Diveyak report from Hibiscus

[MikeJacobs]

Yesterday was exhausting but well worth the effort. I paddled WITH the current this time, about 2 miles plus south almost to Sunrise Blvd, taking only two breaks as Fish & Wildlife stopped me (two different boats). Nice chat, we traded intel, and I was on my way after making new friends.

I knew I would be paddling back into current (about 1/2 knott) so wasted no time finding the south bouy line and dropping down onto a nice reef that only Cayubas and a few of the charters dive occasionally. The current was a bit stronger there and because I was dragging the 'yak north into the current, Jenny would have been very critical of my air consumption - about 1,000# was gone within the first 20 minutes.

Saw two turtles - one a baby that "hid" in plain view for about 5 minutes while I just hovered and studied him. Also saw flocks, schools, packs, swarms, or whatever bunches of jelly fish would be called. While dangling my feet into the water gearing up, one stung my ankle... it still hurts this morning, more than 12 hours later.

The reef in that area along the balls is the best, but I was swimming into current dragging "the LogYak" so couldn't really dawdle. I'd rather drag it than paddle it... y'know? So I used all but 150# in about 1.5 hours and then surfaced to start back. Max depth was 32' though the average was more like 20', and there was no surge with 1/2 knott south current and 76 degrees (that's right... warming up).

You can't dawdle on the surface in a current, either, because you'll end up farther from home. So, I paddled hard and fast for the north bouy line where I could tie off and rest. Finally made it, exhausted, where I napped for about an hour and have the sunburn to remember it by. I'm not the strongest paddler, but I'm tenatious.

On the beach I met a friend of a neighbor who has been dive-kayaking this area for many years, just coming in and a kayak fisherman just going out. He uses surface supplied air and we've made a tentative date to give it a try soon. No tanks to worry about sound pretty good to me, especially now during jelly season when getting a jelly in my wetsuit (I don mine in the water) would be really sad, and where you want to get down as quickly as possible.

Hmmm... kayak fishing, however... I don't know. All I can think of is, "stinky." Not a plan for me...

 

[MikeJacobs]

Yesterday was a little turbulent but I went out to the 2nd reef anyway (had to get wet). Visibility was only about 25' but I still managed to "catch" a large coronet fish, a nurse shark and a spotted eel. Lots of blue runners and juvinile pompano as well. The water temperature was GREAT - no wetsuit and I didn't miss it!!!

This morning looked like glass. I'm going to give it another day and maybe dive Thursday afternoon or evening.

 

[GrierHPharmD]

Hi Mike et. al.,

I'm also curious about diveyakking. I've done lots of river and late SINKing, and a little SOT(Sit-On-Top)ing, and found the SOTs to require lots more upper body strength due to body angle. Something about sitting back with legs outstretched just felt awkward to me - maybe I wasn't doing it right.

I'd love to sign on as a mate on a later voyage - the next two weeks look pretty bad due to some business travel, but I'll be there in spirit (with the champagne as well as the Yakkinig/Diving)...

-Grier

 

[MikeJacobs]

Grier - I have the inflatable tandem by Seyvlor. They have a Sit-IN-Kayak, but this is the Sit-On-Top and the only available in a tandem. For my purposes, a tandem is important, even if it handles a little like a tree trunk.

search my name and "diveyak" for much discussion (most repetitive) but for now let's just say you'll have a blast when we finally make it out together - ask Jeremy. We don't paddle to Miami or anything... just a few miles, which anybody with a little upper body can do.

I'd love to sign on as a mate on a later voyage ...SNIP

 

[GrierHPharmD]

I'm looking forwrd to it. (BTW, I saw your most recent post and hadn't realized that I was a little late joining the discussion!)

Take care,
Grier

 

[medical1]

I have a sit in tandem Diveyak (The grey one) and love it. Being a sit-in you can pack a fair amount of gear. Got a Coleman rechargable inflator to go with it. Pull it out of the car and it inflates in about 4 minutes. Not a great white water craft but gets you out there & makes a nice dive platform. I attached a picture of my G/F using it at Crystal River.

 

[MikeJacobs]

How did I get the idea that the gray was a single? Now that you've posted I realize I was mistaken.

Couple of questions - do you use the trap door? Can you see the reef/bottom through the window? While double, where do you stow all the gear?

Bring it by Hibiscus on a nice day sometime - I'd like to see it in action on the reef!

I have a sit in tandem Diveyak (The grey one) and love it. Being a sit-in you can pack a fair amount of gear. Got a Coleman rechargable inflator to go with it. Pull it out of the car and it inflates in about 4 minutes. Not a great white water craft but gets you out there & makes a nice dive platform. I attached a picture of my G/F using it at Crystal River.

 

[medical1]

How did I get the idea that the gray was a single? Now that you've posted I realize I was mistaken.

Couple of questions - do you use the trap door? Can you see the reef/bottom through the window? While double, where do you stow all the gear?

Bring it by Hibiscus on a nice day sometime - I'd like to see it in action on the reef!

Grey is in fact the double sit in Trap door is a joke and we tried it once but NEVER use it now. We throw 2 tanks w/BC's attached on the back of the Yak, strap them down and away we go. We have room in the bow for an ice chest, drybag etc + the seats have storage. We slide our BC's off the back of the Kayak and tie them off to the D rings on the side. We slide off the side of the Kayak & put the BC's on in the water. We've gotten quite good at it Just reverse the procedure when you finished. The sit in is pretty stable so getting back in is a breeze & I have no complaints, but I wish they never put the stupid trap door in. Other then that downside it has the ability to get me to some sites that are hard for a charter boat. Very echo friendly - your not likely to hurt a Manatee with one. As you stated previously it does save some $$$ compared to going with a charter or having to buy the when my buddies take me out on their boats.

 

[Divemonkey]

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 have a winnebago with very limited storage for stuff like that. When you decide to unload it, I may be in the market for one! Acutally I am getting a used 14' Zodiac from a friend who is not using it anymore. But it is too big to wrestle by myself.

As a photographer I end up pretty much diving alone even with a buddy, since they either get bored, or if they are a photographer they are not paying attention too much anyway. I dive a totally redundant air supply in a 13CF pony and reg. This sounds like a good reg to putt around the breakwater in Monterey with.

If you do upgrade, keep me in mind!

Matt

 

[MikeJacobs]

We'll get some 'yak time while you're here in a couple of weeks and you can see for yourself. Monterey, as I recall, was always a little choppy. That can be trouble for an inflatable, but it's still doable as long as you LOVE the workout!

Yes, I see that solo diving is here to stay... still a lot of anti's but they're pretty much resigned to let us solos do our thing...

...As a photographer I end up pretty much diving alone even with a buddy, since they either get bored, or if they are a photographer they are not paying attention too much anyway.