diveyak

[MikeS]

I dove off an inflatable diveyak for the first time today at Devil's Lake.  It seemed to be an easier way to get to the west shore.  I put in at the boat launch on the east side of the north end and practiced getting my lard butt in and out of the thing and tethering and untethering gear.  It was easier than I thought it would be and I paddled over to the rocks on the west shore.  I'll admit that it paddled harder than I thought it would.  Could be the added weight and the wide width of the thing.  I put a flag on the thing and towed it as my float.  As expected, it towed a little hard when I was dragging it against the wind, but winds weren't real strong today and it worked out fine.  Next, I'd like to try a two-man diveyak.  Nice experience, but I'm not sure I'll invest in one yet.

[matt t.]

The first time I saw one (in the LDS) I thought it looked like a neat idea. After thinking about it for a week or 2, I decided that scuba diving is enough work without all of the added trouble of trying to get on/off of the kayak and securing all of the scuba gear on the thing. Keep us updated on your experiences. I may try one yet.

[scubert]

just imagine two divers in full kit with doubles on trying to paddle one of those things around! :o

[MikeS]

Ouch!

[Chris H]

I'm not familiar with the Diveyak brand, but I would expect less drag from a rigid hulled boat than an inflatable.    Deep Blue (414-964-3483) in Milwaukee, is an Ocean Kayak dealer and has a rigid, sit-on-top available for rental/purchase.  Divepoint Scuba (1-877-DIVPNT) has Perception, Current Designs, Islander, and a few others, and usually has 50+ boats in stock.

Jon (FreediveWI) uses a kayak, perhaps he will chime in.

[MikeS]

Thanks for your input.  To tell the truth, I'm not sure if I actually used the Diveyak brand or something similarr, but it was black and was an inflatable, one-man.  It definitely was stable as I had no problem getting my fat butt back on it in deep water and had no stability concerns moving around or hauling my weight integrated bc back aboar.  A fit friend of mine has a regular (whatever that means) rigid kayak (not meant for diving), but tried to use it so anyway.  He said it was way too flippy to get back on.  So, I'm wondering if the rigid kayaks that the LDSs like Deep Blue sell are nearly as stable as the inflatables.  I would expect that maybe not quite so, but still more stable than my buddy's or they wouldn't be selling them to divers.  At any rate, it has sparked my interest and I'll continue to look into them and consider their usefulness.

[FreediveWI]

I have a couple of boats.

My first was an Ocean Kayak Scrambler that is stable enough to stand on and joust another boater with your paddle- yes, it's been done.

It can easily carry a fully rigged set of gear mounted to a 120. I've owned it for over 12 years and it still keeps and going. It works great in the surf- like when Lake Michigan cooperates in November with some surfable waves.

My other boat is a Futura Surfski that is wicked fast on the water and I use all the time around Madison. It is fiberglass and has a rudder, along with a hatch.

My old computer just died so I don't have any photos to attach to point them out, but if you just do a search on this site about dive kayaks you'll see lots of picutres of both boats, as well as the first time I took Gert out to surf waves off of Bradford Beach. ;D

A rigid hull will cut through the water better, and not get blown around as much, than the blow-up toy kind that I have seen sold in some dive shops. They are also a bit safer when carrying your speargun with you.

Another dive buddy of mine has an Ocean Kayak tandem and we can easily launch it down the stairs at Beaver Lake to paddle oput to the good part of the lake to dive/spearfish. There is no public boat trailer launch so canoe and kayak are about your only options. Still, the lake is worth the effort to get in and dive.

I actually spent today out kayaking in the Madison Lakes as part of a class I'm taking. We were in fully enclosed boats, but I was wishing I had my surfski to make things a bit cooler in the hot temps that we've been enduring.

As far as diving with it, the palstic one cuts through the water fairly easy when towing it behind me- I use a cavern rell to pull it around when scuba diving. For freediving I just drop a small anochor, or tie it off to a wreck if I'm in Lake Michigan, and dive aorund it. The nice thing about paddeling out to your site is that your legs are still fresh for the dive, and while you dive your arms get to rest for the return trip.

Jon