MikeJacobs
Guest
It's been a couple of weeks but the diveyak has finally been christened. Part of the problem was that the champagne bottle kept bouncing off the bow, but we drank the champagne and figured that was good enough.
I took turns heading out with Marvel, a neighbor and solo until finally getting the nerve up to load tanks and steam for the bouys when this afternoon's weather turned perfect.
I'll tell ya... the diveyak handles in the water like a real yak would. It's a log, and doesn't handle quite as well as a big white water canoe. BUT it will get you there, and the upper body workout is a LOT more fun than anything you'd do in a gym.
It took about 15-20 minutes to get to the second reef - not the second tier of the first reef, but the real second reef where dive boats tie up to the bouys. We've done it from the shore a few times and even ran out of air once.. quite a kick.
Ca-ching... I'm counting this as a $45 dive (two people, one tank each) toward a return on my investment... only 19 more to go! Much better than kicking all the way there and back.
We hitched to the bouy to gear up in the water, and tho nothing we had discussed worked the way we'd planned, we didn't lose anything and eventually were set. We could see the reef from the surface, but with mask on it was a nice view of the plain and then crumbling outer edge... kinda like flying over the desert.
Little current, 25' visability, and a great dive partner. We agreed the diveyak is a stable and convenient platform, though I'm going to be careful for a while about conditions. We've talked about driving it down to the port and drift-diving all the way back... kinda like tubing the Hootch (OK, who knows what that's about)?
The big question: would I recommend the diveyak? Well, it will get you out there with all your gear and all the cold drinks you'd want as well, but you need some upper body strength. Inflation requires 10 minutes of pumping (I'm ordering a low-pressure line adapter), and it only weighs 50 lbs. It'll fit on your car's roof. Is the second reef worth it? I don't know yet... certainly what I saw today was nice in its own way but not as varied as the first reef can be.
But, hey, the real goal is the THIRD reef lol... and there are some great stretches of the second we haven't made it to yet except by boat. Soooo... I'm looking forward to doing my 20 dives to pay for the darn thing, and then buying a *real* kayak next time. In other words, it looks like a great starter for my situation and I'm going to be happy to wear it out.
I took turns heading out with Marvel, a neighbor and solo until finally getting the nerve up to load tanks and steam for the bouys when this afternoon's weather turned perfect.
I'll tell ya... the diveyak handles in the water like a real yak would. It's a log, and doesn't handle quite as well as a big white water canoe. BUT it will get you there, and the upper body workout is a LOT more fun than anything you'd do in a gym.
It took about 15-20 minutes to get to the second reef - not the second tier of the first reef, but the real second reef where dive boats tie up to the bouys. We've done it from the shore a few times and even ran out of air once.. quite a kick.
Ca-ching... I'm counting this as a $45 dive (two people, one tank each) toward a return on my investment... only 19 more to go! Much better than kicking all the way there and back.
We hitched to the bouy to gear up in the water, and tho nothing we had discussed worked the way we'd planned, we didn't lose anything and eventually were set. We could see the reef from the surface, but with mask on it was a nice view of the plain and then crumbling outer edge... kinda like flying over the desert.
Little current, 25' visability, and a great dive partner. We agreed the diveyak is a stable and convenient platform, though I'm going to be careful for a while about conditions. We've talked about driving it down to the port and drift-diving all the way back... kinda like tubing the Hootch (OK, who knows what that's about)?
The big question: would I recommend the diveyak? Well, it will get you out there with all your gear and all the cold drinks you'd want as well, but you need some upper body strength. Inflation requires 10 minutes of pumping (I'm ordering a low-pressure line adapter), and it only weighs 50 lbs. It'll fit on your car's roof. Is the second reef worth it? I don't know yet... certainly what I saw today was nice in its own way but not as varied as the first reef can be.
But, hey, the real goal is the THIRD reef lol... and there are some great stretches of the second we haven't made it to yet except by boat. Soooo... I'm looking forward to doing my 20 dives to pay for the darn thing, and then buying a *real* kayak next time. In other words, it looks like a great starter for my situation and I'm going to be happy to wear it out.
