Base jumping with free diving

[Bill Musarra]

Here it is, the ultimate thrill sport. Base jumping and free diving. Its done on one breath of air.

Look like something you want to try???


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uQITWbAaDx0&feature=player_embedded#!


Guillaume Nery base jumping at Dean's Blue Hole, filmed on breath hold by Julie Gautier

 

[Terry Oxandale]

Good Lord! I've tried similar "stunts", even when I was at peak athletic ability in my late 20's, and the amount of air that I had to expel just to allow my body to sink in free fail prevented any appreaciable amount of time at depth without the need for fresh air. Then on top of that, I could never master the ability to equalize ear pressure and even half the depth this gentleman went. I didn't see any shedding of weight at the bottom...

Quite amazing really.

 

[Doug S.]

Move your cursor to the area below the YouTube screen and you'll see the field turn to light blue on the comment bar. Click on that bar and read the information....you'll see this:

"This video is a FICTION and an ARTISTIC PROJECT. Edited by BLUENERY (c)"

I suspect multiple descents (some with weights), but I'd have been out of air WAAAY before I got to the bottom, even with the weights. Regardless of the technical magic that made the video possible, it IS incredible to believe that a human can accomplish that!!

Doug

 

[Mike]

Terry, clearing your ears is easy using the "valsalva" method. It works in descending airplanes as well as going deeper in water. You just pinch your nostrils closed, then try to blow thorugh your nose, gently increasing pressure until your ears pop. Obviously with your nostrils closed, you can't exhale, but what you do is build up pressure in your eustacean tubes. When your ears 'pop', you have equalized the pressure inside your ears and the outside pressure. Repeat as necessary as you continue to descend.
Caution. Do NOT do this if you have a cold and your sinuses are blocked or full of mucus. You can blow mucus into the tubes and end up with an ear infection...hence the standard warning, never fly or dive with a cold.
Try it next time you're in a pool or whatever )

 

[Doug S.]

Mike, you have a PM.

Doug

 

[Terry Oxandale]

Terry, clearing your ears is easy using the "valsalva" method. It works in descending airplanes as well as going deeper in water. You just pinch your nostrils closed, then try to blow thorugh your nose, gently increasing pressure until your ears pop.

This is exactly what I would do, but when it did work, and when the ears would finally pop, it was extremely painful, and more like a "bang" than a "pop". Sometime I'd be required to "blow" multiple times to get the "pop". Now, put me in an airplane, and I never have any decompression ear problems, so who knows why...

Where in STL are you located (perhaps I've asked this before). Hopefully in SW county area?

Terry

 

[David Morton]

I used to love going in 'over weighted' south of Malta near an island called Filfla - carrying about 6 to 7 kilos ( my suit was reasonably thick and bouyant until about 60ft). On the south side of the island the depth was incredible so I could quite happily 'sky dive' to 140ft and then pop back to 50 feet and get on with some fishing. Below 140ft on normal air I used to start getting a bit 'narky' ( Nitrogen Narcosis) though I used to show this aspect to other certain divers after they got the BSAC 2nd class. One of the Maltese guys I used to dive and fish with was quite happy down to 200 ft and several large fish he shot had taken him down that far.
Just to say how I overcame the extra lead weights - a plastic bag. This was in the days before ABLJ Fenzy jackets. Also using a single 80cu.ft Spirotechniques bottle meant hitting the reserve before any staging (decompression stops) and the air ran out before I could get into trouble. If I had to stage, I used to take a book to read and some chewing gum and a small bottle of tap water as the air was often very dry.
Ears - I never had any problems with diving or flying and never even thought about it.

 

[Mike]

Terry, you have a PM.

 

[Mike]

David M's post raises the question..."how many of us on this forum are scuba divers?". Speaking as one, I'm not sure what the thrill is of free diving to xxx'? I understand going for a record (what is it now, some 400'?), but going straight down, with a rock weight or whatever, on one breath, then trying to make it back to the surface...does that provide something rewarding?
On the subject of narcosis, I believe the number where this begins is around 140-150', when Nitrogen absorbtion starts to mimic alcohol. It feels very much like driving home after leaving the pub having had a few. You're aware you're not at 100%, and are being (hopefully) a little careful, as your thinking is recognizably slowed.
Hence PADI's recommended sport diving limit of 135'.
The biggest pain in decompression diving, as David alluded to, is the loooong decompression stops. We dived (by sheer chance I was one of the first 4 'civilian' divers to visit the Bikini wrecks) to 180' on normal compressed air, spent just under 20 minutes bottom time, but then had to decompress for almost an hour, and that was on pure oxygen (20 ' stage) from hoses hanging from the dive boat (I think 20 minutes on oxygen, 5 minutes on regular air to avoid O2 poisoning, then back to 100%). BORING!

 

[Daniel]

David M's post raises the question..."how many of us on this forum are scuba divers?"

Not sure if I should consider myself one of the "us" since I don't post much here, but I have made my living since the very early 1970's diving for tropical reef fish and shipping them around the world. Having done multiple dives on a daily basis for years, I've spent quite a bit of my life underwater.

My friend and myself came to Hawaii in 1967 for school and shipped our first fish back to my friend's parents aquarium store that year. A few years later it turned into a business.

When I dive, I dive alone off a small (17') Boston Whaler, collect, hold fish at house until ready for shipping, pack using plastic bags with water, oxygen and styro boxes for insulation, then airfreighted (usually LD2's which hold about 40 boxes) to wholesalers on the mainland or in Europe.

My diving is pretty shallow now, but some of the new young guys are using rebreathers and doing 300-400 foot dives for trops.

Depending on the fish and depth, the fish also need to decompress. Sometimes certain fish can pass the air, sometimes they need to be stuck with a needle and sometimes they need to be hung at depth for a period of time.

 

[David Morton]

Daniel,
What a brilliant way to make a living though I'm looking at it from the outside. I made some dosh in the 70's looking for dropped outboards, dropped anything(s). and fouled props (usually nylon rope) whilst in Malta, though at times it was difficult to raise that much enthusiasm especially if it was in the rather polluted Grand Harbour or equally revolting Sliema / Gzira marina area.

 

[Daniel]

Daniel,
What a brilliant way to make a living though I'm looking at it from the outside. I made some dosh in the 70's looking for dropped outboards, dropped anything(s). and fouled props (usually nylon rope) whilst in Malta, though at times it was difficult to raise that much enthusiasm especially if it was in the rather polluted Grand Harbour or equally revolting Sliema / Gzira marina area.

Thanks. Mostly it's been fun, and a decent lifestyle. We look at it as doing something we want to do on a continual basis rather than working really hard to earn enough money to retire and then doing what you really wanted to do. We skipped the part of making lots of money.

I've found tons of stuff since I spent so much time underwater. Numerous deep sea rods and reels, anchors of course, money, thousands of golf balls if I wanted to pick them up, tons of lead weights, a brand new 25HP Evinrude outboard engine which fired right up after flushing that I returned by having the serial number run, lots of ammunition (large and small) the military dumped in only 80 feet of water, dive watches including a Rolex, lots of scuba gear, probably a lot more if I think about it.

I stay out of harbors since they are pretty filthy. I did do some collecting in Papeete harbor with bloated dead animals floating around and around a sewer discharge in Hawaii. Just need to stay up-current (and be young). I also helped set shape charges in Papeete to reduce the hight of coral pinnacles in the harbor. There was probably as much beer being consumed as there was dynamite being exploded. Fond memories.

The collecting industry has gone from being something perceived as being a cool thing to do to being an easy target for environmental types. Always tried to keep a low profile which helps more now.

 

[Jack Houpe]

Great video Bill, my wife and I cruised the islands for 3 years and have been to Long Cay but I never seen that blue hole. They are known to have big fish hanging over the sides waiting for smaller fish to show up to be eaten. Blue holes are great for fishing.

We snorkeled Staniel Cay where they filmed the cave seen from Thunderball and have seen the fresh water blue hole on the Abaco's, ate a lobster burger where Jimmy buffet wrote cheeseburger in paradise in the Eluthera's. It was a great life for those years. Personally I don't like scuba diving I am certified but tanks and gear are a pain in the ass out on the big water, free diving or even a brownie third lung is far more enjoyable.

 

[David Morton]

Daniel, You reminded me of finding a Johnson 60 totally by chance. I tied it off about 20feet below my dory and slowly motored away. Unfortunately it wasn't that good to begin with and I think someone had thrown it (dropped?) and got a new engine on their insurance. After a rebuild,helicoil inserts, new prop, new cooling impeller and a new paint job it looked the part and was vastly over the top on power on a 13ft Dory. I could get rid of four of the red fuel tanks in under an hour if I wanted and I have a photo somewhere taken by a 42 Marine in his Helicopter of the dory with just the prop running in the water and the hull flying along. You could only do that for about 30 seconds on full chat as it would start to overheat. Lots of fun going deep sea and drift diving and spearfishing. Yes - we carried 12 bore bang sticks but the only nasty thing I ever saw was already dead. It was always fun using up the cartridge though.