When the Water's Deep and the Fish are Big

Hammerhead above diver bubbles
Originally uploaded by altsaint.

When there's much to write about, then there's little time to do so. For this brief update, I will let pictures ( both moving and still ) paint a thousand words. Because you really wouldn't want to read that many, would you? Since I last waxed lyrical, the first notable achievement was Liv Philip's new Dynamic No-Fins Record:

Video Clip #1

Whatever the video clip does or doesn't convey, the atmosphere was electric. It's the most impressive performance I have ever witnessed first-hand, let alone judged. Liv is using a very precise technique which has allowed her to almost eclipse her equivalent performance with a pair of fins. My not-so-secret question about this is, if the technique works so well without fins, what would be the effect of using the same stroke with a pair of short bi-fins? It's an experiment worth trying.

Next on the list was a trip to Ecuador and The Galapagos. Myself, Laura Storm, Anne-Marie Kitchen-Wheeler and Matt Kitchen ( not to mention fourteen other much-more-accomplished-than-myself Scuba divers ). Not only could I write a thousand words about this, I actually recorded a lot more than that in my diary. One of my favourite Dive publications suggested they'd publish a transcript, and I'm currently waiting to see if they're still game. If not, then it may have to be here that the short version appears. The photos sum up some of the adventure:

Fishy Photos

Finally, our return to Blighty heralded the preparations for Anthony McPartlin and Declan Donnelly to have a go at a spot of statics. A little different to the usual inductions Liv and I do, it fell under the category of entertainment:

Video Clip #2

Those of a critical disposition might think their times were a bit lame. Not so, when the pressure is on and the Producer has insisted the whole thing be filmed in the most awkward position possible. The boys did considerably better in training, and better-than-average compared to would-be apneists trying out for the first time.

Last but not least, a note to self. ( Yes, this is supposed to be a personal diary for me to record things I need to remember about freediving training and photography. ) Seeing as you had such a nightmare trying to use manual settings on the C7070 for Wide-Angle subjects in bad light, perhaps you might want to experiment next time with the hidden scene mode called 'Underwater Wide-Angle'. The clue is in the name...