kayak Diving - How Seasonal?

[LAP57]

I live in southern New England. The average temps now should be about 50 and the current water temp is 41. I have ruled out owning a dive boat because of space limitations at home. I keep looking at kayaks especially the current OK Prowler 13's and 15's. I am wondering how usable a SOT would be in this area.

What are the air temp/water temp ranges people find they can reasonably deal with? If I could use a kayak mid May through October I would consider it a good investment.

How hard or uncomfortable is it to paddle in a full wetsuit? I wear a one piece 7mm suit.

In a 13 to 15 ft kayak what is a resaonable range to expect to travel in an hour in a SOT kayak full of dive gear?

Is a rudder a good investment for this type of kayak?

I looked through this forum but it seems to be one of the least used on Scubaboard. Hopefully there are a few readers who can help.

Thanks.

 

[neonistic]

There are a few good places to find GREAT information about kayak diving. One is an e-book that you can purchase on CD and the other is a website. I don't have the links on this computer but I will look for them. I have kayaked in my 3mm suit and it isn't uncomfortable. I would think that if you had a good 7mm it would be ok. You might have to unzip the back if you get too hot. As for range, you will have to try it out beforehand and see how far you are comfortable going. Remember that you will have to paddle back after your dive. I think a rudder depends on the kayak you get. Some track better than others. With all of your gear your kayak will sit lower and change how it tracks too. I have two Scramblers set up for diving and I love them.

Here is the link that will lead you to the book.
Kayak Diving

Here is the site. He added that he no longer kayak dives and the information will not be updated.
Kayak Diving

 

[LAP57]

I have seen both of those sites. Both talk about kayaking in the warm months, no mention made that I found about cool weather use of a SOT kayak. My local kayak shop did tell me that fisherman are out in them by April in my area and that the Kayakers are out in 3mm suits by then as well. He had no idea about the pros and cons of trying to paddle in a 7mm suit.

 

[Bob DBF]

Our water temps are 50 degrees plus or minus all year and air temp when I've been out have been down to 45 with 47 water temp. I use a 7mm farmer john. It's tricky when you get out of the water and don't warm up.

The water temp for diving is up to your wetsuit. The air temp is trickier because if it is sunny you can really heat up in a wetsuit even if the air temp is down. Big trick is to be able to get off some of the wetsuit to cool down or drop back in the water for a bit.

Take a look at Hobie with rudder and Mirage drive, a buddy has one and it is great. Saving my pennies.

Hobie Cat Company - Compare All Kayak Models

Bob
---------------------------------
I may be old, but I’m not dead yet.

 

[cmburch]

We kayak freedive year round between storms. I hardly kayak SCUBA dive anymore because I do not like cleaning up the extra equipment in the evening. With a 7mm Farmer John wetsuit or a 9mm one piece, it is hard for me to sit-up straight to paddle. Also in the bright California sunshine, I overheat quickly. I painted the back of my wetsuit white. Kayaks are fast, so it is easy to cover long distances along the coast in a short period of time. I would never kayak 1 hour to a dive spot. We do stay out on the water for 3 or more hours if conditions are nice. I tend to go less than 2 miles. Normally only about 1/4-1/2 mile or so for freediving. A rudder makes life easier especially with wind and currents. Kayaking with a SCUBA tank is a little slower, but not by much since it is only the extra weight of the tank and backplate for me. I use the same weight belt for freediving and SCUBA. A freedive wetsuit is more flexible, but is not recommended for SCUBA.

Somewhere there is a link or website about a kayak diver in Hawaii that has a lot of good info and advice.

 

[Peter_C]

In California we can kayak/boat dive year around as long as conditions permit. The 22' swells on Friday might have been a little over my adventure scale.

I own two SOT kayaks and an inflatable boat (Zodiac 4.1m). The boat gets used fairly often and the kayaks rarely. My scooter gets used the most.

In about the same amount of space a kayak takes up you could store a fast roller boat. It would also cost, with a motor, about the same as a new Hobie Mirage Drive kayak. With a small powered boat your buddy can come along and you could travel many miles to a dive site. Either way I always carry a VHF and a depth sounder of some kind. The new Nautilus Lifeline VHF would be a good investment. I also always carry flares and the regular safety equipment for diving. Something in about the 10-12' range and if you could find something a few years old, but not older you would save some $$$.

Edit: cmburch beat me with a reply (Phone calls always get in the way of SB), but here is the link he mentioned. http://jimspears.net/kayakdiving/topics.htm

 

[LAP57]

After looking into this further the inflatable is looking like the way to go. I like to paddle but given the logistics of my diving I don't think the kayak is the way to go for me. I will debate the cost of kayak vs inflatable. A 15' OK Prowlder with rudder would come in aroud $1400. A 12 foot inflatable on sale is about $1500. Then add a 20hp engine at $2800 and there is considerable cost. I can offset some of this as I was planning on buying a duck boat for the fall and the same engine will work on both boats.

I

 

[cmburch]

There is a large market for used kayaks and inflatables. At that price, it must be a fiberglass rather than plastic kayak.

 

[Kiwi303]

I haven't dived from a Kayak yet, but I have been thinking of it. but I tow fishing gear behind a cheap $250 rotomoulded plastic kayak that was picked up direct fromt he manufacturor as a second. parts of the hull are too thin to pass QC to be sold, but knowing that and buying it anyway, I'm not bothered.

I tow a little sea biscuit type donut filled with net and weights. All up the weight of a wet net, fish and net anchors would be not far off the weight of single tank and belt... I don't go far, but a kayak is pretty easy to paddle. a 2 piece farmer john and jacket that you can put the jacket on while sitting on the boat is probably best, I paddle in 2 piece bottom and a t-shirt.

 

[Peter_C]

parts of the hull are too thin to pass QC to be sold, but knowing that and buying it anyway, I'm not bothered.

If you haven't already I would recommend pool noodles aka foam for flotation inside your hull. Plus you should carry a pump. I also carry a VHF if in the ocean, along with flares.