The RetroSub Freedivers are a loose band of underwater hunters, gatherers and sightseers who seek to relive the halcyon days of underwater exploration by using primitive, historical, or in other ways inadequate equipment. RetroSub is based in the San Francisco Bay Area, but membership is open worldwide.
Being a member of the RetroSub Freedivers doesn't necessarily mean you always dive "retro". There are plenty of us who own modern (Yamamoto) wetsuits and will wear nothing else. Some of us are tech-heads, eagerly awaiting the next technological breakthrough in our sport. What bands us together is a deep feeling for history and the willingness to occasionally use antediluvian equipment to experience it first hand.
RetroSub is a club for freedivers, which means we eschew the use of SCUBA in favor of breath-hold diving. Those of us that hunt believe in taking only what we need from the ocean and nothing more. We are an environmentally aware, ecologically conscious, and ethically sound group of individuals. This is not to say that we are Politically Correct; although hunting on SCUBA is perfectly legal and less objectionable than 97% of other means of taking fish, we shun its use for underwater hunting simply because we don't like it. We aren't extremists and we aren't passing judgement. We are open to anyone provided they leave their tanks at home.
To become a member of RetroSub, simply join the RetroSub mailing list.
One of the main reasons for forming a club was to have better organization for events. The following is a list of events that we would like to hold. There may be others, so send in your suggestions.
A day of good visibility, warm water and low surge, with plenty of time to perfect diving techniques and engage in target practice.
In the dead of winter the diving may not be that great, especially with another la Nina winter approaching. So we show videos, eat fish and abalone we froze earlier in the year, tell stories, that sort of thing. Renaud is going to dig up a copy of the French version of The Big Blue for our first screening.
No charities, a 5 fish limit, and bonus points awarded for using the oldest dive gear. Wool undergarments, homemade goggles, and going finless gets a good modifier to your score. Brrr.... Click to see Tournament Rules.