Trip log 17 June 2011 (for Ximo Teruel)

It's hard to believe that he was not with us on this one. Usually Ximo was mostly present in our spearfishing trips. It has been a week since we were planning this one, all the organization was just simply a team work. Just like our usual over night trips, we were so charged yet we were missing him. Once we reached our destination where we will spend the night, we gathered & started preparing our gear. You know the usual stuff. Rigging, mechanism checking & reviewing the basic checklist before hitting the sack. 

Master & Commander surprised us with some new stuff. A graffite finished Nile-Tech 100. Fantastic. This one was so eye catching. The finish was just absolutely inexplicable. He decided to test this one on the next day. 

Lunar Eclipse

It's just that the wind reports show some strong NE winds that will start at 9knts around 7 am & will keep on blowing till it reaches 16knts by midday. Wind reports are not always so accurate however, we did not have any high hopes. Lets just go, enjoy the roller coaster ride, spear some fish & head back home. This one is for Ximo, since we planned to visit the last spots that he dived with us. It was also quite mysterious because it was only 2 days since the Lunar eclipse that occurred on June 15th. The moon usually has a strong influence over tide movement on earth. It controls how the oceans, seas or even lakes expand or shrink. Simply the moon acts like a magnet to the water. Along with that, the moon also affects the general marine life that lives beneath the surface. Specially crustaceans, and of course other fish and animals. 

In the morning we were all set & reach our sailing point on time. We have waited for our boat for a long time. Possibly for 1hr & 30min. We started getting restless & we kept calling the captain several times who just said that he's on his way to pick us up. After a long time waiting & the wind speed was steadily increasing, finally he showed up. 

Ximo Teruel

What was wrong ? He deeply apologized about being so late. It seemed that he was facing a problem. This Captain is so punctual & we are not used to him being late. He said: Guys the boat was stuck in the sand !!! it took me allot of time & help to have it float in the sea. It seems that the Lunar Eclipse did its game. He explained that when he & the crew woke up to find the boat laying on the sand because of the low tide, & how they managed to push it afloat. To picture the scene; it is considerably a large & heavy boat with an outboard engine.

Well we take off, sailing the roller coaster. The waves rocked us like kids playing in a large blue amusement park. The Captain knows us quite well & he was as usual, so enthusiastic however so worried about the wind. He was motivating us all the time. Probably because when he asked about Ximo, we told him that he have unfortunately passed away back home in Spain.

Ximo Teruel

We did not take any pictures of this wonderful trip. Where we paid condolences at sea in the same spots we last dived with Ximo. It was his last dive too in the same place. We kept on hunting & drifting all day long. Listening to nothing but our snorkels whistling as the wind blew air inside them. I have came to certain areas where I remembered while I'm drifting & coordinating with Ximo how will we hunt this space. Pretty sad. Anyway the couple of pictures in this post are from our last trip with Ximo on April 15th 2011.

We got a large icebox filled with decent fish for the team on that day. Enough to go back home & enjoy a wonderful sea food meal with the family. We enjoyed every moment although windy days are pretty tight. We all agreed that we should not extend our trip further & start heading back safely to harbor. A nice & to the point "Mazameer" trip. One last thing that I have intended to include in this post. Is the video of the tribute to Ximo that includes a footage to his last dive with me on 15 April 2011.

The Summer is quite short this year here at our ends, so I will be back soon to tell the story of our big bash in July with the Red Sea Hogs

The Niletec 100 pool testing video

So it's the talk of town & many others on spearfishing forums. The all new Niletec 100 series. I have to say that our friend & Team Mazameer member/founder Ihab AKA Master & Commander has spent alot of time, effort & money to come up with this great canon. At the early stages it was quite unclear if this dream will come true. A speargun that competes & even supersedes the internationally branded ones. The Niletec 100 is manufactured 100% locally with the most advanced technologies & complicated wood carving machines. It is built from genuine aged teak wood laminations to compensate the rough conditions of the sea water. The Niletec spearguns also come with the slick & durable stainless steel accessories from the handle trigger guard, line guidance & finally the 100% locally mastered Niletec variety of trigger mechanisms that were created & developed by Ihab.

Niletec trigger reverse mechanism

Niletec 100

Rubber band alignment

Our trips do not only stop at the cause of hunting & joy, but also includes serious testing to this speargun with its variety of models & prototypes before production. I'm sure if you have been through this blog posts you will notice that the Niltec is our usual companion. It will not only stop at this level. Continuous research & amendments are still being processed as we go, tested by several hunters & professionals around the world & it all goes back to the great effort of Engineer Ihab. I have included some visuals of some details to the Niletec spearguns however; if you need to know more information and even more details about the Niletec 100; please visit www.niledivers.com

NiletecTrigger

Gun butt with trigger guard

Specifications brief:

The Nile-Tec Reef is a 100 cm (40") open track Speargun, balanced & ballasted to minimize recoil leading to superior accuracy and ease of handling & tracking. Loaded with 2 x 16 mm bands, effective range is 5.50 m (18')

Here is a sneak peak video that shows the Niletec 100 pool testing & I'll leave the comments & perception to all the readers.

Line guide & Muzzle

Shark fin line anchor

Summer is knocking our doors now & it will be the summer of records. As much as it's exciting, as much as it will be unfortunate not to have our team member Ximo Teruel with us, who passed away in April 2011. May he Rest in Peace. We can't deny his contribution to the development of the Niletec speargun & many other enhancements over both group & personal levels in our wonderful spearfishing activities.

Entering paradise from gate 68

On 26 March 2011

This one was a blast. It has been a long time since we had an exceptional trip. In fact I had no other headline to represent this post. It was the usual planing & preparation for a new taste of spear fishing. On that one it was Master & Commander, Usual scooter & myself. A perfect capacity for a successful bash. As we got closer to the  zero hour, we managed to simplify our planning burdens. Checking the gear, planning the course, logistics etc.

We hit the road one night before & spent a marvelous evening exchanging our thoughts & remembering the previous trips over a good dinner & a couple of coffees. Spending the night peacefully by the sea was an experience of its own. Master & Commander displayed his new super gun design & it was just magnificent. The new mechanism & accuracy in calculating all parameters made this new gun a true powerful & silent masterpiece.

I was impressed by the finishing although it was just a prototype. The slick curves that made the power bands neatly aligned with the barrel where just amazing. Master & Commander has put allot of effort, time & money to reach this stage. You will be able to see the new Niletech in this post pictures. All of us where so excited to test it in the original conditions. Trying to explore this new canon in its environment.

The weather on the next morning "the trip day" was absolutely fantastic. The winds blowing west at a steady speed of 6knts, sky is clear & temperature was just perfect. We packed & jumped into the car for an easy drive between the mountains in search for "Gate 68".

After a short drive we reached our destination & started to unload our gear into the boat with the usual morning chat with the captain & his crew. Once we were done with the paper work, we set course to the lovely south rocking smoothly through the azure. We intended to explore the area & left it all to the captain & his long experience in the field. He decided to test us on the first dive since it was the first time we use his services. Usually Captains who do that are quite intelligent. They must know how experienced we are & how far can we go against the sea conditions.

Our first test dive was a 10m to 15m depth rocky area. A bit of current was noticed but it was just fine since we are all used to it. The water temperature was between 16 & 17 C & amazingly the visibility was about 8m. We chased some decent sized fish around the area & started the testing to Masters new canon. It was truly an experience. This one was completely different than the others. The durability, balance & maneuverability of the new Niletech was hard to miss. The alignment of the power bands gave an extreme margin of accuracy with a hard to notice recoil effect. Loading, reloading & handling at ease was managed with the new accessories placed on the barrel from butt to muzzle. A great one made by Master & 100% mastered in Egypt.

As we sailed through the day, we managed to score some decent sized fish. In this time of the year with the water still cold, it's quite difficult to have such catch. All the fishes usually go to warmer places during this time of the year. The usual scooter & in other words Master of the Caves, managed to land some good emperors & a decent grouper on our second dive which ranged from 9 to 12m. That was not bad at all.

Our captain showed great enthusiasm & he was insisting that this trip would be a lucrative one. He said to us: guys; I’ll take you to a spot & you must make it up for this trip. I'll shut down my GPS & will sail to it by instinct. And why is that ? asked Master. That's because no one in Gate 68 have its coordinates; not even myself; the Captain said. 

It was a good 2 hours sailing course until we reached this unbelievable spot. What to say; words can merely explain the scenery down there. Massive formations on 3 different shelves starting at 10m & down to 20m. We have entered the colorful spectrum of the aquatic world. When we dived, we didn't just hunt fish, we were transcending within this dimension. Blue streams, colorful scenes & a world of graphically designed corals. The place was so untapped, we can see that from the life breathing down there.

We spent the most of our trip time diving & surfacing in this spot. We couldn't get enough from the energy all around us. We managed to land a good catch of groupers from this spot & we have longed to see any passing by visitors of the pelagic blue however; it is still cold. Cave hunting was the ideal scenario. 

When our time was almost up & we have to sail back, we boarded the boat & started heading back to our unloading spot. The sun was perfect & we had a wonderful time on the upper deck. Enjoying our conversations, tanning, resting & nibbling on some treats. After 2 hours we were back & unloaded our gear, catch & farewell the Captain & his wonderful crew.

Heading back home with such visions in our heads made us capitalize on this experience. Neither Master, Usual scooter nor myself will be able to wipe such view from our heads for some time. Team Mazameer has a new charged battery now & will be always hungry to explore similar places like Gate 68. It's just a matter of time & we will be back on our next trip. See, the thing is, our country has unconditional breathtaking places to be at. This was only one of them, & the action is still yet to come.

An eye on Socotra by the usual scooter

In fact, it has been always the ultimate experience to discover new places. Traveling is considered as one of the many benefits of Spearfishing. When you reach a certain point where you have covered many areas, chasing your need to enjoy this sport, you will become more eager to discover new spots & uncover the beauty that you might have been missing for a long time. I know several hunters that have dedicated their travel to spearfishing. It's all about falling in love with the ambiance of the dazzling oceanic nature.

Today this post features the Island of Socotra. I would consider that as a major experience to our team. When it comes to discovery, we all gear up our senses to be as receptive as they can be. Trying to gain as much information about another untouchable ground. Learning new information & making it the talk of the hour between us, just for the sake of building our endless spectrum of information about the marine environment. Above sea level also matters! since we do not only seek wet information; some sandy or rocky information would be great to learn as well. As a matter of fact, in some cases, the topography of the place you intend to hunt within matters. Some areas would show you the potential down under if you understand about the land & rock formations in the surrounding area. It's endless, for example sand means emperors, rocks with bushy patches mean groupers. This might vary from one area to another. I remember back in the old days when we used to go on spearfishing trips from shore. We had to do some off road amusement before that. Every area has its own sanctuary of mountains, rocks or slopes. Each one of those could give us an indication of the kind of fish that we might be having for dinner.

The usual Scooter

So speaking about the usual scooter; who is always buzzing around, hot on the trail of fish. I admire that spirit & enthusiasm of his so much. His eagerness to grab any opportunity to find the uncovered is just fabulous. He managed to grab yet another opportunity to discover a virgin Island, one that is amazingly breathtaking from every aspect & every angle.

We had a wonderful discussion about his quest to the Island that misses nothing but dinosaurs. The conversation was so rich with information about Socotra, beginning from the very first moment he stepped his foot on its grounds, to the bottom of the ocean near this magnificent place. Before I start telling you what we have talked about over a nice & warm cup of coffee; here are some introductory information about the Island of Socotra that I got off Wikipedia:

The Island of Socotra

Socotra or Soqotra (Arabic سُقُطْرَى ; Suquṭra) is a small archipelago of four islands in the Indian Ocean. The largest island, also called Socotra, is about 95% of the landmass of the archipelago. It lies off some 240 kilometres (150 mi) east of the Horn of Africa and 380 kilometres (240 mi) south of the Arabian Peninsula.^[1] The island is very isolated and through the process of speciation, a third of its plant life is found nowhere else on the planet. It has been described as the most alien-looking place on Earth.^[2] Socotra is part of the Republic of Yemen. It has long been a part of the 'Adan Governorate, but in 2004 it became attached to the Hadhramaut Governorate, which is much closer to the island than 'Adan (although the closest governorate would be Al Mahrah).

Although this post took so long to be published but I believe that such reach to new destinations & areas is quite enriching. The entire package of travel is a healthy approach of its own. You get to learn new information & enhance your understanding about the beauty that exists around the globe. Despite the major disturbance that is happening in the region, Spear fishing & spear fishing travel is strongly coming through our way. It is just that all what we will be needing to achieve where we are; is the organization of this wonderful & multi benefit sport.

Some nice snap shots taken during the trip are right here: