Spearfactor #015: Veteran Dive Boat Skipper Dan Walsh

In this episode, I speak with veteran diver and dive boat Skipper Dan Walsh. Since the 1970s, Captain Dan has operated dive boats such as the Bottom Scratcher, and Spirit of Adventure for spearfishing’s elite pioneers. He was there filming when Terry Maas shot his record bluefin tuna at Guadalupe Island, which is one of the most popular moments in California’s spearfishing history. He’s explored the Baja peninsula in its’ entirety a few times over and has dove remote stretches of the coast that I have dreamed about diving for years. But besides Baja, Captain Dan has traveled the world filming, freediving, scuba diving, and hunting places like Dangerous Reef, Australia and tiny islands in Micronesia. His presence at most of these places was requested in order to film for show like Shark Week on the Discovery channel and various other nature shows.  One of the things that caught me off guard about Captain Walsh was how truly humble he was during the podcast. With almost 50 years of experience on and around dive boats, you would think that he would be more than justified to have a hint of an ego. Not the case, which is probably why he has been able to learn and share so much information with us. Facebook: Buddy Walsh   NOTES: Introduction/Early days 02:22:-09:45   Running dive boat stories, Cortez Banks, etc. 09:45-15:50   History of Bottom Scratcher 15:50-22:00   The evolution of the dive industry & divers 22:00-28:30   Terry Maas and diving Guadalupe Island stories 28:30-40:40   Diving San Clemente Island 41:10-45:15   Favorite diving in the world: Baja 45:15-53:00:   What makes a good boat captain 53:00-58:32   Boating tips 59:00-1:07:34   Funny new diver stories with sharks. 1:07:34-1:16:10   Closing Advice 1:16:10-1:19:35   Sponsors for this podcast included: Kimera spearfishing Promo: SpearFactor for 5% off. Los Bigotes Apparel Hotrod Spearguns  Akaso Cameras Promo: akaction10 OneDrop Spearfishing   Did you enjoy this?  If so, please share this podcast with your friends! I hope that you guys can relate to the show and learn that we are more similar than different in so many ways. I hope we all can learn to enjoy the ocean and then, protect it. Follow Spearfactor: Instagram @the_spearfactor, Facebook Spearfactor Group, YouTube and Reddit.   Until next time, I hope you land the fish of a lifetime! LEARN MORE SpearFactor is all about sharing information about spearfishing to enhance your experience in the ocean. If you are a new spearo, please checkout www.spearfactor.com for more information on targeted fish types and spearing. SOCIAL MEDIA Podcast: https://www.Spearfactor.com/podcast Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/the_spearfactor Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/SpearFactor #spearfishing #spearfishingpodcast #spearfactor #onedropspearfishing Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices