The summer eases on with the odd bout of useable wind out there. Still, overall, it feels like summer (i.e. not much wind). Lots of things to do though, this weekend was a busy one with a Standup competition along the barrier island in Ft. Lauderdale AND the 2009 Gulfstream Freediving competition off Hillsboro Inlet in deep water. Here are some shots from both events ...
The start off Bahia Mar near Tiki Beach Sunday morning.
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Getting into position at the starting line offshore
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They're off ... lots more photos to come from this one. Got some nice images of the action.
Here's an unusual GoPro Wide shot of Capt. Pam and crew, the chase boat for the event. She graciously set up no end of great shots during this fun event. The field of view is so wide that it will grab your face if you let it, e.g. note above!
... and for something a little different;
Heading about ten miles north and about four miles offshore, we head to the FII 2009 Gulfstream Freediving Competition on Saturday. The free diving rig, a lot of thought and development goes into competitive free diving. This rig has a diver retrieval device built into it, designated warmup stations, a stage line for technical/mixed gas rebreather safety divers at various depths and still more.
A look at the underside of the rig
Martin Stepanek surfaces after a qualifying dive to 60 m (about 197 ft.), without fins, for a future competition. He holds the world record of 113 m (372 ft.) for that discipline and 121 m (401 ft.) for Constant weight (mask, fins, snorkel).
Jared the event sponsor, prepares for his own qualifying dive.
Doug and Niki go down with the tech safety divers for the free diving competition for a group photo op
Here's a short unprocessed clip of a competitor dive using a GoPro Wide camera. It may not be all that sharp an image but the 170 degree field of view provides an interesting look!
Hope to put a video together on the freediving competition soon as well.