Aloha.
I just added the Twitter widget to this page - I feel so...so...modern. Just click on the "follow on Twitter" link over there on the right and you can get the updates I send out from Basel. I'm also going to try and figure out how to upload images from my iPhone as well. (ps...done!)
I leave on Saturday and I've got a zillion loose ends, and of course today is a gorgeous sunny day perfect for kayaking...sigh.
Monday, March 16, 2009
Friday, March 6, 2009
Countdown To Baselworld 2009...
We are over here getting ready for Baselworld 2009 - it's pretty hectic.
Also we're awaiting the first shipment of Benthic Ti watches within the next couple days to arrive here in Kauai and they should be in our retail stores in last week of March.
I thought I could get started by posting the "Ohana Update" newsletter we sent out a couple weeks back. It'll fill you in on most everything we've got going on. If you would like to have us email this Update directly to you, please join the Ohana List over on our main webpage (www.bathyshawaii.com).
And thanks for stopping by....
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
OHANA UPDATE FOR FEB 28, 2009:
Aloha Everyone,
Well the countdown to Baselworld 2009 had begun, which means I’m spending a lot of time up late talking on Skype talking with my guys and gals in Solothurn. They are such a great bunch – it’s just sad that we only get to go out for beers a couple times a year since I only see them in person 1-2 times during a 12 month period.
But we spend hours emailing and Skyping each other and I am really proud of the work they do. If you consider how many decisions must be made and small things must be done perfectly to have a watch run properly under demanding conditions – every function, every dimension, every material, color, texture, font, movement, specification – everything must be discussed in detail before anything gets made. And these folks get everything right.
So coming to our retailers within the next 2 weeks is the Benthic Ti (see below). If you haven’t heard about this new timepiece, it is a Swiss-Made 48mm, all titanium quartz Diver watch constructed in the classic simple Bathys style.
Our design goal with this watch was pretty straightforward – build an indestructible timepiece. Boom – that’s it. Just something we could beat on, bang on, whack on stuff, drop, slam, any damn thing, and it would keep on running. And while we’re at it, let’s add in a large date and a retrograde day.
Truth is, I went straight for the movement on this one. The Ronda 7003.N Mastertech.
This is the largest Swiss-made quartz movement on the planet and makes me feel all proud when I look at it. It’s huge, brass, heavy, jeweled, runs 40 months within 5 seconds a month, has the very complex date mechanism that changes correctly through 30, 31 -> 01. It’s just a killer piece of engineering. The large size and mass of this movement combined with the light Ti case gives the watch a somewhat ‘pocketwatch-like’ feel in the hand.
Then we made the case out of solid Grade 5 titanium – the same stuff they make jet turbine blades with. A material you can bet your life on…and that if you’ve ever flown in a jet, a material you have bet your life on. The case is 48mm in diameter and 15mm in height. Big, but not crazy big. And not heavy or bulky because of the Ti construction. Here's a pic:
I wear the case samples, then the prototype watches around for weeks before I sign off on the cases. (If you own a Bathys, check out the way we require the backs of the lug tips to be flattened ever-so-slightly on all our watches to make them more comfortable.).
As for the crystal, it’s pretty special too:
3.8mm in thickness, 37mm diameter, 42 grams, optical grade 1 (Kyropoulos method), internally antireflection coated, this is one impressive piece of synthetic sapphire! It takes 2 weeks just to grow the giant sapphire monocrystal from which these watch crystal blanks are cut.
Price? The Benthic Ti sells for $995 and comes in three dial versions: matte black (shown below), brushed bronze, and real carbon fiber.
What else?
Ah yes, this year we’ll be showcasing the first production Damascus Steel watch: The Damascus Benthic.
And I just got word last night that the prototype will be ready for Baselworld ’09! (It makes the long trip over worth it when Markus comes up to me and hands me some new prototype sample on the day before the Fair begins).
I am hoping to get some media attention for this amazing timepiece…though they tend to ignore the smaller brands in Hall 5 since we don’t have free champagne and $10,000,000 exhibits.
We are only making 10 in the first edition, they are tentatively priced at $9000, and will be powered by an ETA 2892 movement. Each watch will be milled from a single piece of hand-forge stainless Damascus steel.
In other words, one man, Herr Schneider, will have spent 6-8 hours making the single piece of steel that goes into each Damascus Benthic. No two pieces will be the same – each will have it’s own unique “grain” to the Damascus. And one very important thing to mention – this is stainless Damascus steel…which is virtually unheard of. Damascus steel is generally a high-carbon steel and would rust if not carefully kept oiled. So this is special stuff. Email me if you want to learn more or be added to the waiting list – we are taking small deposits to hold one of these. No photos or even renderings of this watch are yet available – trying to render Damascus on a computer is not really ‘realistic’ enough. I’ll post from Basel in late March once I have this in hand. Maybe I should try Twitter while in Basel this year?
Looks for the new 2009 catalogs to be in stores soon. Please email our US distributor (send your request to: tanya@picciones.com) and we'll get one off to you in March.
Let me wrap up by saying mahalo for all the continued support from you guys! Please feel free to email me if you have any questions, or swing by a website that carries our product such as thetimezone.com, edmarshalljewelers.com or picciones.com.
(end of letter)
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Before I go, here's an image of the fully-assembled Benthic Ti protoype. She's not the prettiest girl at the dance, but she can dance through fire. We're only making a 1000 of these btw...
OK well that's all for now. I plan to blog more frequently and am going to Twitter from Baselworld, so watch this space for more info.
Mahalo nui,
John
ps...not sure why my images are cropped and shifted to the right as they are...I'll try and figure this out.
Also we're awaiting the first shipment of Benthic Ti watches within the next couple days to arrive here in Kauai and they should be in our retail stores in last week of March.
I thought I could get started by posting the "Ohana Update" newsletter we sent out a couple weeks back. It'll fill you in on most everything we've got going on. If you would like to have us email this Update directly to you, please join the Ohana List over on our main webpage (www.bathyshawaii.com).
And thanks for stopping by....
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
OHANA UPDATE FOR FEB 28, 2009:
Aloha Everyone,
Well the countdown to Baselworld 2009 had begun, which means I’m spending a lot of time up late talking on Skype talking with my guys and gals in Solothurn. They are such a great bunch – it’s just sad that we only get to go out for beers a couple times a year since I only see them in person 1-2 times during a 12 month period.
But we spend hours emailing and Skyping each other and I am really proud of the work they do. If you consider how many decisions must be made and small things must be done perfectly to have a watch run properly under demanding conditions – every function, every dimension, every material, color, texture, font, movement, specification – everything must be discussed in detail before anything gets made. And these folks get everything right.
So coming to our retailers within the next 2 weeks is the Benthic Ti (see below). If you haven’t heard about this new timepiece, it is a Swiss-Made 48mm, all titanium quartz Diver watch constructed in the classic simple Bathys style.
Our design goal with this watch was pretty straightforward – build an indestructible timepiece. Boom – that’s it. Just something we could beat on, bang on, whack on stuff, drop, slam, any damn thing, and it would keep on running. And while we’re at it, let’s add in a large date and a retrograde day.
Truth is, I went straight for the movement on this one. The Ronda 7003.N Mastertech.
This is the largest Swiss-made quartz movement on the planet and makes me feel all proud when I look at it. It’s huge, brass, heavy, jeweled, runs 40 months within 5 seconds a month, has the very complex date mechanism that changes correctly through 30, 31 -> 01. It’s just a killer piece of engineering. The large size and mass of this movement combined with the light Ti case gives the watch a somewhat ‘pocketwatch-like’ feel in the hand.
Then we made the case out of solid Grade 5 titanium – the same stuff they make jet turbine blades with. A material you can bet your life on…and that if you’ve ever flown in a jet, a material you have bet your life on. The case is 48mm in diameter and 15mm in height. Big, but not crazy big. And not heavy or bulky because of the Ti construction. Here's a pic:
I wear the case samples, then the prototype watches around for weeks before I sign off on the cases. (If you own a Bathys, check out the way we require the backs of the lug tips to be flattened ever-so-slightly on all our watches to make them more comfortable.).
As for the crystal, it’s pretty special too:
3.8mm in thickness, 37mm diameter, 42 grams, optical grade 1 (Kyropoulos method), internally antireflection coated, this is one impressive piece of synthetic sapphire! It takes 2 weeks just to grow the giant sapphire monocrystal from which these watch crystal blanks are cut.Price? The Benthic Ti sells for $995 and comes in three dial versions: matte black (shown below), brushed bronze, and real carbon fiber.
What else?
Ah yes, this year we’ll be showcasing the first production Damascus Steel watch: The Damascus Benthic.
And I just got word last night that the prototype will be ready for Baselworld ’09! (It makes the long trip over worth it when Markus comes up to me and hands me some new prototype sample on the day before the Fair begins).
I am hoping to get some media attention for this amazing timepiece…though they tend to ignore the smaller brands in Hall 5 since we don’t have free champagne and $10,000,000 exhibits.
We are only making 10 in the first edition, they are tentatively priced at $9000, and will be powered by an ETA 2892 movement. Each watch will be milled from a single piece of hand-forge stainless Damascus steel.
In other words, one man, Herr Schneider, will have spent 6-8 hours making the single piece of steel that goes into each Damascus Benthic. No two pieces will be the same – each will have it’s own unique “grain” to the Damascus. And one very important thing to mention – this is stainless Damascus steel…which is virtually unheard of. Damascus steel is generally a high-carbon steel and would rust if not carefully kept oiled. So this is special stuff. Email me if you want to learn more or be added to the waiting list – we are taking small deposits to hold one of these. No photos or even renderings of this watch are yet available – trying to render Damascus on a computer is not really ‘realistic’ enough. I’ll post from Basel in late March once I have this in hand. Maybe I should try Twitter while in Basel this year?
Looks for the new 2009 catalogs to be in stores soon. Please email our US distributor (send your request to: tanya@picciones.com) and we'll get one off to you in March.
Let me wrap up by saying mahalo for all the continued support from you guys! Please feel free to email me if you have any questions, or swing by a website that carries our product such as thetimezone.com, edmarshalljewelers.com or picciones.com.
(end of letter)
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Before I go, here's an image of the fully-assembled Benthic Ti protoype. She's not the prettiest girl at the dance, but she can dance through fire. We're only making a 1000 of these btw...
OK well that's all for now. I plan to blog more frequently and am going to Twitter from Baselworld, so watch this space for more info.
Mahalo nui,
John
ps...not sure why my images are cropped and shifted to the right as they are...I'll try and figure this out.
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
Bling Is Dead
Sad that it had to take such a massive global economic disaster, but you heard it here first folks - Bling Is Dead.
As you may know, I've been an advocate the death of bling for a long time. We've even advertised our watches as "anti-bling" as far back as 2005. And as some of you may know, I said famously, "to cut off my nuts if I ever put diamonds in a Men's Bathys Hawaii watch".
That pretty much sums up how I feel about this.
I've been thinking about Baselworld 2009, and I can't help but wonder what some of those "bling" companies are planning on doing? I mean how can you justify buying a diamond-encrusted watch when your pension has dried up? Or how can you wear such a thing when you know that your friends are losing their home or their life savings? It seems evil to do that now. Over the past few years, it seemed that simply adding diamonds was a way to make everything "new" and "cool". At JCK 2008 there were even 18Kt gold iPod cases set with pave diamonds. Doesn't that seem stupid now just 5 months later?
How can we promote this over-the-top consumerism of the Louis Vuittons and Jacobs & Co., etc when we see now where it all leads?
It leads to nothing folks.
It's a big empty room at the end of a hall you've spent a long time walking down.
Happiness and satisfaction come from within.
That's a simple thing to say, but a hard thing to practice.
I don't make Bathys watches so everyone will think how cool you are. I make Bathys watches because I wanted people to have a really high-quality long-lasting timepiece that didn't cost a bunch of extra money. If they get happiness while wearing a Bathys - awesome. As it says in my catalog, "maybe rather than loving your watch, you should love the life your watch lets you live".
And by that I mean, rather than buying a watch to own something that makes you happy, maybe you should think of what you can do that will really make you happy.
Sure, I'd like it to be a Bathys strapped to your wrist, but that's not the point. The point is to get out and do something that improves your feeling of well-being. For the price of the diamond bezel on that hypothetical new watch you want, you could take the family on a trip to Europe. Which one will be more important 20 years from now?
I googled Bling is Dead just now and I think there's a rising sentiment along these lines:
Here's some links to check out:
From the Wall Street Journal...
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122351779589918041.html
Here's a great one from the UK...a place where you can turn in people who seem to have a little too much bling (and thus might be criminals):
http://www.cleveland.police.uk/news_resources/press_releases/080128_TooMuchBling.htm
Of course maybe bling WON'T die...here's an article from 2005 asking for it to expire directly...but obviously it didn't.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/12/22/AR2005122202125.html
But in my opinion, the events of recent weeks will be the catalyst to end this culture of excessive materialism once and for all.
OK, well that's all for now. I'm going to post again in the next few days with some news and some photos.
Aloha,
John
(ps thanks to Kurt, Brad and Lorenz for their posts!)
As you may know, I've been an advocate the death of bling for a long time. We've even advertised our watches as "anti-bling" as far back as 2005. And as some of you may know, I said famously, "to cut off my nuts if I ever put diamonds in a Men's Bathys Hawaii watch".
That pretty much sums up how I feel about this.
I've been thinking about Baselworld 2009, and I can't help but wonder what some of those "bling" companies are planning on doing? I mean how can you justify buying a diamond-encrusted watch when your pension has dried up? Or how can you wear such a thing when you know that your friends are losing their home or their life savings? It seems evil to do that now. Over the past few years, it seemed that simply adding diamonds was a way to make everything "new" and "cool". At JCK 2008 there were even 18Kt gold iPod cases set with pave diamonds. Doesn't that seem stupid now just 5 months later?
How can we promote this over-the-top consumerism of the Louis Vuittons and Jacobs & Co., etc when we see now where it all leads?
It leads to nothing folks.
It's a big empty room at the end of a hall you've spent a long time walking down.
Happiness and satisfaction come from within.
That's a simple thing to say, but a hard thing to practice.
I don't make Bathys watches so everyone will think how cool you are. I make Bathys watches because I wanted people to have a really high-quality long-lasting timepiece that didn't cost a bunch of extra money. If they get happiness while wearing a Bathys - awesome. As it says in my catalog, "maybe rather than loving your watch, you should love the life your watch lets you live".
And by that I mean, rather than buying a watch to own something that makes you happy, maybe you should think of what you can do that will really make you happy.
Sure, I'd like it to be a Bathys strapped to your wrist, but that's not the point. The point is to get out and do something that improves your feeling of well-being. For the price of the diamond bezel on that hypothetical new watch you want, you could take the family on a trip to Europe. Which one will be more important 20 years from now?
I googled Bling is Dead just now and I think there's a rising sentiment along these lines:
Here's some links to check out:
From the Wall Street Journal...
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122351779589918041.html
Here's a great one from the UK...a place where you can turn in people who seem to have a little too much bling (and thus might be criminals):
http://www.cleveland.police.uk/news_resources/press_releases/080128_TooMuchBling.htm
Of course maybe bling WON'T die...here's an article from 2005 asking for it to expire directly...but obviously it didn't.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/12/22/AR2005122202125.html
But in my opinion, the events of recent weeks will be the catalyst to end this culture of excessive materialism once and for all.
OK, well that's all for now. I'm going to post again in the next few days with some news and some photos.
Aloha,
John
(ps thanks to Kurt, Brad and Lorenz for their posts!)
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
Lunching the Bathys Club in Zermatt
Hi Everyone
While I’m staying in Zermatt searching for the hot spot for our Bathys Club, I meet some nice people and of course also the mighty Matterhorn.
Soon we will have a place here to celebrate a Bathys event. I will tell more soon and give you all the details.
In the meantime perhaps you would like to climb the Matterhorn. Tell me if so and I will arrange every think to get you on top.
Aloha from Wallis Switzerland
Lorenz
While I’m staying in Zermatt searching for the hot spot for our Bathys Club, I meet some nice people and of course also the mighty Matterhorn.
Soon we will have a place here to celebrate a Bathys event. I will tell more soon and give you all the details.
In the meantime perhaps you would like to climb the Matterhorn. Tell me if so and I will arrange every think to get you on top.
Aloha from Wallis Switzerland
Lorenz
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
Big Island diving
I figured I'd contribute by first blog by recounting my diving experiences while on a recent trip to the Big Island (I live on O'ahu). I was there visiting my parents while they were on vacation. We were busy looking for a house to buy over there, but I managed to get into the water a couple of times. I should mention that I'm not a bubble-blower...I'm a breath-hold freediver and spearfisherman.
The cool thing about the Kona side of the Big Island is that no matter where you are you are probably in close proximity to the ocean. We got to stay at a fellow diver's house down south in Kona Paradise, where just down the hill below is a seldom-visited beach with a substrate of rounded basalt cobbles rather than sand, "Pebble Beach". The lack of attention to the beach was favorable---it suggested that there was probably little fishing pressure there. My buddies Derek and Mike joined me there for a morning dive early in my trip.
The clarity of the water on the Big Island is refreshing coming from O'ahu. All the typical reef fish were flitting about...Uhus, rois, surgeonfish, etc. I was just looking for something small and sufficient for dinner that night with my parents. Over the course of the relatively short dive (4 hours instead of my usual 8) I was selective and put four nice joes (goatfish) on the kui. These would make for a delightful dinner when steamed Chinese style, which I was eager to prepare for my parents since I was sure they'd never had fish prepared that way.
The next day was Sunday, the day of the week that a small group of Kona-area freedivers gather at Honaunau to practice deep diving. The group is tight-knit and jovial...The gathering is as much for talking story and potlucking as it is for each individual pushing his limits by freediving to lung-crushing depths (beyond 200ft in the case of most of the divers). I've gotten to train with the crew over the last year whenever I've been on the Big Island, and I attribute much of my advancement in freediving to this training.
We were missing usual attendees Annabel and Jessica because they are currently off in Egypt representing the USA in the World Freediving Championships. It felt weird without them, but we headed out into the ever-calm waters of Puʻuhonua o Honaunau anyway. Basically we all go through a meditative warm-up routine, then attempt a single "max effort"---a deep dive, perhaps close, equal to, or beyond our personal best. I only planned to dive to ~40m since I've only been spearfishing the majority of this year, which doesn't take me much beyond 30m. Diving deep is something your body has to be trained and adapted for, so it would have been foolish for me to try to dive much deeper than 40m. I would have been risking lung injury due to lack of chest flexibility from having not been that deep in several months. Well, I surprised myself by diving to 55m/181ft and coming up with plenty of oxygen to spare---it really felt easy! That was only about 10ft off of my personal best depth (192ft). I was stoked!
That same day happened to be the eve of lobster season in Hawai'i, which runs from Sept. 1 - Apr. 31. Lobster season is insignificant to most divers on O'ahu, since the lobster population has all but been wiped out there. But I knew there was still the possibility of finding them on the Big Island. That night one of the freedivers, Hiko, came down to my neighborhood and we headed down the hill to Pebble Beach in hopes of finding some bugs. I don't have much night diving experience, but I went ahead and trusted Hiko and my battery-powered dive light as we headed into the inky blackness. My initial apprehension dissolved away as I saw an increasing number of curious nocturnal creatures---some varieties of soldierfish I was unfamiliar with, as well as some cool bioluminescent plankton. It wasn't long before our beams of light reflected from the tell-tale beady eyes of BUGS! The majority of the ones we saw were undersized, but I managed to grab some very respectable ones!
My next dive opportunity was with the freediving crew again mid-week. I was confident about diving deeper, and indeed I did, sinking to a depth of 60m/196ft! This was my first time hitting the 60m mark, but I was still a bit short of satisfied because here in America we don't use the metric system! I was still 4ft shy of 200ft! If only I would have looked at my depth gauge down there I wouldn't have hesitated to stretch my eardrums a bit further to make that 4ft.
The new personal best aside, something else really cool happened on that dive. On my way down a friggin' ONO swam right up to me! A pretty good sized one (40 - 50lbs)! Whenever I am fortunate enough to see one my pulse instantly skyrockets, making it difficult to dive on them. However, I was somehow able to remain calm in the presence of this ono, simply observing it and thinking "Wow, an ono. What a beautiful creature. OK, on with my target dive." I guess I was in the zone.
I next hooked up with a good dive buddy of mine, Henry, and his brother, Joey. We were going to dive at an out-of-the-way beach that I'd heard of before, but never visited---Makalawena. 4WD was required to get there.
Before we could target our goal species, we had to harvest some palu first. Palu is the Hawaiian word for chum, which is any organic matter used to attract larger fish. We were going to use some "rubbish fish" as palu, i.e., we were going to shoot and collect a bunch of less desirable fish first, only to cut them up and drop their remains back into the water. In an effort to not be wasteful, I'm happy to say that I shot only rois (a.k.a., the "peacock grouper", an introduced species that is regarded as a competitive pest species detrimental to the native populations) for use as palu.
We were targeting ukus, which readily come in for palu, but they weren't showing up. On a drop to the sand at 75ft I scanned around me---a silver-colored fish of decent size approached rapidly. It was a ~20lb ulua! I'll take it! In addition to that nice fish I eventually did catch a small uku, as well as a weke 'ula.
The last day of my trip happened to fall on a Sunday, so I got to join the freedivers one more time for a deep dive. You should already know what my goal was. Did I make it?
Sure did! With a foot to spare! What a great way to end my vacation on the Big Island.
Next blog I'll make sure to share some underwater photos!
The cool thing about the Kona side of the Big Island is that no matter where you are you are probably in close proximity to the ocean. We got to stay at a fellow diver's house down south in Kona Paradise, where just down the hill below is a seldom-visited beach with a substrate of rounded basalt cobbles rather than sand, "Pebble Beach". The lack of attention to the beach was favorable---it suggested that there was probably little fishing pressure there. My buddies Derek and Mike joined me there for a morning dive early in my trip.
The clarity of the water on the Big Island is refreshing coming from O'ahu. All the typical reef fish were flitting about...Uhus, rois, surgeonfish, etc. I was just looking for something small and sufficient for dinner that night with my parents. Over the course of the relatively short dive (4 hours instead of my usual 8) I was selective and put four nice joes (goatfish) on the kui. These would make for a delightful dinner when steamed Chinese style, which I was eager to prepare for my parents since I was sure they'd never had fish prepared that way.
The next day was Sunday, the day of the week that a small group of Kona-area freedivers gather at Honaunau to practice deep diving. The group is tight-knit and jovial...The gathering is as much for talking story and potlucking as it is for each individual pushing his limits by freediving to lung-crushing depths (beyond 200ft in the case of most of the divers). I've gotten to train with the crew over the last year whenever I've been on the Big Island, and I attribute much of my advancement in freediving to this training.
We were missing usual attendees Annabel and Jessica because they are currently off in Egypt representing the USA in the World Freediving Championships. It felt weird without them, but we headed out into the ever-calm waters of Puʻuhonua o Honaunau anyway. Basically we all go through a meditative warm-up routine, then attempt a single "max effort"---a deep dive, perhaps close, equal to, or beyond our personal best. I only planned to dive to ~40m since I've only been spearfishing the majority of this year, which doesn't take me much beyond 30m. Diving deep is something your body has to be trained and adapted for, so it would have been foolish for me to try to dive much deeper than 40m. I would have been risking lung injury due to lack of chest flexibility from having not been that deep in several months. Well, I surprised myself by diving to 55m/181ft and coming up with plenty of oxygen to spare---it really felt easy! That was only about 10ft off of my personal best depth (192ft). I was stoked!
That same day happened to be the eve of lobster season in Hawai'i, which runs from Sept. 1 - Apr. 31. Lobster season is insignificant to most divers on O'ahu, since the lobster population has all but been wiped out there. But I knew there was still the possibility of finding them on the Big Island. That night one of the freedivers, Hiko, came down to my neighborhood and we headed down the hill to Pebble Beach in hopes of finding some bugs. I don't have much night diving experience, but I went ahead and trusted Hiko and my battery-powered dive light as we headed into the inky blackness. My initial apprehension dissolved away as I saw an increasing number of curious nocturnal creatures---some varieties of soldierfish I was unfamiliar with, as well as some cool bioluminescent plankton. It wasn't long before our beams of light reflected from the tell-tale beady eyes of BUGS! The majority of the ones we saw were undersized, but I managed to grab some very respectable ones!
My next dive opportunity was with the freediving crew again mid-week. I was confident about diving deeper, and indeed I did, sinking to a depth of 60m/196ft! This was my first time hitting the 60m mark, but I was still a bit short of satisfied because here in America we don't use the metric system! I was still 4ft shy of 200ft! If only I would have looked at my depth gauge down there I wouldn't have hesitated to stretch my eardrums a bit further to make that 4ft.
The new personal best aside, something else really cool happened on that dive. On my way down a friggin' ONO swam right up to me! A pretty good sized one (40 - 50lbs)! Whenever I am fortunate enough to see one my pulse instantly skyrockets, making it difficult to dive on them. However, I was somehow able to remain calm in the presence of this ono, simply observing it and thinking "Wow, an ono. What a beautiful creature. OK, on with my target dive." I guess I was in the zone.
I next hooked up with a good dive buddy of mine, Henry, and his brother, Joey. We were going to dive at an out-of-the-way beach that I'd heard of before, but never visited---Makalawena. 4WD was required to get there.
Before we could target our goal species, we had to harvest some palu first. Palu is the Hawaiian word for chum, which is any organic matter used to attract larger fish. We were going to use some "rubbish fish" as palu, i.e., we were going to shoot and collect a bunch of less desirable fish first, only to cut them up and drop their remains back into the water. In an effort to not be wasteful, I'm happy to say that I shot only rois (a.k.a., the "peacock grouper", an introduced species that is regarded as a competitive pest species detrimental to the native populations) for use as palu.
We were targeting ukus, which readily come in for palu, but they weren't showing up. On a drop to the sand at 75ft I scanned around me---a silver-colored fish of decent size approached rapidly. It was a ~20lb ulua! I'll take it! In addition to that nice fish I eventually did catch a small uku, as well as a weke 'ula.
The last day of my trip happened to fall on a Sunday, so I got to join the freedivers one more time for a deep dive. You should already know what my goal was. Did I make it?
Sure did! With a foot to spare! What a great way to end my vacation on the Big Island.
Next blog I'll make sure to share some underwater photos!
Monday, September 1, 2008
Aloha!
Aloha! I'm checking in from the Big Island of Hawaii. I am just getting ready to head back out to the coastal plains of Kalapana, where rivers of lava pour into the ocean. This is where I spent my first moments with John Patterson. This is where our connection began, on a dark morning accented by rivers of lava coming down the pali. A Bathy testing ground if I have ever seen one. And it was, and it was good. Very good...
I live in various extreme locations. All of my gear has to be tough. It has to be the very best. No compromise. My trusty Benthic seems to fit right into this mode. When I am not venturing upon the hot lava, (or the Volcano Golf Course), I am likely skiing deep powder around my Wasatch Mountain cabins in Utah, or sailing into remote fjords near my Homer, Alaska home-base. All of these zones demand quality gear.
I have never been much of a watch-wearer until I strapped on the hearty Benthic. I have actually prided myself in not needing to know what time it is for the past 30 years, except for when I am dealing with airports or dawn photo shoots. But my Benthic just has a certain feeling to it... kind of like holding a precision Nikon lens. I find myself wearing my watch when I don't need to know the time. Need I say more? That's almost scary...
You can see some of what I am up to on volcanoman.com and volcanoman.ifp3.com.
Be well!
Brad
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
A month of colds.
Aloha,
Wow it's been kind of ugly over here since the last post. I was supposed to go on vacation, but due to a head cold that just would not go away, I had to cancel my trip to the mountains of Colorado. (Most of you don't know this, but I am completely deaf in my right ear as a result of an ear infection I had about 9 years ago...so I am ultra-paranoid about getting colds, flu, and flying while sick).
So I pretty much stayed inside and tried to recover. We don't get sick very often here in Hawaii, but when we do, it's a doozy.
So I took antibiotics and got better until I had a bad reaction to the antibiotics and got worse...yeah it was one of those kind of illnesses.
But now, finally I am feeling better. 100% I dare to say.
While I was down we had some fun stuff happen - we got the titanium case prototype of the new Damascus steel watch we're doing. Here's a couple shots to give you a feel for the cool "concave" bezel. We designed a somewhat thicker bezel on a Damascus steel watch so that you can really see the "grain" in this unique metal. The case is 45mm.
Also the killer new Lunar Wahine watches came in. These are now in stores and are getting a great reception. Who says women (or guys with smaller wrists) don't want a watch they can beat on? What, women don't want function? Pfft.
Here's the Rose-Ti version sitting on a coconut down South Shore Kauai. Even though it looks all pretty, the Ti-carbonitride PVD coating we use for this particular model is the same stuff they use to coat drill bits in the tool industry.
And hey, for anyone over on Oahu, I'll be coming over to Ben Bridge Timeworks next week to hang out, talk story, show off the new women's watches. I'll be there on Thursday Sept 4th from 6-7:30 at the Timeworks store in Ala Moana..if you're in Honolulu, please come on down and say hi. I'm going to have plenty of show and tell as well..the case for the Ti-Benthic, the case for the new Damascus (in Ti, not Damascus yet..), I should have samples of the new 22mm steel bracelets we'll be releasing soon, and who knows what else.
Oh yippee..I have to dress up.
In other news, we're getting this blog up and happening. I see volcano and nature photographer Brad Lewis has accepted our invitation to blog, and we'll be seeing new bloggers added over the next few months. I'm excited to see this all coming together!
Wow it's been kind of ugly over here since the last post. I was supposed to go on vacation, but due to a head cold that just would not go away, I had to cancel my trip to the mountains of Colorado. (Most of you don't know this, but I am completely deaf in my right ear as a result of an ear infection I had about 9 years ago...so I am ultra-paranoid about getting colds, flu, and flying while sick).
So I pretty much stayed inside and tried to recover. We don't get sick very often here in Hawaii, but when we do, it's a doozy.
So I took antibiotics and got better until I had a bad reaction to the antibiotics and got worse...yeah it was one of those kind of illnesses.
But now, finally I am feeling better. 100% I dare to say.
While I was down we had some fun stuff happen - we got the titanium case prototype of the new Damascus steel watch we're doing. Here's a couple shots to give you a feel for the cool "concave" bezel. We designed a somewhat thicker bezel on a Damascus steel watch so that you can really see the "grain" in this unique metal. The case is 45mm.
Also the killer new Lunar Wahine watches came in. These are now in stores and are getting a great reception. Who says women (or guys with smaller wrists) don't want a watch they can beat on? What, women don't want function? Pfft.
Here's the Rose-Ti version sitting on a coconut down South Shore Kauai. Even though it looks all pretty, the Ti-carbonitride PVD coating we use for this particular model is the same stuff they use to coat drill bits in the tool industry.
And hey, for anyone over on Oahu, I'll be coming over to Ben Bridge Timeworks next week to hang out, talk story, show off the new women's watches. I'll be there on Thursday Sept 4th from 6-7:30 at the Timeworks store in Ala Moana..if you're in Honolulu, please come on down and say hi. I'm going to have plenty of show and tell as well..the case for the Ti-Benthic, the case for the new Damascus (in Ti, not Damascus yet..), I should have samples of the new 22mm steel bracelets we'll be releasing soon, and who knows what else.
Oh yippee..I have to dress up.
In other news, we're getting this blog up and happening. I see volcano and nature photographer Brad Lewis has accepted our invitation to blog, and we'll be seeing new bloggers added over the next few months. I'm excited to see this all coming together!
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