Yes, but only close to the coast or islands. I just tested my self under relaxed conditions and just broke the two minute mark at 2:03. Closer to 1:45 underwater. I'g go down 50'-55' if I see a super big sheephead or halibut, but most is in the top 30' of water.


http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1530329566.jpg

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1530329582.jpg

I now have a list of people here who didn't smoke...


20 year smoker, quit 7 years ago, been working out ever since, and I'm still trying to get back to where I was 20 years ago. I lose my lungs after about 3 miles running.

There's definitely something to this. From 11th grade until I graduated from college I smoked copious amounts of weed. Seriously, they named farms and children after me in Humbolt County. Most of my freediving friends can do 3 minutes, but no matter how hard I train I can't get much more then 2 min. It's been 30 years since I spoiled weed, but I blame that on the lung damage caused by the pot smoking.

Once I was in a hot tub with some folks and we decided to have a contest. This was a tub with actual air pumped into the seats. They were amazed that I could keep holding longer every time. But I had found if I slowed my breathing I could just get enough air to breathe the seat bubbles! So after going for like six minutes I decided to stay down until someone prodded me whereupon I went limp like a dishrag. You should’ve seen how fast they hoisted me out of there!

50'-55' and you said you have lost your nerve due to the Mako? :lol: I wonder how deep you went before

I swam in high school and college and had a summer business scuba diving cleaning barnacles off boat bottoms. The less air I had to breathe (with exertion) the more boat bottoms I could clean =$$ so I would train myself to be more oxygen efficient.

I came up with a routine training in the college pool where I would use a kickboard back and forth to warm up. I dropped an Irish 1 pound punt (large silver easily visible coin) 8 ft from the shallow end. then when I pushed off wall next time I would kick under water holding breath and push that coin across the bottom further each time till I needed a breath and then kick another lap. Each lap I would have to swim further underwater, deeper and balance exertion and breath to push it even a little further.

This really pushed my limits. A few times while working my air tank was completely empty and I would get another job last minute. Each job was about $70 which was great money for a college kid in the late 80's for 1/2 hr work. I did whole boats completely on breath (and sometimes put a lungful into my BC at the surface). Then had to fight buoyancy to get underwater in heavy equipment to scrub and scrape with barnacle shards in my wetsuit cutting me to ribbons while I fought a 7ml wetsuit. Completely wiped me after but I could afford great dates with my now wife and it taught me the value of $.

I try this now and I can barely get across the pool underwater. Course no $ incentive either. . .

It's not how deep you dive that exposes you to makos. It's how deep the water is below you. Open water freediving under kelp paddys around here is 10' or 20' feet. That's where the yellowtail and yellowfin are...but the kelp paddys are floating on currents in 1,500 to 4,000' deep water. Going down 55' for a sheepshead is on the bottom, sometimes very close to shore. I've had 500 lbs sea lions take my fish from me...but that doesn't scare me...it just PISSES ME OFF!

How long...........
 

When I was in high school, I could swim two lengths (underwater) of a 40 yard pool without taking a breath. When I was in the Navy, I had a buddy time an underwater stay that wound up being two minutes. Now? Probably the best I could do would be a tad over 1 minute. Getting older is a biotch!

Good to hear. I only feel comfortable max at 20' and love stay around 10'-15'. It could be the water condition too, once I went further than 20', things became blurry looking down the bottom and don't feel like it anymore. Maybe this is why I have seen only small fishes :lol: