Scuba... From a Kayak???

[Daniel379ba]

So I felt like researching this topic and a quick Google search found a around 14 video series about it!
http://www.ehow.com/videos-on_1816_kaya ... iving.html

I think its a really cool idea!!!
What are your guys thoughts?

[renoun]

I know a few local kayak divers. It defiantly expands the variety of sites one can dive from shore, even in Central Puget Sound. I do have some reservations about exerting myself after a dive and from that standpoint kayak diving is less desirable.

[nwbobber]

I find this interesting also. I found a dive shop in Salem Or. that rents kayaks, and leads outings with the kayaks. So it is possible to try this before you buy a boat. This http://www.meetup.com/blueelementdiveclub/ is their dive club. This would be a lot easier in the sound than on the oregon coast, as there is normally surf on the coast. As far as exertion, it seems like getting gear back in the kayak is where you would have a possibility of overdoing it, but with a little pre dive practice, this could be a finesse skill rather than brute force.

[Jeff Pack]

I'd prefer to scooter it.

[Joshua Smith]

Yeah. Color me lazy. But that seems like a lot of work. Might be ok with lightweight tropical gear though.

[bucknaked]

I have a kayak I have been thinkimg on doing this to accsess some sites that do not have beach scares to

[RoxnDox]

I bought a sit-on-top fishing kayak specifically so I could (eventually) do this too. There are plenty of videos on how to rig the boat and gear, and techniques for getting back on the boat, but. they seem to be mostly in warmer waters with less gear then we use here... The advice I have heard most is to use the kayak as a transport and do shore diving, rather than as a diving platform...

Jim

[renoun]

There is a PNW Kayak Divers Yahoo Group which should be a good resource. I know a handful of Marker Buoy members that were organizing local kayak dives when I was last active with the club. They were typically diving sites like the Dauntless just North of Meadow Point or the Alki Fishing Reef.

[Daniel379ba]

Yup, apparently the Scuba Kayak Divers have alot more in a community then I first expected. We got a fishing kayak today but its a sit-in not a sit-on and slinging gear around might get you sunk with something like that. They had a nice sale for a sit-on that had a nice place for your tank but I'm still looking around. Maybe you could install one of those floating compressors (I forgot what they are called, sorry for the newbishness) in one and maybe in the front a small tank of emergency oxygen. You'd be set for everything, haha!

An interesting idea is that if you dived where there was good vis and not to deep you could tie the kayak to you so it follows you, like a dive buoy, but then, attach a camera to the bottom of it so it records your entire dive from a "third person perspective."

I think if you got a good sit-on kayak, found a good way to "dock it" , you could make a nice group!
Imagine around 8 kayaks and then have 1 paddle boat that has emergancy supplies, maybe one of those floating compressors and have its reg's sent down to 20 feet incase anyone needs it and if all of this could remain stationary you'd be a mobile dive shop/dive group and a dive recovery.

Just me day dreaming:P

Then maybe on the bottom of the paddle boat you could attach two deattachable scooters just for "lols"

[fnerg]

I've taken a class from the guy that started the Yahoo group. It's eminently doable, even with all the crap we need to dive here. One caveat is that your tank/bcd need to be able to float independently, since you have to don/doff it in the water. It's also really easy to lose things that are negatively buoyant, which means you need to keep everything clipped to something unless you're actively using it.

Exertion-wise, it's not actually too bad, providing you're not fighting current, and a lot of the fishing reef-type sites aren't far from shore anyway. I have a (two-wheeled) scooter I need to sell before getting a kayak, but it's one of the things on my to-buy list.

[Greg Jensen]

My wife and I have Cobra dive yaks, and have done lots of dives with them in Puget Sound. Just a few notes, based on our experience:
We both have shoulder-zip drysuits and we can't put them on in the yaks. So if the site is too far to paddle to with the suit zipped up, we suit up on the nearest beach and do a shore dive towing the boats like a dive flag.
We put our tanks on in the yaks. When getting out at the end of the dive, we clip them off on one side of the yak and climb in the other. They are very easy to climb into- my wife was so worried about not being able to get back in, she launched herself most of the way over the yak on her first try.
If you're not wearing something, keep it either inside the boat or have a clip on it. Goody bags are great for all the small stuff.
Wind is your worst enemy. Sit-on-top yaks draw so little water you can paddle against most currents, or find a nearshore countercurrent. But going against the wind with a load of dive gear sucks.

[Matt S.]

I love the idea of a dive kayak, but I fear the the reality of the extra set-up time.