booth and after a great conversation about spearfishing, we started discussing the rising cost of spearshafts specifically....

SpearViews

Bob Diaz - Sunday, 10 March 2013 12:57

Back in March of 2010 I enrolled in and completed the FII Level One freediving course . I was extremely happy with the course content and the outcome (check out the SpearView ). Unfortunately for me, I'm not a professional freediver, so as with many people, life gets in the way and complicated which in turn keeps you from building a true regimen that reinforces all the good behavior learned in the course. Needless to say, I forgot some of the basics, fell back into many of my old bad habits...

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SpearBlog 2009

Bob Diaz - Thursday, 19 November 2009 00:00

Seas: 1-2 feet Winds: 5-10 NE Temp: 77 F Viz: 50-60 feet I had been watching the forecast for the past week to see if today would be the day that I get to jump back in the water for the first time since Labor Day. Last week, it was blowing a solid 30mph all over South Florida so I was a little concerned. I was hoping it would die down early and long enough to let the water clean up and get a shot at some dive time. After watching the forecast winds decrease every day over the past 3-4 days,...

SpearBlog 2010

Bob Diaz - Saturday, 22 May 2010 23:05

Seas: 2-5 feet Winds: 15-25 E-NE Viz: 40-50 feet Temp: 78 F Thank you for tuning in for another episode of "As the gripe turns..." I would think this episode needs to start on Tuesday as the winds started to die down and on through Wednesday and Thursday where some rain did roll through and finally Friday where the day saw picture perfect weather with 5-10 knot winds out of the East and 1 foot of chop inside the reef and get this... No small craft advisory for probably only the second or third...

SpearBlog 2009

Bob Diaz - Wednesday, 08 July 2009 01:00

Seas: 1-2 feet Winds: 5-10 SSW Temp: 85 F Viz: 10 feet We took off this morning a little early to see if we could jump in the water a little before actual high slack tide just to see if we could take advantage of some cleaner water. To our joy and surprise, we were able to jump in an hour before the slack tide and make way through a couple of spots with a little better clarity than we had for the past couple of days. I was able to shoot a few nice sized hogfish and a couple of decent mangroves...

SpearBlog 2014

Bob Diaz - Monday, 23 June 2014 15:16

Wind Seas Viz Temp ESE 5mph 1' 40' 85F After almost another week of typical Florida Summer weather with afternoon thunder storms a possibilty on any given day, the wind started to lay down around Wednesday and the forecast really started to shape up for the weekend with calls for 5-8mph winds out of the SE and less than 1 foot seas. Of course my typical cynicism kept me thinking that at any minute (most likely on Friday afternoon) the forecast would flip from optimal to abysmal and we would be...

SpearBlog 2011

Bob Diaz - Friday, 06 January 2012 09:34

Seas: 1-2 feet Winds: 10-15 E/NE Viz: 15-20 feet Temp: 69 F Well, I was finally able to get the stars in alignment and prove the power of prayer as the winds finally laid down the week before New Year's Eve and get the boat in the water for some family (and me) fun time. I dropped the boat in on Thursday (12/29) and spent the day at Boca Chita with the family and a few friends enjoying what was probably the first good boating weather in almost a couple of months (at least during a time when I...

SpearBlog 2006

Bob Diaz - Monday, 24 July 2006 15:13

Winds: 5-20 South Seas: 3-5 feet Surf Temp: 83 F Viz: 5-10 feet The weather pattern was almost identical to last weekend! Saturday was turbulent and dirty with winds picking up the seas to a steady 3-5 feet on Saturday. But Sunday was even cleaner than last week. Not only that, but the winds laid down and the seas were flat. Even my son was able to hang with us in the water for most of the day without taking in any water through his snorkel. All in all, Sunday was a beautiful day of both...