How far offshore can you safely kayak?

[lukeb]

I am aware this is based on lots of factors including experience and fitness of paddler(s), the type of kayak, how loaded down the kayak is with dive gear, weather and sea conditions etc.

But I was just curious how far you guys would feel comfortable paddling out to do a kayak dive in 'good' conditions?

....and maybe some examples of offshore dive sites along the treasure coast you have paddled out to?

 

[Scuba_Jenny]

There was an article recently in the Sun Sentinel a couple months back that featured a couple guys that go 5-6 miles offshore to fish from their kayak.

 

[fstbttms]

Old hang glider's adage- Never fly higher than you are willing to fall from.

 

[DennisS]

Old hang glider's adage- Never fly higher than you are willing to fall from.

Sounds like the warning a new pilot's mother gave him. "Be sure you fly low and slow"

 

[DebbyDiver]

I don't know the sites off the Treasure Coast, but on the East Coast/Broward County I'll go out not quite a mile offshore...I try to stay inshore of the majority of the boat traffic. I don't think I'd go offshore in my yak farther than I'm willing to swim back. Yes, people have lost their boats out there.

 

[drbill]

Hmmm... my students in a private school back in the 70s would occasionally paddle across the 22 mile San Pedro Channel to get from Catalina to the mainland to see their girlfriends. Then they'd put their kayak on the barge and hop a seaplane to get back to the island in time for morning assembly and roll call. Of course the faculty did not condone this, especially when it was done at night.

Then there is the kayaker who was bumped off her kayak close to shore by a great white shark a year or two ago. She landed on top of the GWS and both she and the shark took off... in opposite directions.

 

[lukeb]

Thanks for the replies.

I was looking at the Martin County Artificial Reefs. There are several small wrecks that are about 3 miles offshore.

P.S Whilst I was looking for the fishing article in the Sun Sentinel that Jenny mentioned I came accross this:

Empty kayak floats to Keys from Cayman Islands - South Florida Sun-Sentinel.com

......How lucky is the owner of that kayak!!

 

[DebbyDiver]

I used to work for the family of the Captain that found the kayak and yes, it was a cool find!

 

[ancientdiver]

Limit yourself to how far you can swim. If with a group of kayakers, then there is back up support and a way to retrieve your yak if you lose yours, so going further out is not quite as risky. That said, weather can change very quickly, even in the mornings (we do get morning thunderstorms sometimes). You can start a dive and it looks ok, but when you come up it can have changed dramatically for the worse. So, personally, I think of a yak as a way to have a safer, more fun, long range shore dive, not a boat dive. It is so nice to have that yak to rest on after diving, and to put a fish into a cooler, or a cool drink. Plus all the safety gear you can carry - VHF radio, air horn, cell phone, and be much more visible to boaters (I buy a $2 helium balloon from Publix with a long cord, bright color, then keep it on deck if I am going out a ways, then float it above the yak when I am under - it makes your yak far more visible to boaters, which is your greatest danger), and of course I use a dive flag, but you have to be seen before the boat can avoid hitting you. Take care, have fun.