-26.2M and back again in 54 seconds
So I have a hobby that not a lot of people understand. I like going into the water, I like going deep down, and I don't like having a lot of equipment on my back. This is called "Freediving" which is just a fancy word for extreme snorkeling. The difference between the Freediver and the snorkeler is that the Freediver really wants to go down, while the snorkeler just wants to tour around on the top.
I love going underwater, I love the world that is there, the sensation of flying in open space, the rich diversity of animal life that is so alien from our daily above water experience.
You can get a taste of this SCUBA diving as well. Don't get me wrong there is nothing wrong with SCUBA diving. I love that too and have done hundreads of SCUBA dives in places ranging from Oregon, California, Spain, Hawaii, Florida, Belieze. One problem with SCUBA is that you are bound to such a tight time-scale. You have a plan, you go out you dive that plan you need to be back in your boat or the shore within an hour roughly and most of the time much shorter if you are going to depth. And if you do stay out longer then you have to sit around and decompress. It is all about a schedule that saves your life. Another reason that people freedive is because they want to hunt fish and it is illegal in their country to do that with SCUBA, but that has never been an issue for me. I am a crummy spear fisher, and it never excited me that much, and in the US you can hunt with SCUBA tanks.
The equipment is lighter, the lack of equipment really makes a difference. I can dart about quickly (SCUBA tanks are a huge amount of drag). This changes the sort of equipment you use as well. I still use weights 8lbs (3.6kg) of lead to make it easier to hang out down below, but that is far less than I use for SCUBA (12lbs - 5.4kg), but don't mention the tank. Also I can use long fins, slightly longer than my leg. They are a high gear in the water and let you move around, they are actually too long for SCUBA, think of them as a big gear, and try imagine starting your sports-car in 5th gear with a horse trailer attached. Yeah you can clutch it enough to make it work, but it isn't good for your engine.
In the end it is all about Freedom. When I freedive I can just hang out in the water until I am tired and cold (and yes even I do get cold after enough time in the water). I can just play. My comfort level of a dive I don't have to worry about is -10M (-33feet) for about 30 seconds. It is 12 seconds down, 6 seconds hanging out and 12 seconds back up. Sounds short doesn't it? Honestly though how long do you glance at anything? Slow down hold your breath, count "one onethousand" "two onethousand" "three onethousand" "four onethousand" "five onethousand" "six onethousand", and take a look at the world around you. It is enough time to get a good look at a place while not moving. It also turns out to be an excellent depth for most reefs.
It is fun to just be able to go down, to be quiet, and enjoy the sounds of underwater, the shimps tapping on the rocks, the thumping of the fish, the roar of waves above. It is fun to be a visitor to another places and not be wrapped up in the trapping from somewhere else.
Why go deeper?
This is another question. I honestly I don't go very deep, my personal record is -26.2 M. Some things only exist deeper, like fish or boat wrecks. Part of it is a sensation. The deeper I go, and for some other people, the more your mind calms down. It is a bit of a trick, the more agitated you are the less deep you can go (because agitation even of the mind consumes oxygen), the deeper you go the more relaxed you can be. To feel the world become cool, to feel your skin become looser on your body, to feel you mind slow down away from
the world around you. Some of it is the machismo, I can go down deeper than I have before, or the challenge of any personal sport, I know I can succeed in making my body due more.
The other thing is that diving deeper really makes it easier to dive shallower. I don't really understand why, you don't really develop much muscle by going deeper, but it makes it easier for you lungs not to hurt for longer in the shallows. The biggest reason for me is I can stay under longer when you go deeper, most people have the sensation that it is easier to hold their breath for longer without discomfort underwater, and this trend does continue deeper down, with diminishing returns as it takes longer to get deeper down.
So here is the the description of my deepest dive. I don't get the chance to swim out in deep sea water that often. I live in Munich, Germany and before that I lived San Francisco, which is by the coast, but not very near any water you would want to swim in.
I did a number of shorter comfort dives to have a look around and get accustomed to the water. I have a little watch like dive computer that keeps track of my depth every 2 seconds in freedive mode, which is what I used to generate this graph. I started down looking at the boat, then putting my head into a more relaxed positon to get a little deeper, I relaxed and opened myself to a longer broader kick, I turn negativly bouyent at a -5M (-16feet), I caught sight of the reef fish swimming up to the wreck, at about 15 seconds I close my eyes and just kick slowly down, at 20seconds I begin to feel the hurt of the co2, I look at my watch and I am at about 22M, right by the top deck of the boat, I decide to give a few quick kicks and send myself further down closing my eyes to relax, at 26 seconds I open my eyes I look at the boat, I look a the sand about a hand away from me, I feel my lungs and decide it is time to go back to the surface, there is no reason to risk my health over grabbing a handfull of sand, so I turn around and start up, look at the boat from up close, see reef fish darting in and out of its holes, look at my watch see that I made it to 26.2M, and suprise myself, because the last time I looked it was 22M and I didn't go that far, I give up on the siccor kick and switch to the dophin gliding upward, using my whole body to move me up, the world becomes lighter, right around -6M (-19 feet) 42 seconds into this my lung begin to burn severely but I know I am almost out, and even if I do run out of air I will float to the top, but it feels like whole world is accelerating as I go up, I expell every bit of air I have right before I hit the surface and take a breath of air.
I fall back down into the water face down breathing through the snorkel looking down at the shadows of the boat. I look at my watch, max 26.2, 54secons. I come up smile and wave at Taska on the boat tell her, "26.2, 54 seconds"