Commercial skipper Viveka Herzum explains how free diving skills can be good for your boat, your mind, and your budget, plus the dos and don’t when you’re just getting started. Photo: Doug Perrine \/ Alamy.For a sailor, free diving is far more than a sport or a pastime. It\u2019s a key skill with clear practical, mental, and economic benefits. I learned them firsthand in my first working season.
\nWe were anchored over deep water and a notoriously rocky seabed on the East end of Lampedusa. With the wind quickly rising and nightfall approaching, every boat was making for their home berth. We pulled up the transom ladder and got set to follow.
\nMy skipper was calmly hauling anchor, motoring lightly into the wind, when the windlass ground to a halt.
\nAnchor fouled, and no amount of give and take could free it. We hadn\u2019t set a tripping line.
\nThe Bay of Tabaccara in Lampedusa. Photo: Roberto Nistri\/Alamy.
\nIn no time, she produced a pair of fins. Soon she was in the water, breathing up to dive 20m down, shackle in hand. Within minutes we were free and heading back to our mooring.
\nThat same year, we docked next to another commercial skipper and avid free diver who would set out at dawn nearly every morning, spear gun and net bag in hand.
\nBy the time his guests stirred, he would have a fresh-caught amberjack filleted, marinated, and ready for lunch, any trace of its guts long washed off the sides of the floating pontoon (the spoils usually went to other sailors; guests had plenty else to put between their teeth).
\nHandy, I remember thinking on both occasions.
\nI quickly learned that for both these skippers, diving was not just a recreational part of life on board, but a practical help, and that I needed that skill in my arsenal.
\nWhether you\u2019re a\u00a0liveaboard or a working sailor, here\u2019s how free diving can make your life at sea safer and more enjoyable, plus a few tips to get you started.
\nWhat is free diving?
\nPhoto: Johner Images \/ Alamy.
\nFirst things first: what is free diving, exactly?
\nFree diving, or \u2018apnea,\u2019 is the most basic and essential form of diving, not to mention the oldest. There\u2019s no breathing equipment or external sources of air.
\nThough it\u2019s now a sport and a competitive discipline, it\u2019s something we do quite naturally. You\u2019re technically free diving anytime you go underwater and resurface on a single breath.
\nSport free diving is a more structured, deliberate version of this basic concept. It can be practiced with or without fins (I\u2019m partial to the mono), but across the board training is all about managing air supply.
\nThere are distinct disciplines like constant weight, variable weight, free immersion, static, and dynamic, but you don\u2019t have to worry about all that if you\u2019re just getting started.
\nJust focus on the basics of breathing up, breath hold, and equalisation.
\nThere are plenty of resources online for understanding what\u2019s happening in your body when you dive and how to dive safely to avoid blackout and hyperventilation, though nothing replaces getting in the water and observing your physical sensations.
\nA variety of recognised certifications can help you start your free diving journey. Photo: Cavan Images \/ Alamy.
\nAdditionally, various certifications are available from recognised bodies like AIDA, SSI, CMAS, PADI, and Apnea Academy. Almost any reputable dive shop will offer free diving courses alongside their SCUBA programs.
\nRegardless of where you are in your training, the most important thing while free diving is to respect your body\u2019s limits, prioritise proper technique, and always,\u00a0always dive with a buddy\u2013 not for nothing, it\u2019s free diving\u2019s number one rule.
\nWhy free diving is an essential skill for sailors
\nSailors are famously reluctant swimmers. We tend to be too busy skimming over the surface of the water to think much about what\u2019s down below.
\nYet basic free diving skills are a must when you\u2019re spending a good portion of your life on or around the water.
\nDiving from a boat into the clear turquoise waters of the Tyrrhenian Sea in Cala Goloritz\u00e9, Sardinia, Italy. Photo: Pedro Ferr\u00e3o Patr\u00edcio \/ Alamy.
\nWhether it\u2019s checking an anchor or un-snagging it, having an expanded diving range has saved my skin more than a few times.
\nIt also gives you options.
\nLike that skilled skipper showed, anchoring over greater depth becomes less of a cause for concern when you have the option of freeing yourself from a rocky shelf by hand, or adding a tripping line shackle after the fact.
\nA fouled anchor is less of a crisis when you have an expanded diving range. Photo: Theo Stocker.
\nEven without diving deep, being comfortable in the water can take the stress out of some maintenance jobs and some emergency situations.
\nWhether it\u2019s a\u00a0fouled prop, a blocked\u00a0water inlet, or a\u00a0barnacle-encrusted\u00a0hull\u00a0and\u00a0propeller, the stakes are instantly lower when you can do the job yourself.
\nYou\u2019ll save time, turmoil, and money in the long run if you don\u2019t have to find dry work-arounds, or hire a diver.
\nKirstin Jones won Yachting Monthly\u2019s Brian Black Award for this striking image of discarded fishing gear thoroughly entangling her boat. Photo: Kirstin Jones.
\nA good skipper sailing in warmer regions should also know their territory inside-out and under.
\nHaving localised knowledge of an area, its hidden pitfalls, and the types of seabed you\u2019re dealing with can make navigating a coastline a whole lot safer. No chart marking or recommendation is more reliable than what you have been able to see firsthand.
\nFor working skippers, fluency with the marine flora and fauna, hidden underpasses, cave entrances, fresh water outlets, and diveable wrecks also makes for a more enriching experience for your crew, whether it\u2019s made of family, friends, or paying guests.
\nAn additional skill can even turn into a selling point when running charters. With the number of sailing experiences on offer on the rise, many are turning to combo sailing-diving, sailing-kayaking, sailing-fishing, and sailing-climbing trips to stand out.
\nThe free diving community
\nFree divers are the quintessential gente di mare, people of the sea, and have an unmatched connection to the water.
\nIf they\u2019ve been diving locally, they\u2019re likely to have extra familiarity with the area\u2019s coast and regular tides, currents, and conditions. There\u2019s always much to be gained from consulting a diver for well-informed recommendations.
\nAnd divers are just like sailors\u2013 always keen to talk shop (even if they won\u2019t share their secret fishing spots!).
\nA spear-fisher\u2019s impressive catch off Linosa. Photo: Viveka Herzum.
\nWhile I\u2019m not a spear-fisher myself, for many free divers the skill is a way to put food on the table.
\nIt\u2019s more affordable, not to mention sustainable, than buying your catch in town, and can prove to be a valuable provisioning resource in remote anchorages.
\nI\u2019ve also found free diving to be an organic way of making friends at the pontoons. You might even find someone willing to take you on as a diving buddy.
\nFree diving to help out other sailors
\nFree diving skills can also make you useful to other members of the maritime community.
\nI\u2019ve recovered lost sunglasses, dropped masks, and other personal items for guests, as well as picking up plenty of polluting debris.
\nWhen a 74-year-old\u00a0solo navigator\u00a0friend had a piece bounce off deck mid\u00a0winch-service, getting it back to him was no problem. It was a good thing, too, as having a replacement shipped from the mainland could take weeks.
\nYou\u2019ll also be in a position to help out on those nightmarish, high-season days when the bays are tiled with boats and there\u2019s a good chance of anchor chains crossing, a fluke wedging into a nasty crevice, or a chain slipping under a boulder.
\nI\u2019ve been in this situation a handful of times, and it\u2019s always rewarding to save another sailor some trouble, and spare your own vessel potential damage.
\nIt doesn\u2019t hurt, either, when being able to offer assistance leads to a good chat and free beer!
\nMental benefits
\nPhoto: Ashely Cooper \/ Getty.
\nPractical perks aside, a lot of the onboard benefits of free diving have less to do with the boat and more with your coping skills.
\nAs many free divers will tell you, most of the sport is mental. It\u2019s all about self control, and relaxation.
\nBeing able to calm your nervous system and manage fear responses can prove just as useful when facing heavy weather conditions or unexpected situations at sea, particularly if you\u2019re in a position of responsibility and need to do some quick problem solving. You\u2019re no use to anyone if you\u2019re panicking.
\nIf you\u2019re spending extended amounts of time onboard, you\u2019re also likely living with several others in close quarters.
\nIn a crowded environment, free diving can be a way to get some much-needed quiet and mental clarity. Even in the offseason, I\u2019ve often used dry static tables to recenter.
\nWhat kit do you need to free dive?
\nOne of the best parts of free diving is that you don\u2019t have to worry about clunky, expensive compressors, warranties, technical malfunctions, or all that finicky kit you need for SCUBA.
\nHowever, having the right gear can be a huge help.
\nFreediver with monofin, exploring Blue Hole, Gozo, Malta. Photo: Blue Planet Archive LLC \/ Alamy.
\nIn my case, it changed the way I dive by making it safer. With the right kit, meant I could dive for longer and track my progress.
\nIf you\u2019re just starting out, you\u2019ll probably have most of what you need on board already.
\nFirst and foremost, you\u2019ll want an appropriate free diving mask (frameless will be more comfortable as you descend and the pressure increases); a pair of fins, and a diving buoy for safety, particularly if you\u2019re anywhere near marine traffic, though it goes without saying that you shouldn\u2019t be.
\nYou may also want a depth gauge, dive watch or computer, or rope if you\u2019re training, as well as a wetsuit if you\u2019re spending longer in the water. It gets chilly as soon as you hit the teens.
\nIf you\u2019re diving with a wetsuit, you\u2019ll also need a dive belt and weights, as the extra layer changes your buoyancy.
\nPersonally, I\u2019m happiest with the least amount of kit possible on me. There\u2019s nothing like feeling the temperature change directly on your skin, and feeling like you\u2019re touching everything in the world just by sharing its water.
\nMy free diving journey
\nDisclaimer: my early free diving days are a classic do as I say, and not as I have done.
\nI had a pretty lax, DIY approach when I first started.
\nI had always been comfortable equalising and holding my breath and figured I was essentially just playing around in the water, seeing how deep I could get. I wasn\u2019t thinking much about proper technique, or even my own safety.
\nI figured, what could go wrong?
\nPhoto: Viveka Herzum.
\nIt turns out, a lot. I\u2019ve seen plenty of accidents getting helicoptered out since then.
\nIf you\u2019re diving with a buddy, proper technique, and respecting your body\u2019s limits, free diving should be perfectly safe, but I still wouldn\u2019t underestimate the value of proper preparation.
\nRead up on hyperventilation and the risk of blackout before you even get in the water. It\u2019s good to have an idea of what signals your body can send you that things are not looking good, and how you might miss them.
\nI fixed my bad habit of diving alone pretty quickly (sorry, everyone), but it would have been much safer and simpler to start with proper training, or at the very least an experienced diving bud.
\nAlas, I was sailing for work without a first mate and had a lot of time to kill alone at anchor.
\nI made do with what I had onboard: a bathing suit, a basic mask from Cressi, and a monofin.
\nMy pair was a hand-me-down silicone training pair from Decathlon, three sizes too big. (There were plenty of regular split fins on board, but if you were the kid tying their ankles with elastic hairbands to dolphin kick, you\u2019re probably not reaching for those.)
\nI was instantly obsessed with the extra agility and propulsion a monofin gave me, and never mind the nasty blisters. I only discovered the joys of neoprene swim socks much later.
\nMy depth gauge was the boat\u2019s depth sounder, or whatever markers I could count on the anchor chain.
\nFree diving over underwater kelp forest in Southern California. Photo: Cavan Images \/ Alamy.
\nThankfully, by the time I started diving deeper I had a spear-fisher friend to dive with and had done a bit more training.
\nI had also borrowed a basic diving watch from another skipper to track my depth\u2013 I still remember my elation the first time it marked past thirty!
\nAs any diver will tell you, those first deeper plunges were a revelation.
\nDiving meant temporary access to another universe of light, colour, tiny wonders, and life, even when all over the Mediterranean there seems to be less and less of it. It was cool down there, and beautiful, and ever so quiet.
\nI was hooked.
\nFree diver with monofin, surrounded by moon jellyfish. Photo: Connect Images \/ Alamy.
\nFive metres down, the colours start to cool. You can see every piece of plankton, every chunk of jellyfish, floating freely through a blanket of blue. Long, dragging tentacles, alien shapes and chunks of bitten membrane. It\u2019s like being inside the plasma of a cell, or a strangely populated atmosphere.
\nFifteen, the yellows flicker out. Twenty and on and any memory of green is gone. You\u2019re deep in a bucket of indigo and a buzzing calm. You have to be, or you\u2019ll burn right through your air supply.
\nI could pick up (and put back!) pen shells, spot sea turtles and schools of barracudas; spend hours playing with octopus, learning to follow their traces.
\nI followed lungs of damselfish into underwater cathedrals made of black basalt; got inches from the all-too-trusting groupers that hide there; and watched schools of dreamfish wrap around me in a silvery cocoon.
\nSwimming through a cloud of damselfish in the Mediterranean. Photo: Mikko Suonio \/ Alamy.
\nBut spending a lot of time in the waters of the Med also meant witnessing its gradual devastation.
\nEvery year, I swam over shoals emptier than the season before.
\nThe view from down below
\nOverall, free diving has made my life as sea safer and more social. It has given me a leg up on maintenance and some sticky anchoring situations, as well as an extra bank of submarine knowledge to draw on.
\nOver time, being both a sailor and a free diver has also made me a more mindful citizen of the sea, and helped me appreciate that living, working, and playing on the water comes with a degree of responsibility.
\nIts not a new refrain. Firsthand knowledge often plays an role in conservation; people tend to protect what they care about, and to care about what they know. I\u2019m no exception.
\nBut it\u2019s thanks to free diving that even while I\u2019m sailing, I never forget what\u2019s happening below.
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The post Below the surface: Why every sailor should learn to free dive and how to start appeared first on Yachting World.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Commercial skipper Viveka Herzum explains how free diving skills can be good for your boat, your mind, and your budget, plus the dos and don’t when you’re just getting started. Photo: Doug Perrine \/ Alamy.For a sailor, free diving is … <\/p>\n