Epic Freediving Off Hornby Island, BC! Come on DFO! 😡
Vložit
- čas přidán 22. 08. 2024
- Epic Freediving Off Hornby Island, BC (Come on DFO!) #pacificnorthwest
Welcome back everyone! Do people actually read these descriptions? lol.
Anyways, I head back to Hornby Island, BC with the family after a 4 year hiatus. We encountered some phenomenal conditions both above and below. The freediving was superb and there was lots to see from the shore. Sea lions, killer whales, bald eagles and more! I love diving off Hornby, despite the cranky locals...
Following that, I head out with @justgiveroutdoors and harvest some oysters, sea urchin and sea cucumber for my visiting inlaws from Bermuda. We had a catch and cook feast! epic times.
Thanks @SharingTheWild for hooking up the BougieRV portable refrigerator. If you think that's something you'd like to have on your outdoor adventures, link is right here: ca.bougerv.com/
Music:
Out of Flux - The Great Wild
Orkas - Hey You
Flint - Strings Attached
Steven Beddall - Haymaker
Omri Smadar - Blue Mountain Inn
Malabi Tropical - Ottoman Dub
Low Light - Nothing In My Way
Soundroll - Mist
Thanks goes to Divingsports.ca for helping me out on my adventures!
Support my adventures on Patreon! www.patreon.com/pnwsamson
Please like/subscribe and leave a comment if you enjoyed the content!
Happy Diving!
- Chris
PNW Samson Shirts & Stickers!
www.divingspor...
#catchandcook #britishcolumbia #pnw
Appreciate hearing you talk about changing your harvesting principles and acknowledge that you live and learn. Your honesty is a breath of fresh air!
Cheers. At the time, it seemed okay. Looking back, I went about it wrong. I didn't need to shoot my limit. Don't get me wrong, the fish was consumed. But I've definitely matured over the years. I appreciate the comment!
Awesome stuff! Your stoke is infectious! This has me excited to be back on the island soon for similar trips.
Cheers dude! I was pretty hyped for that trip haha. Do it man, island trips are the best. I'm hoping to hit more Gulf islands this year.
Always good to see you and family out! Impressed with the quality of this video! Storytelling and videography are on point!
Cheers man! I appreciate that. I love when the wife and kids can join. It's not often in the winter time so I felt pretty fortunate haha.
The herring spawn is cool from out of the water, but it absolutely destroys visibility in the water! You can find their eggs absolutely everywhere for quite a while, attached to foliage or free-floating. It's a very cool time.
Hornby also tends to have great visibility compared to further south. The best I've come across in BC is Cortes Island. It's such a treat because visibility around Victoria tends to be brutal.
Also that geological formation is called conglomerate rock. It's what happens when stones are gradually cemented into sediment. If you see something that looks like conglomerate but the rocks aren't round (more like angular gravel), it's called a "breccia". Not sure if you noticed but the underwater geology around Hornby is wild. Around the south west end (Fords Cove) there's an escarpment that descends right into the ocean and there are awesome pockets of rock walls to explore and a nice reef as well. You can't harvest much there, but it's worth exploring for the underwater features.
Dude that's awesome! Super cool geology. I wish I knew more about that stuff. I suppose now I do! I've dove the Herring spawn once in the past. That was a cool experience, it was at Helliwell too. But yeah, I couldn't see much that's for sure. I'd prefer to see herring in good visibility and schooling around kelp. I really appreciate the advice and information, I'll have to check that spot out. Cheers, sorry for the late reply.
Rocks at Helliwell are conglomerate. Pebbles held together with carbonate.
Wicked. Such amazing formations. All that stuff is fascinating.
FWIW I watch to see all the beautiful colours that you don’t see from shore. Don’t care if you’re spearing or bottle hunting or just filming, it’s all good…
Thanks dude! Good to know. I love bottle diving, I love it all to be honest. So much fun and it's exciting yet relaxing at the same time.
@@PNWSamson I appreciate access to a world that I cannot see from my workshop, lol…
I'm from Victoria, Love the vids 😍 Beautiful getting to see under the water around where I live ^.^ Stay safe!
Cheers dude, happy to share the footage! Stay safe too!
Love.this. one day, i will give it a go! Inspiring!
Thanks man! I'm just the middle man. I'm happy I'm able to share these images with people. Our ocean is beautiful.
I love this content. The more informational you can make it about the sea creatures the better!
Thanks dude! Yeah, I need to start including more interesting facts. Good call!
I love Hornby Island. Had a blast at Helliwell a few years ago, It's a fantastic fishing spot too !
Yea man, such a beautiful area! I love the dramatic landscapes.
Ahh - wish we had seen you on our rock! I live on Denman Island, and there is a crew of free divers that dives around our island all winter long. We also take boats over to Hornby to go diving and spear fishing there. Get in touch if you return to this side of the rock, or want to check out the herring some time!
Awesome dude good to know! We were thinking about exploring Denman in the near future. Some lady on the ferry who lives on Denman asked if I had visited Hornby before. I said yes, but I've yet to explore Denman. Her response, "good, keep it that way." Haha. Kind of ironic considering she was heading to Hornby to explore with her kids. I hope she doesn't visit Ucluelet, Tofino. Long story short, we want to spend a day there in honor of her haha. Do you have instagram or a way to reach out?
Thank you for following the regs and trying to get DFO to change their website. I live on Hornby and have seen a number of divers spearfishing where they shouldn't be. I fish from a boat, but I do worry about some species and the impact spearfishing could have on them around the island.
No worries. Yeah, they should be following the regulations but I'm sure they are just ignorant and not breaking them intentionally. Spearfishing is actually very selective. We just dive down and assess the reef and select the fish we want to bring home for dinner. No lost fishing line or tackle, no bringing rockfish up from depth risking barotrauma, no pulling guarding males off egg masses, no disturbing the seafloor. The one sided regulation is actually pretty unfair considering we are often picking up ghost traps and plastic fishing gear in areas we are not allowed to harvest from but anglers can. In my opinion it should be all or nothing.
I respect all forms of recreational fishing, but a spearfisherman has never left line and hooks dangling along reefs. I've found a few dead birds from getting caught in line. Some of my local reefs and shores are just covered in snagged line and hooks. Not all anglers are bad, but some have no respect to for the impact lost line has.
@@spearfishJuneauSo true. Have you ever walked along a rivers edge during spawning season? Ciggerete buts and fishing line scattered everywhere. Under the water doesn't look much better. Hooks and lines snagged left right and centre. It's funny that people think we are the problem but are totally cool with angling or buying seafood from a grocery store. No offense to the poster of this comment, but we have a vested interest in a healthy marine environment. Not only for the sake of harvesting, but also to enjoy mother nature and not drown while being caught up on some 80 pound test hooked up on a reef.
Live in Cowichan, great Video.Be great if you showed us how to prep and cook.
Cheers! I definitely have some catch/clean/cool videos on my channel. Check out the catch and cook playlist!
Welcome home brother!
Thanks!!
The cliffs and Helliwell are comprised of conglomerate rock.
Great content and visibility. I live off of the Hood Canal in Washington State. The vis is excellent during the winter months.
Nice man! My buddy Blake of Washington fish Quest lives out around Hood Canal. I went and visited him a couple years ago. Beautiful area!
I am a viewer that doesn't spear fish and I couldn't be bothered if you do it don't I love how in tune you are with nature harvesting one of our most important resources requires great responsibility. This is something you show and show well. I watch for the beautiful footage you show and it gives me ideas to take my own family when we go on summer vacation. Thank you for sharing all your wonderful experiences and for cleaning up our ocean. We always take some plastic out of our lakes here in the Okanagan or when we visit any water body.
Cheers, I appreciate that! Our coast is so beautiful, I hope we can keep it that way. I'm not perfect but I'm all for sharing my mistakes with others. It's all team work, we have to look out for each other and hold ourselves accountable at times too. Thanks for doing your part!
Great visibility shows our PNW waters and life below so nicely...
Cheers man! It's pretty awesome when the visibility cooperates!
Would love to get into spear diving in the PNW. What do you typically look for in tides/wave height/weather to determine visibility, and are there certain times of the year that are typically better?
Winter time is definitely the best. Cold water kills off the algae. You can find good visibility all year but not as frequently as winter. Wind, swell, current, etc all have an effect on vis. Downside, most fish we target while spearfishing are off limits come fall to spring. So the speargun generally gets put away.
Rocken video bro 🤙🤙
Thanks Dave! Happy you liked it!
Nice one man! Great to finally dive together again!
Agreed man! Felt like yesterday but definitely too long. Have fun tomorrow!
Amazing! Keep up the great work.
Thanks man I appreciate the encouragement. Means a lot!
I would love to dive this spot 🧜♀️🫧
It's pretty amazing! I'd love to go back. Such a nice and unique structure.
@@PNWSamson Definitely going to plan a trip for next year!
Stoked to see some local content, subscribed!👍
If you don’t mind, one question: which thickness your wetsuit has?
Thanks dude! No worries, ask away. 7mm open cell is the general consensus. I made this video which might help answer some questions! czcams.com/video/LCcP2cfJE5A/video.htmlsi=RbjlZhKPsKfRWqSd
@@PNWSamsonthanks for responding 🙏Was looking for the 5/4 or even the 4/3 for occasional mostly summer snorkeling.
That should do!
What is the brand of mask you use? I live in port hardy now and am dying to get out and do some real free diving. I currently have one of those full face mask with the built in snorkel and love it but can’t dive down more than five feet it seems with it so want a proper one. Thanks again for all the amazing videos
This is the mask I have. I love it. It says it's out of stock on their website unfortunately. The problem with dive masks, what fits me might not fit you. You're almost better off going to a shop and trying a few on. For freediving, you need a low volume mask. Those full face ones are the polar opposite. Basically, when you equalize, that small amount of air coming out of your nose will equalize the pressure in your dive mask if it's of low volume. Not so much with a large volume mask and you will get a mask squeeze. If you go to a scuba shop, don't let them sell you a scuba mask, make sure it's specifically made for freediving. www.divingsports.com/products/salvimar-goblin-black?_pos=8&_sid=ea66c2289&_ss=r
@@PNWSamson thank you very very much for that. One more question, do you use a GoPro and if so what type of batteries do you use ? I just got one from my cousin and the original one is no good and need to by new ones and just wondered
@@427max no worries at all. I film my underwater stuff with the insta360 ace pro. What model GoPro is it?
@@PNWSamson 6 black
Couldn't comment yesterday, so doing that now lol....
I always find myself thinking "darn it's over?" when you say well that's it for today, and we have 6 minutes left in the show, so a tap on my screen, brings comfort knowing there's more haha.
I wonder if your wife's parents will bring that Pabst bottle for me lol, the next time they come visit.
Love the cooler box and battery pack.
Oh damn! I should have asked. They have some other stuff they are going to bring back too. Sorry man! And happy you liked that one, that second dive actually happened first on the calendar. It was too short for its own video so I tagged it on the last second to the Hornby trip haha.
Chris have you ever thought of doing a "live"? We would bombard you with questions lol.
I enjoy it with SamSamTheAdventureMan and his son Kyler Ginn, but other then you, and them, I don't follow anyone else. My time with Sam, goes back to March 2020, and would enjoy some Q&A. As for the pbr, just seeing that glass, was amazing. That was a beautiful dive down south.
God bless
It's always a treat to see you taking your lovely Mrs, and kids with you to these spots, Chris!!! Looks like you spoiled the In-Laws with some great eats too. Loved your first dive spot on Hornby such pretty underwater scenery to explore there!! So did the DFO ever get their poop in a group and fix the regs with some GPS coordinates so that a Free Diver, or anyone else knows the rules of where you can and cannot harvest, cause that would be handy!? Great video as is your MO, my Friend! Always a joy to see what you see when you dive, and you always show off where you are very well!!! The BC Gov't should purchase your footage for their Supernatural BC commercials or better yet hire you on as a full time Islands Ambassador!! Till next time, Take Care and Stay Safe!! - Dave
Haha thanks Dave! Unfortunately, no. They know it's an issue, it's a simple fix, but they clearly don't care. It just gives people a loop hole to go out and harvest from areas they are not allowed to. Not sure what gives but they need to clean up that website all together. It's extremely hard to navigate and full of discrepancies. All good though, at least I can help spread some information to a small audience. And thanks man! Our province is so beautiful, I'm happy to show some imagery to others. Always happy to see your comments, hope all is well my friend!
@@PNWSamson All is well, in fact I may be out in June to catch the return of the band Images in Vogue which was a pretty popular band when I lived out there in the early 90's. Only going to be in town a couple of days but I want to plan a week or more in 2025 to stay on the Island and maybe even do some diving, I have my breath hold up to 2 minutes and still working on it so we'll see what happens once I hit the water!! You're more than welcome to watch the old, fat guy with one leg try and dive again after a 26 year absence from the water. :)
Really great vis on the first dive! I just got a 7mm wetsuit and my legs are so buoyant I look like a scorpion. How do you address this issue, if you even have this issue? Hide a couple weights on the hamstrings ? lol
Haha. I believe they do sell ankle weights for freediving. Once you dive a little deeper the neoprene will compress and that will hopefully help out a little bit. I have a solution, though it's an expensive one. My carbon fiber fins are negatively buoyant. Throw some carbons on and they'll help weight your legs down. If you go from 7mm socks to 3mm that could also help but you'll pay the price with cold feet. Once the water temp gets a bit warmer go for 2-3mm socks.
@@PNWSamson the 7mm has me feeling really toasty so having cold feet might be a good contrast! I have a savings account building up for my first pair of carbon fins 😂 love the content doode!
@@miguelangelourbiztondo9545 Cheers man! Hopefully that'll get you sorted.
My bougeRV fridge has been a rockstar so far
Yeah dude, we are loving ours. Comes in hand all the time.
great job, I love ur channel bro. Im thinking about moving to the van island. What is the best town to make your home base for spearfishing? I concluded campbell river is the best place, is this true?
Nanaimo in my opinion. It allows you to do day trips to Victoria, Renfrew, Ucluelet, Campbell River and most of the Gulf islands. Plus, the diving around Nanaimo is pretty decent in itself. Campbell River is nice, but it puts you out of the day trip range of most areas. Plus, the entire discovery passage is a no diving harvest area so spearfishing and hand harvesting is out of the question.
@@PNWSamson I am presently in mexico, my wife and kids in tow, bought a home down here in riviera maya, enjoying the weather and spearfishing! So is there any area which as particularly good ie. ucluet? I work remote so im open to anything tbh. Would courtenay be good in the same way as nanaimo? I would prefer to be able to get to a place where in 30 mins or so i could drive and get a decent chance at rockfish and hand harvest, preferably somewhere that has a strong focus on sustainability as well and great access to natural resources.
@@jasonm7684there isn't much diving at all around Courtney. It's all sandy. You'd be a little closer to Campbell River but again, you'd have to go north of the discovery passage so it would still be a bit of a drive. Hour plus or so. Ucluelet is amazing, decent limits and probably some of the best fishing around. Swell is big in the winter, most good spots require a boat and it's pretty dark and gloomy there most of the year. Plus, it's super expensive to find housing or buy real estate. Everyplace on the island has some pros and cons but for me, Nanaimo has everything I need. I do drive a lot though, but when you load a vehicle full of friends the day goes by fast. 😊
I agree. Nanaimo is central and connected to Vancouver with the ferry + it has its own airport. I cant disagree with his points...That being said, if you have the financial means...head to Victoria. It's the sunniest and driest and warmest. Plus, the islands major airport, connected to Seattle/Port Angelas/Vancouver with the ferry and if you live in the Westshore (Greater Vic), quick access to the Juan de Fuca area - great hikes, beaches, big trees, waterfalls and I'm sure decent diving, also winter swell surfing!
Nice time out at sea
Yeah man, one of my favorite trips I've been on in a while!
No way I'm on hornby diving it this weekend! Haha
Oh nice man! Enjoy. Hope you catch the herring spawning. Such a great spot to dive, make sure you check out Helliwell!
DFO's website is embarrassingly terrible, virtually unnavigable. Hard to blame many saltwater anglers for their cluelessness towards many regulations. Only in saltwater though. The provincal minstry does a very good job with the freshwater regulations. Seems DFO views recreational fisherman as an annoyance they'd rather not deal with.
Yeah dude straight up. They are there to protect the fishery and not the everyday harvester outside of the commercial industry. Lots of amazing DFO officers but they don't have much say when it comes to regulation changes. Or even updating one paragraph on a website... Pretty sad.
Yup I moved to port hardy about four months ago and I have to ask everyone where it’s open to fish and when etc cause they suck at it.
💎
Wow, I haven't seen your name pop up for a while! Happy to know you're still kicking it. Cheers dude.
@@PNWSamson 🥲
nice one bro
Thanks brother! 👍
Amazing wiews💪💪
Yeah man! Epic scenery all over Hornby. Fun time!
If you think about it, it's more like the Canadian South West. Showing locations of endangered species is not cool. People will watch this and come pillaging.
Are you referring to the Abalone? I've heard that argument before. The ones who are looking for Abalone don't need to watch a CZcams video to find them. They are pillaging on a commercial scale and have better intel on where to find them than any one of us. Plus, you'd be hard pressed to go on a dive and not see them nowadays. Virtually every dive sight I visit I'm seeing them which is awesome. Do you dive?
I'd actually argue this video helps to raise awareness. People who see this will now know the southern end of Hornby is a no take zone while diving. People looking down from the shoreline will have that knowledge to report if they see people harvesting. The locals on Hornby don't let anything slide, we were stopped 3 times on Helliwell by locals who kept telling us to follow the rules, which we were. It was actually kind of rude but trust me, they'll be on the phone if they see people harvesting there. Especially if they were ignorant to that regulation before watching this.
en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pacific_Northwest#:~:text=the%20exact%20boundary.-,The%20most%20common%20conception%20includes%20the%20U.S.%20states%20of%20Oregon,the%20Canadian%20territory%20of%20Yukon.
@@PNWSamson Just to give you a bit of understanding about the locals. My wife has cousins that have lived on Hornby for decades. I’m 60 and have lived on the Sunshine Coast most of my life. Especially in the last 10 years or so we have seen such a flood of tourists showing no regard for our waters and tidal zones and it’s only been very recently that we are finally starting to see more of a presence of DFO and Conservation Officers. Every year I photograph people fishing where they’re not supposed to be, keeping what they’re not supposed to. And on occasion physically taken peoples 5 gallon buckets full of everything that moves and dumped them at the waterline. It gives me a little bit of hope when you come across people like yourselves that do their due diligence to know the local regulations and follow them. Hope this gives you a better understanding of our point of view.
@@keng3328 Yeah man, poaching happens everywhere. The sunshine coast and Hornby Island are not the exception. Although I agree, being diligent and calling people out for breaking the rules is 100% okay, the shoot first and ask questions later strategy is not. I just hope the Islanders who hate tourists don't leave their island. It would be extremely hypocritical if they were to go spend a weekend in Ucluelet or travel abroad to Mexico. My family respectfully visiting Hornby should not have been made to feel unwelcomed. My feelings weren't hurt, I didn't let that stuff get to me, but it was somewhat insulting. Anyways, I appreciate the comment. Thanks for reporting the bad ones, I do the same. Cheers! www.google.com/amp/s/www.cbc.ca/amp/1.6017308
Sandstone, cobblestone..lol not a geologist
Did I claim I was?
Your acceptance of kaffkaesq rules is disturbing
Huh?
Bait. 90% selfies and other irrelevant stuff.
Irrelevant to who? The video has over 270 thumbs up with 5 down. The vast majority of comments are positive. Seems like you're the anomaly. Respectfully, don't click on my videos please. ✌️
@@PNWSamson It said "epic freediving" and what little freediving there was, was NOT epic. Looked like the video was more about you.
@@bradsillasen1972 For British Columbia, that was epic. Clear water, colorful walls, and phenomenal structure. Doesn't get much better on the east side of Vancouver Island. And it's my channel FFS. My channel is literally called PNW Samson. Freediving/spearfishing is the general theme but I include the entire adventure, like most CZcamsrs do. I have an idea, how about you make a CZcams video? Let's see the quality content that you'd pump out. ✌️
@@PNWSamson I didn't click to find out about you and your thing, I clicked to see some "epic diving" in B.C. The title is simply misleading.
@@bradsillasen1972 haha holy... Cry me a river will ya? You've wasted more of your time discussing this video with me than the time it would have taken you to watch the dive footage. Again, I've received over 272 thumbs up and over 80 subscribers from this video... Read some of the other comments... I don't make these edits for petty little keyboard warriors, I make them for people who enjoy my adventures and find the information I provide valuable. Yes, epic might be a subjective term, but for me, that dive was f@$cking epic. I got out of the water feeling like a million dollars. Conditions off Hornby don't get any better. Norris rocks was amazing but diving with sea lions will get you a call from the DFO so that's off limits. Btw, the CZcams algorithm loves engagement. Positive or negative. I've also earned about $70 from this video which essentially paid for the trip. I appreciate the support!