Roger's Spearfishing page


I love the sea...  In my song-writer career, I wrote many songs about it. Fact is, in 1985, 1986 and 1987, I wrote the songs that represented Canada in the "Menshen Und Meer" (Men and the Sea) Festival, in Rostock, East-Germany at that time.

I sang "La Reine des Mers" in 1985. In 1986, Theresa Doyle sang : "Spirit of the Sea", and in 1987, Sylviane Noël from Québec interpreted: "He belongs to the Sea"
 

The three of us were backed by a symphonic orchestra (85 instruments and vocals) LIVE at the Rostock congress hall. Beside the 5000 people audience, it was broadcasted to many European countries.
 

Since I was a kid, going to the beach and fishing were a source of exaltation to me. Since I was born with that "hunter" instinct, I remember I used to use a line and a hook to catch fish while swimming in the shallow and beautiful water of the "Riviera" beach in Beirut, Lebanon. Since I could observe various fish species and their behavior in their natural habitat, it was probably very natural for me to switch from a "line and hook" to the more challenging "spear gun". Add to that the fact that I am also a game hunter.  In Lebanon, I never had the opportunity to hunt anything but smaller game birds, ranging from thrushes to woodcocks and limited smaller waterfowl. But in Canada, I hunted deer and moose (never got a moose though yet!), hares, cotton tails, partridges, grouses  and wild geese.
 

From the shallower depths ranging from 1 to 6 meters, I started freediving in deeper waters many years later, only.

Freediving! It should spell: Free diving, really. But I don't want you to think it means "diving for free"...

Freediving means: fin kicking your way under the surface of the water, to whatever depth, WITHOUT using any SCUBA gear. In other terms: you must hold your breath and do it... SCUBA is the abbreviation of: Self Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus. (Tanks with compressed air and/or other gas mixes, depending on depth).

Freediving, free diving, skin diving, snorkeling, breath hold diving, apnea diving ...  Many synonyms, one passion... Under water exploration and/or spear fishing, lung powered...

If you would like to find yourself on your way to the wonderful world of Man and the Sea... Then why don't you come and join me in my online dive shop, at PicassoAmerica.com ? 

Aside from the fact that it offers the world's best freediving and spearfishing  gear and equipment, the Picasso America website has tons of pictures, news & articles & stories, reviews, advice, a dicussion forum, archive and an  extensive search and FAQ sections.

I will be adding to this page many spearfishing stories, old and new, as well as many pictures too. So, come back often to check-out the updates. If you'd like to, you can e-mail me a small note to:  roger@yazbeck.com and I'll keep you posted whenever I update it!

     (last update to this page: March 7, 2002)