Recorded 06/01/20
Episode 015: CPT Dan Walsh, Veteran Boat Captain & Diver
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