I’ve been swamped the past few weeks but I really appreciated the course so I thought i’d type this up for you.
After taking PFI’s Intermediate course with Ted Harty, I can honestly say that I am grateful and surprised with what I took home from the experience. Being a spear fisherman in south Louisiana, I didn’t have anywhere close by to take a course, so I did my research and Immersion seemed like the best choice for me. With the small class we had, three guys, and with Ted having his own boat, we were able to work around the terrible weather we had and make the best of the time I was there, which was great because I invested a lot of time and money into this trip.
As far as my diving goes, I went into the course thinking I was doing okay, instituting what i thought was the buddy system. I can tell you now that I am very fortunate that no one had blacked out on me, before; I simply would not have been able to effectively deal with it. Ted teaches you how to dive so that if ever a problem should arise, you wont even have to think about what you’re going to do about it, it’ll come naturally. Then, there are the different techniques and tricks you’ll learn that’ll give you the edge your diving needed. I was spearfishing comfortably at 40ft, maxing out at around 60ft if I absolutely had to; but after the first ocean session with Ted, 66ft felt like nothing and I was able to make it to 100ft safely at the course’s end. I’m much more confident now and have peace of mind knowing that my buddies and i will be diving more safely by using what I learned in class on our spearing trips.
In essence, if you are going to be doing any kind of freediving, especially spearfishing, I highly recommend taking a course with Ted. He’s a stand-up guy, very professional and his teaching is very effective and easy to wrap your head around. If I could start over, I’d have taken this course before I ever shot a speargun.
Norros Orgeron Lousiana Spearo March 2014