Above is a picture from our midsummer festivities last summer 
The lake is at our cottage. Visibility with the flash light was about 40 centimeters. You basically just saw the rope when going down and the plate light about 1 meter before the plate. Good times! We did 15 meter dives (CWT and FIM) just to get ourselves used to equalization which was one of my biggest troubles before.
Next summer we’ll get rid of the buoy and replace it with a solid system attached to the boat.
I just finished reading this magnificent book by legendary Jacques Mayol. The writing is bad and Mayol seems to to ramble every now and then, but the book is still amazing. Mayol goes through his own history and the history of apnea.
The book is filled with great photographs and tidbits about apnea. It’s really interesting to see how the sport has evolved and for example what kind of gear was used decades ago.
After reading the book, I have a urge to see dolphins and to do more Pranayama yoga
The book is pretty expensive, but it’s still a must read. Keep in mind that it really isn’t a manual for freediving, but more like an overview or a coffee table book.
Few months ago I attended Stig’s course in Finland. Attendees were basically Finnish top-10 freedivers plus me 
Course was really good and I was almost able to do all the exercises.
Most valuable things for me were:
Copyright for the photos and the rest of the photos Kimmo Lahtinen
This is the coolest freediving video ever made!
We spent two weeks at Krabi, Thailand this February. We didn’t do any “official” freediving, but few leisure dives with the scuba divers, some snorkeling and DNF / static training in the pool For “offical” freediving in Krabi region you should visit Blue Planet Divers on Koh Lanta.
Temperature was around 35 – 40 celsius so it was again a bit too hot for me. Luckily water was always near so I could cooldown in a pool or sea
Find more pictures from the trip here
I haven’t updated the blog in a while, but I’m giving it an another chance. Last spring me and my girlfriend attended Aida ** course in Dahab. Course was organized by FreeDiveDahab or FDD in short. Our instructors were Katya and Dean.
Course was done in three days. All days included a bit of theory and then diving. Course wasn’t too hard or too intense.
This was the first time we actually made any real open water depth dives. My PB was 20 meters on the last day. Equalization was really hard since I didn’t have any routine to do it.
I can recommend FDD to everyone and will join them again in future (maybe I’ll do the *** there).
The best place I’ve dived. All the sites are next to the shore, so there is no need for boat. Visibility is really good and there is a lot to see. On the downside there are lot of other divers and it’s kind of hot
A great piece of information about equalization techniques from Liquivision: Frenzel Fattah Equalizing Workshop
Found a new document:
Stands for ‘Beance Tubaire Volontaire’. In the 1950’s the French navy developed a technique for middle ear equalization called ‘Voluntary Tubal Opening’. This technique is difficult to teach and only approximately 30% of taught can perform it reliably. Muscles of the soft palate are contracted while upper throat muscles are employed to pull the Eustachian tube open. This technique is similar to the events that happen in the back of your throat at the end of a yawn. It is also similar to wiggling your ears and some people seem to be born with the talent. For a manual of BTV click here the BTV (VTO) manual.
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