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Hi guys,

Reading some of the posts I see some misconceptions about what a SWB is and how they happen.

There is a difference between a deep water Blackout and a SWB but the former applies mostly to freedivers.

Below is a link to an article I wrote about SWB's. It was published in USM and was moderated by Trevor Hutton and Terry Maas.

www.sealine.co.za/view_topic.php?id=46738&forum_id=68

Tombeej wrote:


The scariest people by far are those 25-30 year old guys who've been diving a couple of years and might have good potential, and who join a boat with good divers. Those are the ones to watch out for because they are almost certainly going to be pushing each dive hard due to the mistaken belief that they have to 'keep up'.



Aah Tom! I'm not that scary!

My D4 strap also broke 3 weeks ago.

Got a strap replacement quote from a local divestore for R499

So this is what I did:

I created myself an account on Suunto's website and then emailed them complaining about the strap. They replied that they want a photo of the broken strap, proof of purchase and also my shipping details so they can send me a new strap...

Now to find my proof of purchase...

Big surprise guys, my D4's strap broke today, and just happy it never fell into the piss whilst working on the boat. so what is the conclusion on a new strap? I was thinking ebay (im abroad) but dont want to end up with the same poor quality strap. I love the watch and the brand so not shopping elswhere.

Whole lot cheaper to take a weight off your belt and get into the habbit of diving light.

Yes that does look good. Price is around $3000 from the website!!

That black and grey camo was stocked by FreeDivers, some time back, no longer though. An interresting thing about fish sighting colour is what the top end lure fisherman talk about. They recon Dark lures with contrasting colour, should be used in dark water and over cast / early mornings. Bright lures in bright clear / clean days. The recon fish are attracted to an action before the colour??

I have 2 of the chicle / sealskin camos (the brown and green) and they both have that lighting up effect in the water. I guess it has something to do with the pigments used in the ink (almost like reflector material), and the fact that water absorbs colour out of the spectrum. The first to go is red.

what about different colour pants to the jacket?

If the tractor drivers stopped their practice of driving your boat & trailer into the water until the trailer is completely submerged then I might start making use of this service again.

My condolences to the family during this terrible time.

Rest in peace, Hilton.

Guys,

See the below letter from the Durban Ski Boat Club to it's members about the new tractor towing procedures at the club. This obviously does not affect anyone who is launching with their own vehicle. I personally think it's definitely time they introduced a better system than they had cause the previous one was a complete f*&k up.

Newsbreak Durban Ski Boat Club
8/5/2012 - Tractor towing procedure

The time has come to put simple rules in place to ensure fair play at launch time in the mornings. Forget about detailing a reason for this, the bottom line is that what we are doing as of now is not working efficiently and fairly.

Here is the plan:
(A) We will apply the “golf ball system” as from this weekend.
( It works like this (1) You get a golf ball and put your boat number on it with an indelible Koki pen. (2) On arrival you put your golf ball in the pipe that is fixed on the opposite wall to the entrance to the club. (3) Your crew stands by the pipe and when your numbered golf ball pops out you get the next tow. If you are not ready when the ball pops out your golf ball goes back in at the top, and you wait your turn again.
(C) If you have not got a golf ball already, Karen who sits at the table and collects visitor fees will sell you one for R5 and she will even write you boat number on the ball-----------all of this for R5---what a bargain.
This applies to all boats, be they shelter stored craft, or towed to the club, and it includes visitors. Your crew must stand in the line.
(D) Tractor drivers have been briefed to only go to the golf ball queue to pick up the next tow.
(E) A copy of this plan is being sent out to clubs that visit us regularly. It is quite possible that some guests will arrive this weekend and not have received the plan. Please look out for visitors and guide them to Karen’s table so she can be of help to them.

I have no doubt that if we all get behind this process things will be much smoother early in the morning.

Thanks for your support.

Commodore

Brand new Freedivers 1.2m railgun for sale. Retail price is R1,180, but I'm letting this go for only R800. Email me on dane@ultimatespearfishing.com if you are interested.

Aaaaah! That's horrible dane! Wow. You had my grinding my teeth there!

A good few years back, before we used glass/ nylon handles i used the old ali champion handle. To cut a long story short the handle broke off, it split in half releasing the spear when it struck the muzzle. it ended up going in behind my achillie tenden and out under my ankle bone. i battled like hell to get it out, as i was diving for garrick at Bazley and i was getting hammered by the waves. i had to swim further out to address the spear. disconnecting it from the gun and pulling it through. gathering all my gear and then swimming it back in. Then rushing for doc. He recons the fact that i walked in was good. that there was no serious damage done. I have had no problem with it since. The doc did say that if the spear had hit the ankle i would of passedout with the pain. I did end up on Morphine some time later. One thing i did realise was i had almost no blood loss as i kept my suit on all the time. This acted as a mild tornaque. Due to my work as i commercial diver we have to do a diver medic course. One thing they suggest in training is NOT to remove items that penetrate your body until proffesional help is on hand. secondly a tornaque should only be used in extreme emergency as it can result in the death of the limb tissue. hence loss of limbs and a bleeding is best stopped with pressure and add heaps of clean towels bandage etc...

Treat a speargun with the respect it deserves. when you in the water with a few guys, keep it pointing down away from mates. Dont shoot at anything you cannot ID 100%.

Hi Kim,

Again I am so sorry for you guys and wish we just wake up from some horrible dream.

Hilton's club mates in PE would be able to provide alot more but basically this year's Nationals was held in PE and the new club GullyJumpers of which Hilton was a driving force, organised and ran it like seasoned vets.

As per usual the papers had the story completely wrong. It was Koos Jordaan's boat and with them was Koos' son Jean-Pierre (JP) and another whom I have not met.

Chances we will never know what happened, but I have to echo the NSRI's sentiments that a shark attack was very unlikely. I think after the unfortunate attack in Cape Town a few days before it was just some sensationalism.

My take on this is that somehow Hilton got snagged by the line and couldn't surface. It may also explain why the gun wasn't found in the immediate vicinity.

A truly sad moment that will have ripples in many many lives for years to come.