Chapter 4

Tips For Overcoming Common Difficulties

31. Common Difficulties. Leg Cramping.

Cramps can be a real bugger for spearos. Quite often, cramp can happen towards the end of the day when we have not been getting out as often as we would like (fitness!). Cramp can grab you all of a sudden mid-water and cause significant pain. This is another reason to dive with a buddy because if you encounter seizing pain on the way up, an alert buddy will drop down and assist you back to the surface. It’s not something that happens often but it’s another buddy bonus.

Your dive buddy can also help you to stretch out the cramp by holding the corresponding heel in one hand and slowly pushing the end of the fin back towards your leg with the other hand. I know this helps with calf, foot and ankle cramp. In a related blog post, www.spearfishingcom.au suggests that keeping your electrolytes and hydration up during the day minimizes your chances for cramping. They also mention that potassium, calcium and magnesium supplementation can help prevent cramp. However, only consider supplementation alongside blood results and medical advice.

32. Common Difficulties. Prevent Seasickness.

Keep a really good eye on the weather forecast and get as much information on the conditions as you can so you can decide whether you should go or not. I often turn down really rough days because I know I’m not going to enjoy myself. Take your seasick pills early. They work better if you take them a couple of hours earlier. They don’t work at all if you can’t keep them down. Get your suit on and gear up before you get on the boat or out of the harbour. Nothing gets you sicker faster than being head down in your dive bag while the boat is rocking. Another tip to prevent seasickness is to stay at the stern of the boat, get low and central. Not only will your spine thank you but it’s also the least rough part of the boat.

33. Common Difficulties. Prevent Seasickness.

Get in the water as quick as you can, leave boat duties to those made of tougher stuff. The longer you spend on the rocking horse the more likely it is that you’ll get sick. Focus on the horizon or land. This doesn’t seem to work for me but it’s something everyone suggests so I chucked it in (no pun intended). Stay positive and try not to focus on getting sick. Learn the early signs of getting sick. I start to burp and get gassy. This is the signal for me to go into damage control. Refrain from indulging in the firewater the night before. Also, sometimes the best advice is to just tough it out. The last two times I’ve been out I’ve been sick. So I just had a spew and kept on diving. I got straight in first at every spot and kept going. I shot a few fish and lasted out the whole day. I plan on doing this more often in the hope of getting over it.

34. Common Difficulties. Pre-Dive-Day Tips: 5P’s = Prior Planning Prevents Poor Performance.

Therefore, the day before any trip follow a system to pack your gear, make sure it’s in working order, and it’s all there. If you sign up for the floater email at noobspearo.com we give you a dive day equipment checklist. To further highlight the need for planning here is an excerpt from Ryan Belworthy, aka, The Armed Snorkeler-

“The ‘She’ll be right’ attitude story at noobspearo.com. On one of my first shore dives I was away up in the Coromandel, New Zealand. I had only just gotten into the sport and I was really keen just to get in the water for a dive. On the morning after arriving I was up bright and early and walking down to the beach for a shore dive. Before I knew it I had shot a nice kingie (yellowtail kingfish) and I was being towed round in about three meters of water with fairly heavy surge and rocks close by. I made a number of mistakes that day but the biggest one was assuming everything would be “sweet as.” I failed to check the conditions so I got fairly pummelled swimming out through the surf. I also made the mistake of going by myself. I had never dived that area nor had I ever shot a kingfish so admittedly I screwed up royally there. To top all that off, my gun was only 90cm and my float line was poor quality, too long and attached to a small boy much like you see attached to crayfish pots. As you can gather, it’s probably somewhat of a miracle it didn’t go extremely pear shaped. Nevertheless, after nearly getting wrapped, washed onto the rocks and dragged around, I found myself swimming back into shore having landed the kingfish. I could talk about the potential hazards of all the mistakes I made that day, but the biggest thing I must emphasize is don’t assume “she’ll be right, spearfishing is not the sport for assuming all will be “sweet”. Be organized.

35. Common Difficulties. Equalising.

The day before diving avoid dairy and alcohol. Dairy encourages mucus production which can complicate equalizing and alcohol dehydrates which can effect a multitude of things and hamper apnea performance.