Dive 2059 8-27-16 Price’s neck Newport RI- First dive from a yak. A beautiful sunny day, light ENE winds, almost flat calm, no white caps, small rollers, a perfect day! Saw plenty of divers some were speros on yaks others shore diving. Got the yak loaded and me geared up; launched the yak and after a short paddle I was floating in front of the concrete abutment that was the base for the gun emplacements. After about 15 min. to finish gearing up and anchoring the yak I slipped off the yak and into 70F clear New England water. The “AfterDark roll” works great to remove the kit from the yak. Got my kit on, checked that everything was secured, rolled the yak back upright.
The water was about 10’ deep where I anchored; the bottom was visible from my seat in the yak. The vis was easily 15’ until going pass 20fsw where it was reduced to about 8’. Max depth I found was 30FSW this was west of the point. The surge was surprisingly strong so I didn’t go to the outside of the point figuring the vis would be worse there; the depth at the point I would guess may go to 40FSW. The rollers picked up a little during the dive and the surge got stronger especially in the shallows where I looked in vain for 20MM or 40MM shells. The bottom is gorgeous, huge rocks form what is almost a wall running parallel to the point, that is N > S, swimming in a straight line was very difficult unless one wanted to get within a few feet of the surface and then go back down. I did a lot of zig zagging. There were carpets of loose seaweed covering the bottom in spots, mostly in the shallows, that moved with the motion of the surge. Fish were everywhere, small fish, larger fish, togs, stripers, scup, black sea bass, cunners, small fish that looked native, nothing that looked tropical. After 70 mins and a max depth of 30 FSW I decided to end the dive with 900psi remaining. I tried the “AfterDark roll” to get the kit back in the well, much to my disappointment I couldn’t get it to work. The problem was when I tried to get the line in place the kit would float out from underneath the yak. I need a third hand (or a buddy) to hold the kit in place; looks like another learning trip to Beach Pond is in the works. I think if I put the lines thru the holes in the sides of my B/P I may be able to use one hand to set the lines holding the kit with the other; we’ll see. After 3 attempts to get the damned kit in the yak upright I finally did it and didn’t fall out this time! I headed back letting the wind take me back paddling just enough to keep the yak straight.
All in all it was a nice dive in a place I’ve never dived before on a rare day from a kayak for the 1st time. Now who says an old sea dog can’t learn new tricks! That reminds me, I think a sidemount kit would work really well from a yak.