Wow, what a day yesterday! 2 friends and I paddled out to the Georges Valentine Wreck off the House of Refuge in Stuart; one was on full scuba in a Scupper Pro, one freediving in an OK Caper and I tested out the new hookah rig on my Scupper Pro. For anyone who doesnÃÕ know, the House of RefugeÃÔ shoreline is covered in jagged limestone rocks, making beach entries in a kayak interesting. As we peered over the dune and out into a messy 2-3 chop, we decided to charge it anyway; we could see the wreck from shore! After about 20 minutes of unloading and setting up in the hot sun, we were grateful for cool water. Deciding to launch the full scuba kit first proved interesting in the waist- chest shore break. We did it, but only after nearly being dashed in the rock-shorebreak combo. The next 2 launches were a breeze. All boats did great, at times powering right through some chest high rollers. I was impressed at the seaworthiness of the boats. The wreck itself was great, holding a school of snook, small sheepsheads and assorted tropical, nothing worth shooting.. We had an unimpressive 6-8 vis, maybe 75* and surgey (sp?) on the bottom. My hookah rig worked great, but only after getting the hose untangled from the yak. After an hour on the bottom, the seas seemed to be calming down, but were still the most challenging conditions yet experienced in the yak. Heading back in, we decided to paddle 300 yards south of our launch point towards sandy beach area instead of rocks; good thing we did. Even in the sandy area, we still managed to flip the caper in the breakers, dropping gear all over. The 2 scuppers did better, but were still slammed on the beach as we crashed broadside onshore. The hard part came when we had to drag fully loaded yaks 300 yards over the beach to our launch point. Needless to say we were exhausted afterwards. We recovered all floating gear and sunk weight pockets, leaving with everything we came with.
Yak diving is great once you get into the water, but the set-up and breakdown make it a physical endeavor; im still tired!
Steve
Yak diving is great once you get into the water, but the set-up and breakdown make it a physical endeavor; im still tired!
Steve