Last of the Blue Water Hunters

Rating:
Summary: You'll want to live it
Review: I am an avid diver and my underwater hunting has been limited to using the Hawaiian sling spear in S. California and the waters off Okinawa. This wonderful book has opened a world of possiblities to me. In the '70s the author anchored his boat in the Channel Islands to see if it was possible to sustain himself by spearfishing alone. There was a belief that the nurishment gained by eating fish could not make up for the energy lost in the effort of spearfishing. The author takes us into the kelp beds of the Channel Islands and then flashbacks to the early historty of spearfishing. Carlos tells of the exploits of the first spearfishermen and how they developed their gear. This book will make you long for the early days of exploring Baja in the 1960's and you'll wish you were there. This book will help you realize, I think, what's really important in life. keep this book because you'll want to reread it.

Rating:
Summary: Hard to explain the effect of this book...
Review: I read a quote once that said "When you sell a man a book, you don't sell him 12 ounces of paper, ink and glue - you sell him a whole new life." I should stop typing right now, and just say 'buy this book and prove that quote true.' I keep coming back to this book, mesmerized by the images it conjures up in my mind, and finding in it the unspoken reasons for my rediscovered love of the ocean. For those who love the sublime reality of the life and death world under the waves, who long to find their place as hunter and adventurer in the deep blue, this book will profoundly move you and leave you with the taste of a whole new life. Read it, and see what I mean.

Rating:
Summary: More than a sport
Review: I'm a water enthusiast and addicted to scuba and apnoe diving. The first time I saw speargun-fisher in Thailand back in 1995 I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw them 60feet down and not struggeling but stalking and waiting for the right moment to ...
I was captured right away by the deep feelings of the author and the philosophie he describes which is truly part of speargunfishing. It is not a sport but more like a way of life.
I was wondering thought why I didn't read anything about the huge variety of equipment. But when I finished the book after 4 days I realized, to get lost in such details would have missed the point. But maybe Mr. Eyles should have gone more into the physics and the danger that comes with apnoe and speargunfishing as well. Expecially since he repeatedly discribes how he hyperventilated to stay down. This gave me 3 days in coma and I merely survived, even though I knew theoretically about the danger of passing out. So I think you can't strecht this point far enough and to my consideration there should be no book about this activity which doesn't highlight this inherent lifethreatening risk. It still enjoy the ocean and surely I dived with the same pleasant feeling into this book.