In Memory of John Lumley

[fishkilla]

i've spent all day pulling footage and editing to try to let everyone see what a dive trip with JLB would be like. i have more that i will put up when i can. i don't know how well my server is going to handle the bandwidth so anyone who wants to copy the two videos is welcome to put it up for more to see what a great guy john was to all of us.

i also would like to either use this post or another one for everyone to post their pictures and storys of JLB. i know i have plenty to share with everyone and in due time i'm sure we all will get a chance to tell a fish story about capt. john lumley.

it's been a hard day watching all of this and imagining that i have one less dive buddy in key west that will drop everything to go shoot some fish. i count my blessings because i got to spend 3 weeks this year down there enjoying the company of a great friend.

i will miss you johny longblades.

http://www.fishkillaproductions.com

[KEYSKILLER]

i remember that lobster day ben. i think i was asleep on the bow. but sure as shit we limited out and had to throw a couple dozen legals back. now thats a good day.

great memory

[inletsurf]

RIP friend.

[Nsearch]

GREAT videos Ben.

[KeysKid]

I have never met Johny, but from the videos he seemed like a fun nice guy.

[Wooley]

Great way to keep the memories of JLB alive. Good job

[cerobit]

"it was fun, that's all that matters" yup

thanks for vids, ben. I'll raise one to Johny Longblades tonight.

[keezdiver]

great pics...i have one of johnny from april of 04...after a dive on the Tbolt with Brian (keyspearfisher).

was a memorable time.

as was the spring of 05 and the SBO....we dove the bolt and john had the brilliant idea of shooting a cuda under the boat...FROM the boat...with a line gun.
damn thing nearly pulled him over the gunnel...

was a great day...hope i have some pictures at home.

[Wet Zen]

Great tribute to a fine diver. He remains forever young in our collective memory. May he rest in peace.

[keezdiver]

damn...can't find the one of john and brian...but i do have this one...

[keyspearfisher]

A fond memory.

[keyspearfisher]

John and Ben Bateman cleaning up after a hard days work!

[keyspearfisher]

John is taking this photo of Jeff and I after a great day on the water.

[keyspearfisher]

Koko and John with a lucky find on the Wilkes. This fish was caught hook and line.

[Robert D.]

That video is powerful. Thank you fish killa!!!
I just don't think I ever met a more laid back, nice guy. This picture is from June 10, 2007, one month ago. I came down from Jacksonville and Johnny took me out on his boat. He never met me until I got down there, but was willing to do anything to make sure I got to dive. I found him through spearboard and Brad. He even picked me up at my hotel. His motors were acting up from being under water, but he told me he didn't care, he felt he needed to take me out. I did three dives and he only did two. He said he would stay out there all day for me.

I remember asking him while we were out there, "Dude, are you always this freakin' nice?" He just laughed and shook his head.
I will never forget you John!

ANYONE who has any pics or stories of Johnny needs to post here. Johnny would love it. This is a great way to celebrate his life. Seems like all spearos here are passionate people, just like Johnny was. To all his close friends, my deepest regards. I haven't known Johnny very long and I can't imagine what you all are going through. This board hopefully helps and creates a special bond between all of us.

Keep smiling Johnny!

[SpearMax]

Nice video Ben. I watched them both and experienced some of John's love of Keys living, diving and hunting. Thanks for sharing. Tony

[nailman]

Awesome tribute Ben! Sorry for the loss of a very young man.

[Divin' fool]

Nice stuff Ben....great memories......


RIP Johnny

[Marcus]

Great video Ben...you're a class act. I wish I would've known Johnny, he looks to have been a great person...full of zeal for life. It looks like he lived life to its fullest just like he wanted. He died doing what he loved best. You can't ask for much more...RIP.

[keezdiver]

http://www.spearboard.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=57956&stc=1


that day was awesome and hellacious at the same time.

we were out on john's grandfather's...or uncle's...don't recall...boat, they were docked up in boot key harbor.

we meet there and loaded up, and went out the the Thunderbolt for some spearing. i was still a little new at freeshafting and even to spearing in general.

on the horizon there was the head boat "sea king"...fishing about 300yrds off the wreck. well on the first dive john swam all the way over to them, not realizing it untill he saw the sardines with hooks in them, bouncing on the bottom...and the muttons and grouper just staring at them. he ended up shooting that black out from under the boat.

i lost a big grouper out on the rubble. a nice black that shook my shaft and left a blood trail that i was trying to follow. ended up not seeing him again. i remember being so frustrated that i set my gun up with a line shaft and went on the 2nd dive. had a big grouper off the stern of the wreck...just chilling in the current...and i moved in for the shot and pulled the trigger. then watched in horror as the shaft hit the end of the line...just as the point touched the side of the grouper. it pulled out (not deep enough for the floppers) and the fish swam away.

brian took a look at john's grouper and decided that he needed to swim out under the head boat too. he ended up shooting that mutton near the boat.

i guess while i was under water, the head boat came over and BITCHED them out for diving under them. they basically blew them off....

getting back to the boat and telling how i lost the 2nd big fish of the trip...johnny was quick to encourage me to "keep trying". saying he's been so close to giving up and quiting spearing...but he always got out and tried again.
both he and brian were instrumental in my education as a spearfisherman.

i definatly won't forget the trips anytime soon.



this is john's response to my frustration...it was posted on brian's thead about the day of diving....

"Hey guys, I had alot of fun this weekend. haha on and off the boat. About your frustration keezdiver... Everyone has those days. aleast your 3-4 shafts were only bent and not lost! It was still fun out there. I hope I can get down there again very soon. I would like to get some more blacks, and more vis! Hopefully I will see you guys at the open."

[keezdiver]

another fond memory of john...mostly of him frantically trying to get the boat started after i yelled SHARKS!!!

"closest encounter with a bull...make that 2...bull sharks to date.

was freediving in about 40ft, with only about 20ft of vis. dove to the bottom and chased down a nice 25" mutton, managed a shot on it. popped back to the surface since i had the float line attached. i reloaded the spare shaft and went down for a second shot, the fish was bleeding and shimmying across the bottom, and i tried a brain shot but it was moving too much and my breath was running short. i managed a shot into the gill plate, but the spear hit the coral behind it and pulled right out...blood streaming out after it.

i headed for the surface, comforted by the sight of my first spear deep in the fish. i started pulling the fish up by the float line. about 20 ft down i could make out the silvery fish, still trying to swim with 60" of steel in it's side. about 15 ft below me all of a sudden out of no where, TWO large bulls, easily 10ft long, pounced on the fish from opposite directions.

and what was i doing? HOLDING THE FLOAT LINE!!

as the shark pulled the fish and the line away from me, i quickly realized the line was entangled in my stringer...so i frantically separated that....
the first hit on the fish didn't do much...it just tugged a bit. but then they circled back around and slammed it again...this time in full force. i finally got free of the float line and watched the sharks disappear into the cloudy water with my fish, spear and float line in tow.

i looked up towards the boat...adrenaline pumping...and yelled to johnny...and waved frantically...i sure as f**k didn't want to be in the water.

but by the time he had dropped the mooring line and fired the engine i was right next to the boat...thankfully.

we managed to find the float line on the surface not far from the "scene", and the spear was bent towards the tip...5/16" spring steel bent by the bite of the shark alone...

needless to say the mutton was history...and i was a bit reluctant to return to the water!"

[Caloosa]

Good stuff guys, keep it coming...good for the soul.

[Ed Walker]

Really nice tribute Ben. The second one hit close to home as GR, Smurf, and I dove for 2 days in Feb with him out of the same ramp on his boat. I think the scrub brush dive flag is an example of why him and I hit it off pretty good. Thats an Ed Walker rig if I ever saw one.
He wasnt in it for the ego, the glory, or the recoginition. Just liked to dive and was always easy going about it.
We actually got the full cavity search from the FWC at that very dock. The rookie officer pulled every dive bag we had out and sprawled them all out on the dock then went thru every glove in every bag looking for something to write us up for. He even examine every 2 pound mango to see if maybe it was an undersized cubera (like he could tell anyway). In the meantime the entire SKA kingfish fleet, in town for the Hogsbreath tourney had to wait because the guy wouldnt let us move the boat over. Its funny now, but we certain got some dirty looks from the triple and quadruple engine contingient.
We had a kinda slow day this April here in the State Freedive Tourney since I had the smallest boat and it was blowing. John did get to do a sight, jump in, then run down of a cobia on the flats in 3 feet of water. We all watched from the boat as he ran down the ray, then nailed the cobia that was following it while it was on the run. We finished in the middle of the pack but were already making plans for next year.
Its still hard to believe he's gone, was just a few months ago he was here in my garage helping me tie bands at midnite the nite before the tournament.


http://www.spearboard.com/showthread.php?t=42246&page=1&pp=15

[Mobile Diver]

Great videos Ben & great stories Ed & Jeff. Johnny really was a lot of fun to be around anytime.

[one shot]

I was holding it together somewhat okay until I watched these videos.
Excellent job.

I spent my birthday this year with Johny and Brad on his boat. He was one of the nicest, most laid back guys that I never met. I was planning on making it an annual tradition. I still can't think of a better person or place to be with. I am truly a better person, better diver, and better spear fisherman for having the privilege to know you.

:( You will be greatly missed, and I'll continue to remember you for the rest of my life. I will mourn for our loss of you, but I will continue to celebrate life in your memory, as I'm sure you would want it that way :cool: .
Enjoy your journey.

[fishkilla]

when i was editing the first video of john and me diving off of egmont in the shipping channel and heard him say at the end of the video "it was fun and that's all that matters," i couldn't help but smile.

that's johnny!

if i had to show some one a ten second clip to summerize his personality that would be it. i've got some other great videos that i'll put together and post when i get back home in a few weeks.

[RabiSpear]

I had never met John until the morning of the State Freedive tourney. Ed just said he had some guy from "down south" that would be diving with us. We definitely had a good time hootin' and hollerin' after those flats cobia. He didn't get just one on the day, he got two. He said that all the grouper looked small and the one he shot was barely a keeper...at about 10lbs! I was like- You can shoot them a lot smaller than that bud. Anyway, he was definitely a laid back guy. I only met him that one time, but it sucks to know that I won't dive with him again. Too early.

[Red Tide]

I have quite a few memories of Johny. He was one of the nicest guys you would ever meet. He loved the sport and always had fun...
I remember the first time we dove together in Key West. Cameron and I drove down and met him at the boat ramp. We exchanged greetings and 45 minutes later we were in the water shooting fish.
Johny lost a shaft to a shark that ate his grouper, so I let him borrow one of my guns. I remember coming up from a dive and I saw Johny being drug through the water at mach 10 by a 40 lb king fish. When I hit the surface I swam as hard as I could to catch up and get a second shot on the screaming king fish. All of the sudden the fish tore off and Johny hit the surface completely exhausted. We all swam back to the boat to take a break. I asked him why he did not let the fish take the reel line out and play him from the surface. He pointed at the reel and it was back lashed and locked down tight in a birds nest. He said " I was not about to loose your $1,000 gun unless I was attached to it". Cameron laughed and said "I would have let G.R.'s gun go in a heartbeat" Johny's come back was "I don't know you guys that well." I then told Johny not to listen
to Cameron :D
Calm seas, clear water, and big fish to you Johny. You will be deeply missed.

[Swimsuit]

ben-the videos are great. it makes me happy to watch them & know that such a good representation of him made it on film.

everyone, i'm going to go through the old threads & whatever you post on here to put together an album for john's family of his spearboard stories & putting the posted pictures with them. if you've posted pictures, i might contact you to try to get a higher res pic. unfortunately, i won't have it done in time for his memorial service. i appreciate everyone's help & don't be surprised if you get strange pms from me. thanks everyone

[Petra]

Now THAT'S awesome! Great idea, Jess. I, too, am enjoying the stories and photos... Always sad when we lose a brother.

[Ed Walker]

While listening to the Ipod tonight I thought that Pennywises' "Bro Hymn" would make a perfect soundtrack.

To all my friends present, past, and beyond
especially those that werent with us too long
Lifes' the most precious thing you can lose.

.....

Ever get the feeling you cant go on
just remember who's side it is that you're on
you've got friends with you til the end.

....

If you're ever in a tough situation
we'll be there no hesitation
brotherhoods' a rule we cannot bend.....

[KEYSKILLER]

nice.

ED

[one shot]

when i was editing the first video of john and me diving off of egmont in the shipping channel and heard him say at the end of the video "it was fun and that's all that matters," i couldn't help but smile.

that's johnny!

if i had to show some one a ten second clip to summerize his personality that would be it. i've got some other great videos that i'll put together and post when i get back home in a few weeks.

That was some powerful video. Thanks for putting it together. I'm looking forward to seeing more.

I put together a banner for Johny's memorial service with some help from Brad, Ben, and from some of the other pics that people posted on this thread.

I wish I could make it to the memorial service, I'll be there in spirit.

[KEYSKILLER]

bmp

[Nsearch]

While listening to the Ipod tonight I thought that Pennywises' "Bro Hymn" would make a perfect soundtrack.

To all my friends present, past, and beyond
especially those that werent with us too long
Lifes' the most precious thing you can lose.

.....

Ever get the feeling you cant go on
just remember who's side it is that you're on
you've got friends with you til the end.

....

If you're ever in a tough situation
we'll be there no hesitation
brotherhoods' a rule we cannot bend.....



Perfect choice Ed.....awesome song :thumps:

[keyspearfisher]

This is a cubera John got shortly after he was OKed to dive after his trip to the chamber.

[KEYSKILLER]

nice...cube

i do have to say jlb did have a thing for cubes. the last two dives we went on he got one at each.

[guttshot]

Much respect to the brotherhood you guys have shared. My empathy is out to your crew and family. The greatest thing you can do (and have been been doing) is to cherish, recount and celebrate the good times and memories.
In my thoughts...
-Ryan