New to spearfishing

[wkyongae@aol.com]

Had a great past Sunday. Splashed in at about 1:30pm in the great Puget Sound WA, really clear water for here. Target flounder and crab. Gear 7mm wetsuit, snorkel, mask, fins, and 5mm gloves, and old made in Spain short spear gun water temp 55. Vis was about 20 - 30 feet. Didn't take long to bag a flounder nice Sanddap about 10 in. long in about 10 ft of water. Next came another Sandtab, darn missed, lucky for him or her as it only missed by an inch and yes the fish was looking around to see what happen. Next 4 Rock crabs, then another flounder, Stary Flounder about 10 inches long that was in about 25 ft of water. All in all we took home 6 crabs and 2 flounders. My son saw a really nice Sea Cuccumber (Sound is closed to them). Next comes Labor day weekend and yes splash down will be in Squim Bay, Wa looking so forward to that. Sunday and Monday of nothing to do but hunt and hunt and hunt. And did I mention 2 days of hunting.

 

[tom wicker]

55 degree water a a 7mm wetsuit you would have had to put that speargun in my back to have gotten me to enter the water. I don’t see how you guys up north can handle that cold water. My hat goes off to you dedicated people. Nice report

 

[ReefGuy]

Sorry, but a post like this requires pictures!

 

[sk8rpj]

55 degree water a a 7mm wetsuit you would have had to put that speargun in my back to have gotten me to enter the water. I don’t see how you guys up north can handle that cold water. My hat goes off to you dedicated people. Nice report

55 isnt that cold. Here we get to around 45. They had 55 in the summer. Its gets a lot colder that far north in the winter.

 

[Joker11]

I think temperature is relative. I live in Yuma, AZ, USA. I work in hard hat, steel toes, jeans and safety vest all day in 110F+ temps in the summer. I don't drip sweat. I wipe my brow here and there. Our thermostat in the house is set at 80 during the day. Trust me, walking into 80F from 115F is a big difference. Yet my sister lives in San Diego, CA, USA and when it is in the high 60s and low 70s, she is running the air conditioner full blast in her house.
So I can see divers in cooler areas jumping into water that is normal to them and cold to me. I have been cold in the Pacific Ocean, but according to my gauges it was only around 54F at 100Ft deep with my Henderson 7/5 suit. I think next time I will go with a full 7mil or a dry suit. you guys can keep your cold water and weather!

 

[REII]

55 isnt that cold. Here we get to around 45. They had 55 in the summer. Its gets a lot colder that far north in the winter.

Ouch! I am getting a 7mm to deal with the 65 to 75 degrees in the winter here. I wear a 3mm now for temps 75 to 80 degrees.

But then again, most of the summer, the water temps are above 85 degrees where I dive. So you can get spoiled very easily.

TOM

 

[tom wicker]

If I was to roll off the side of a boat into 55 degree water I would suck in the sides of my tank and beat my bubbles back to the top.
I live here along the Coast in Alabama and dive Morrison and Vortex over in Florida when I need a freshwater retreat once in awhile. The spring waters stay at 68degree year round and this gives me problems even in a rash suit under a 5mm suit. I’m with REII on this one I like my water @ dept of 100' to be in the mid 80s

 

[Florabama]

I think temperature is relative. I live in Yuma, AZ, USA. I work in hard hat, steel toes, jeans and safety vest all day in 110F+ temps in the summer. I don't drip sweat. I wipe my brow here and there. Our thermostat in the house is set at 80 during the day. Trust me, walking into 80F from 115F is a big difference. Yet my sister lives in San Diego, CA, USA and when it is in the high 60s and low 70s, she is running the air conditioner full blast in her house.
So I can see divers in cooler areas jumping into water that is normal to them and cold to me. I have been cold in the Pacific Ocean, but according to my gauges it was only around 54F at 100Ft deep with my Henderson 7/5 suit. I think next time I will go with a full 7mil or a dry suit. you guys can keep your cold water and weather!

The reason you feel like you don't sweat in Yuma is because of the difference in relative humidity. 100 degrees with 30 percent RH is completely different than 100 degrees with 85 percent RH. Sweat evaporation is how the body cools itself. The less moisture in the air the faster sweat evaporates from your skin making you feel cooler. A summer day in the South (or to a lesser degree San Diego) with 98 degree heat and 95 percent RH feels like 140 degrees to your body.