Tag Archives: freediving

Sustaining the stoke 4000 years ago.

cooking on the beachSo a short while back I was at the clean coasts gig supported by some great local people and local businesses. There were various talks on where the groups had collected tonnes of rubbish. Hopefully we will start to providing an underwater part of this in the future. There were also some talks on the archeology in the area. Now I had heard about this fulacht fiadh back in September but I have to admit its significance at the time was lost on me. I am not aware if the exact date has been calculated yet but 3-4000 years seems to be agreed upon. The fulacht fiadh was used for cooking or bathing by putting hot stones into it, but it’s really unusual to have one on a beach.

Now I like tripping in me van. So do some friends of mine and without doubt some of the best experiences we have had as a group have been to rock up and circle the wagons at a beach spot, Post surf, dive or swim the bbq gets fired up, we eat and imbibe a few drinks. Good friends, good food and maybe a spectacular sunset over the Great Atlantic. It’s a combination that’s hard to beat. You retire to bed tired from the Ocean but stoked to be alive and to be so blessed. Given the recent good spell of weather, history is just repeating itself.

It’s a real mind bender to think our ancestors were doing much the same gig 4000 years ago. Won’t be long before they unearth a bronze age surfboard or speargun. No doubt a lot has changed in 4000 years but some things stay the same.

One thing that has changed is the debris some of us leave behind. I do think we need a cultural shift on this. The take three initiative, where anytime you are walking on the beach you pick up three pieces of litter is a great idea. On the walk on the beach yesterday evening as the sun was nearly setting I was mentally recording what bits I would pick up on the return leg. There were empty bins in the car park so I didn’t even have to put them in the van and bring home. No the beach wasn’t spotless when I was finished but some people noticed it. Hopefully the more of us do it, the more people will be inclined to do it until we reach a tipping point and it becomes the norm,

It starts with you and me.

Clean Coasts.

The Kingdom by the Sea,

spear weekend 06.08.2011 048is one of Paul Theroux “travel” books. I loved it and recommend that along with The Happy Isles of Oceania and The Pillars of Hercules. I captioned travel because he doesn’t do travel books in the normal sense. Focusing instead on the people he meets. The situations he finds himself in and the social-geographical climate he encounters. There’s no line about what particular cathedral or castle/landmark to visit as far as I can remember.

In kingdom by the sea, one aspect that he had trouble getting his head around was this fascination of people who drive to the seaside and then stay in their cars watching the sea. I had never thought it odd but in retrospect I suppose it is unusual. Of course many get out and walk along the promenade or the beach. But others simply sit and stare. Essentially Theroux’s hypothesis is they/we are staring at infinity and the wonder beyond.

Culture has moved on, now we no longer sit and stare. (as much) When the climber reaches the top of the cliff, he is no longer there just to view the awe inspiring landscape but legs akimbo, launches himself off the edge. The French of course turned it into art. When the diver meets the Ocean or the Sea he no longer stares but dives in and down. Onwards goes the exploration. The blue water sailor only happy when he has sea room and no sight of land, the silence and mystery of the worlds Oceans enveloping him. Only now is he free.

Free to what? Free of gravity, free of the terrestrial earth, free of land, free of judgement, stress or worry. Free to be human or be more than human. Free to glimpse magic of an intensity not yet known, free to experience the very fabric of life itself.

It’s nearly the end of the first month of 2014. The time when most new years resolutions fail or have failed. But now more than ever, it’s time to jump in.

 

Dancing in the moonlight

OK I wasn’t actually dancing but I was in the moonlight. It was mental bright and my feet were kind of drawn toMoonlight 011 the beach as midnight approached. Tide was out and only a small gentle pulse of a wave trickled on to shore. The air was still and cold, I think I could have shouted across to Donegal or Mayo and the sound would have carried.  It was a kind of stillness, light and eeriness that Moonlight 023Moonlight 040lets your imagination run riot without  use of any “recreational substances”. The Ocean was so calm, still, mirror like, lake like even dream like. The depths of it hiding the torrents, rage and fury it had unleashed on this same coast just a week earlier.

If the metal man was ever going to jump down off his perch and waded ashore tonight would have been the night. As it was his lantern was twinkling away, always a constant light in this watery realm, ever changing with the tide. Tripod and camera set, it wasn’t long before the hands were getting numb. But if the body wanted to go back to warmth, the mind and spirit wanted to stay and bask in the moonlight, in the atmosphere, in this moment in time that was surely fleeting. And it was.

After an hour or more and happy with some of the pictures, (you need to click and enlarge to do them any justice) I drove off thinking the other side of the bay might hold more wonders. Even as I left Dead mans point I could feel or sense the light changing. On the far side of Sligo town, it was dramatically different. It was like any other moon lit night. Nice sure , but the magic was gone. The thrill of the unknown, of the other world tinged with both fear and wonder was gone. Replaced by normality again.

Lesson learned, no matter how numb the fingers go, stay with the magic. It doesn’t last long.

 

Competitiveness

monfin

 

 

That sure is a tough one. Where do we draw the line in competitions?

 

 

The line is always part of a balancing act. If we are not pushing ourselves are we progressing?

This runs amok in all sports I suppose, well maybe not darts. Train too much and you get injured, don’t train hard enough and you fall behind other team mates or the competition. It’s a very difficult one in freediving. The pressure, pardon the pun again seems to build and build as we chase that ever elusive number. Our freediving mentors tell us to relax, train thoughtfully and slowly and the numbers will come and they do. But easier said than done.

Sometimes it’s trying when you see someone effortlessly do in a day what took you months or even years to achieve. That’s talent but it will only go so far without proper training. Like any discipline after a while we hit a plateau and need to change some part of our regime to start noticing improvements again.  The experience of others has shown us that our bodies adapt to the stress and pressure but sometimes we do push them too far. The samba, blackout or squeeze for the freediver, the crippled knee for the footballer or runner.

Mentioning football brings me to a pet hate that I suppose is mostly apparent in team sports and while I am sure it is also the case in some individual sports I can’t ever recall seeing it in the freediving world. That is armchair critics. I really do want to jump down the radio and smack the head of the commentators or now they have fans that are allowed ring in and vent their spleen on why such a player or manager is crap and what they should have done. I have tried but I can’t seem to get my arm down the speaker and into the radio station to smack them around a bit. It’s unusual for me to be listening in the first place I suppose. I have never seen anything remotely like it in freediving but maybe I have been living a sheltered life. In competitions I have gone to, all I have mostly seen is encouragement, often with competitors coaching each other to possibly beat each others positioning. Many derive a great pleasure in helping even if it means they lose their own “record”. Yes it’s a comp so sometimes things are protested if required and the professionals have their sponsors to think about so it’s often at the smaller competitions that you see the greatest spirit. The one thing I have never heard is from a spectator saying they should have done this or trained that way etc.

In the end the competition is always within ourselves anyway and what we could do yesterday may not be possible to do today. We really need to listen to our bodies and see if it’s fear or common sense holding us back. It’s a long road traveled alone and like our seasons and our dives, sometimes you have to plunge into the cold darkness in order to return to the light.

 

Keep swimming towards the light brahs.

Happy Christmas to you all. Feargus.

It’s working.

Blackfish

 

 

 

 

 

 

Peer pressure or activism whatever you want to call it.

The first Ocean documentary that really impacted me was Sharkwater. Rob’s cinematography is stunning but the storyline starts to take on a  life of its own when he tags along with Paul Watson from Sea Shepard. You can watch it on the link above on youtube. Sharks are here since the dinosaurs and now we are wiping them out for their fins. Thankfully this is beginning to change.

The next one to really have an impact was The Cove about the slaughter of Dolphins in Taji, the abusement parks of Dolphinariums etc. It got huge coverage in the freediving community as not only do we feel a connection to dolphins in particular but also they used freeedivers to get some of the footage from the Cove.  The slaughter still goes on and not just in Japan.

Blackfish seems to have hit the ball out of the park. Since it’s release Seaworld’s stock has plummeted, popularity for the show is waning and major musicians that were booked to play there are canceling. It is having an impact. It is changing and it’s picking up speed. Orca’s are such an intriguing creature, I ‘d love to try to swim with one in the wild. On a separate show about them they have recorded behaviour that shows an unrelated Orca looking after/feeding what can only be described as a disabled Orca. Wild animals, we have always been told depend on survival of the fittest but not so with Orca’s in this case.  Small wonder then the size of their brain given to emotions is far larger in relative terms than our own.

You may have time over the days off at Christmas so when you have got your well deserved fill of “Its a wonderful Life” and overdosed on “Elf” for a while, please take the time to watch some or all of the films above. They are entertaining in their own right but with a message that’s as clear as can be. See cetaceans in the wild if you are lucky, end captivity of these majestic creatures and encourage others to help make that happen.

I’ll leave you with this great passage from Douglas Adams.

For instance, on the planet Earth, man had always assumed that he was more intelligent than dolphins because he had achieved so much—the wheel, New York, wars and so on—whilst all the dolphins had ever done was muck about in the water having a good time. But conversely, the dolphins had always believed that they were far more intelligent than man—for precisely the same reasons.”

Saving Private Ryan.

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It’s an epic film.

I usually cry (wait boys don’t cry) get a lump in my throat at two points in the film.

The opening scene where Ryan is literally struck down with grief as he visits the graveyard. That emotions are actually that strong, that not only can they stop you in your tracks but actually cut the legs out from under you. The action scenes and story takes over after this. The last scene then is the next one, where he is back at the graveyard and asks his wife ” tell me I’ve lived a good life”. This post obviously isn’t about the film but about a “good” life. The definition of that is up to you.

Yesterday the world lost someone who had truly lived a good life by any which way you measure it. Mandela showed us the power of forgiveness. He didn’t tell or try to instruct us, but lived and showed us so many lessons. His book is a hard read but a rewarding one. Talk about seeing change in your lifetime. Imagine the contrast of living/existing for so long in that cell, going on to lead your country and in essence lead the world.

It’s kind of hard for any of us to compare ourselves to someone like that and try to hold a candle to them but I don’t think that matters. The old cliche of, if you make a difference in just one person’s life it’s worth it, holds true. I suppose cliches always have some truth in them. I used to use them all the time but now I avoid them like the plague.

A short time ago the freediving world lost a brother in an incident during a competition. It was the first time a competitor lost their life in an AIDA run competition. You can read about it here with a good article by Sara. Lung squeezes are nothing new in deep freediving but probably have not being taken seriously enough. The speed at which people progress is phenomenal but worrying at the same time The freediving world is a small community that straddles the Oceans so while I had never met Nick I knew people who had. Their updates on FB etc allowed us a little glimpse of the guy and like so many others in this sport I know I would have liked the guy. At the end of the day he was a brother lost to the sea. The competitive push of many people is so strong  and sometimes it can lead to very dangerous places.

It’s a fine line between living the life and losing the life but surely still better than just existing, just waiting till its over, the last sorrowful breath. Why not plan or better still do something today to make it beyond “good”.

 

 

Inspirational!

Gleniff Horseshoe, waiting for Gandalf.

 

 

So this will be old hat to some of you. Went to see my sister in law complete the Dublin city marathon a few weeks back.

 

 

I was literally bowled over. Spectating at Mile 16 or thereabouts near Terenure so the runners were well in the thick of it. So, so many personal battles going on in front of you, you can see the pain, frustration and every so often joy on the faces as they pass. You only get a fleeting glance as they whizz pass. So many running vests emblazoned with their own name, their own charity or in memory of someone close to them. They pass in the hundreds and thousands. The encouragement from the crowd is infectious and it’s no time before you are shouting out the name of some one you never met nor will see again or calling out their county if sporting their county colours. Hopefully you’ve added something to their thoughts, taken their mind off the pain even if only briefly.

The other thing that struck me was the shapes and sizes of all the competitors. There were a good percentage that to my mind didn’t look like they were runners but were on course for a sub 4 hour run. Goes to show what i know and the old chestnut of not making assumptions based on appearances. You never see the passion, drive and commitment that precedes all that of course. No one just decides to run a marathon. I have written before about my own running exploits and I suppose a marathon is the ultimate run of runs, then you read about ultra marathons and well, where does it stop really? I’d love to think about doing one, just once but the fear of injuries, training schedules and failure is daunting. Then you go see one and it’s “oh ok time to get my shit together”

January is fast approaching and so all the gyms and pools all over the world will be inundated with new years resolutions only to be finished by mid February. But good health is for life and not just for Christmas so maybe start before the maddening crowd get in.

The main things is to do something active, run, swim cycle, surf whatever, anything to get the heart racing, the muscles tired and the brain concentrating on healthy physical stress instead of man made modern pace of life crap stress. It’s such a good buzz for body, mind and soul. Especially if you can get out into nature while you are doing it.

As the famous running shoe company logo said, “Just get it done”. I think.

Do you really need to breathe?

 

 

Head in the kelp

Head in the kelp

Ouch that smack across the face hurt and the words “of course, don’t be stupid” were none too pleasant either.

I am not suggesting that we don’t need to breathe indefinitely. Just asking a question. As freedivers we do stop breathing for an unusual period of time when compared to non freedivers.

 

 

If you averaged it out over a lifetime it would probably add up to quite a lot. One exercise or training tool is the CO2 table which essentially has you decreasing your rest period between breath holds. One great experience I had involved an extreme version of that, for me at least. I remember calculating afterwards at some stage that over the last 15 minutes of time I had really only been breathing for two minutes when you add it all up, all the recovery breaks, or something like that. It wasn’t a proper table but still a bit of a mind job.

Breath holding is weird, I’ll be the first to admit it but it’s also amazing how the same people who call it weird continue to ask other questions about it, so it’s also curious to many.  All I can say is it’s good. It feels good, it seems good. It relaxes me, makes me feel at peace, one with the Universe and the Ocean. All tranquil and hippy. A lot of people need to smoke stuff to get that feeling.

It does kill some brain cells, let’s be clear. DAN has done some fantastic research on it.  Now brain cells die all the time and I usually mange to cause a massacre via my old friend whiskey at weekends in “Shoot the Crows”  an infamous spot in Sligo town if you ever visit. So I am not overly concerned by that but it’s good to be aware of it.

When you do stop breathing the initial response is panic, but that goes away and after a while a really deep mellow buzz comes along. Breathing and not breathing (apnea) is used in meditation and Yoga  so there has to be something in it. I think when we stop or arrest that primordial urge we take control of our lives, even if only for a few seconds or a few minutes. Literally take control of our life.

Or so we think, because eventually the superior intelligence that is the great unknown and at the same time the super familiar will take over. The body kicks in, the subconscious takes control, our diaphragm contracts like a hiccup and we lose that intense relaxation. We are brought back to earth, back to ordinary life, our body makes us breathe. If we still struggle and resist for too long  it says fine, watch this and you black out. A bit extreme but you didn’t do what your body was telling you to do so what were you expecting? You need to listen more man. After a short period it forgives you, you breathe again and it gives you back your consciousness.

For me the benefits have far outweighed any possible/potential side effects.

But you can always stop breathing again, rinse and repeat.

 

 

You are God.

Sunset

 

In every sense of the word, Every experience I have had since birth you gave to me.

 

 

Each person I have met, every experience shared, given or enjoyed, you provided.

Every lesson I have learned or stupidly ignored, you taught me.

Each sensual experience, each dizzying high, every taste of ecstasy, you showed me. C.

Every connection with the vital force of the Universe, you were the conductor.

Each caress of the Ocean, you were the feeling.

Every encounter with marine animals big and small, you were the glint in their eye that stopped my heart.

Each wave I ever surfed, you provided the pulsing swell.

Every cold, clear, starlit night, you were the shooting star that made me gasp.

Each golden Sunset that made me stop in awe, you painted.

Every friend I hold dear, you planted.

Wake up, you are God.

Thank you. Mahalo.

 

Reasons to be cheerful,

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Many of us are attracted to the sea or the Ocean or just a body of water. It’s evident in the property prices near the Sea, it’s evident in any map of any country, people given the option will live close to the coast rather than in the midlands.

 

 

 

Problems seem smaller when you stare out at the vast infinity of the Ocean,  all the issues of this terrestrial existence melt away when you are on, under or just beside water but in particular the Ocean. If you are reading this blog chances are you have some kind of affinity with the liquid element too. No matter where I go, if there’s water nearby my fins come too. Even if conditions are bad I’ll still dive in just cross it off the list. I am with child to dive somewhere in the Pacific, maybe less so The Arctic and Antarctica but under ice somewhere at some stage has to be on the cards.

Some people take this one step further and abandon the land, maybe not altogether but they do sail off into the wild blue yonder on a regular basis. This isn’t just to travel but a way of life. A way of seeing the world and seeing yourself from another plane. The real you we are all so afraid of seeing. I am sure you might feel like Robinson Crusoe until you find out thousands of people do this all the time. There are thousands that have either retired, dropped out or decided that this is the path of life for them. “A tourist doesn’t know where they have been and a traveller doesn’t know where he’s going”. Paul Theurox.

We evolved from water so it’s only natural that once used to it, we feel right at home peaceful and connected. Our bodies if not our minds remember the ancient reflex that helps us stay down longer and deeper. Living on the West coast of an Island in the Atlantic you can’t helped but be moved by it, whether by the sunsets, the calm, the peace, the solitude or conversely the omnipotent raging power that sweeps all before it.The Ocean is a vast, vast beautiful thing and I hope and pray it’s still in good enough condition for future generations to enjoy down the road.

The film Blackfish aired on CNN recently and the storm of protest against cetacean captivity is building momentum year on year. Go see it and be moved. It’s hard to think what an individual can do against the tidal wave of problems and pollution that we seem intent on inducing into Oceans that provide the vast majority of oxygen we breath on this spinning little ball of ours. But you can, you don’t have to start a movement, you don’t have to throw stones through the windows of dolphinariums (but don’t let me stop you). Just pick up a single piece of litter from the beach and bring it home.

1. You will feel better about yourself.

2. The Ocean will thank you for it in some way shape or form.

3. Someone might see you and be inspired to do the same.

Reasons to be cheerful 1,2,3.