2airishuman
Contributor
The only boat I have is a 17 Wenonah. It's a midweight kevlar layup weighing about 55 pounds, light enough that I can get it on and off the car myself, big enough to carry two people with gear, or maybe three people with no gear if they're not all my size and I put in the jump seat. I like it.
This summer I'm thinking of using it to dive some river locations that don't have shore access. These are locations where you put in, run the river for a mile, dive in a deep pool, and run the river for another mile or two and take out. Not a fun swim but a peaceful canoe trip in the wilderness. They'll more or less be mud puddle dives, shallow, poor vis, nothing to see but the carp and debris. Still, something local. The banks can be steep and rocky so I can't count on beaching the boat.
I can reboard the little craft in deep water even without a wetsuit or fins, but it's not easy or graceful, and not something that my available dive buddies are likely to want to try. I'm thinking of making an outrigger. There are a few commercial ones for sale out there but they are geared towards use while moving, more emphasis on streamlining than on sufficient flotation to maintain stability for reboarding.
I think that with a stirrup, a single outrigger, and a very moderate amount of balance and athleticism, it should be possible to board it from the water. Similarly it should be easy to get a scuba kit in or out of the water without tipping.
I think I can make a prototype by cutting the curves out of a piece of 1x12. If I like it I might remake it in a wood strip layup to make it lighter.
I'm currently leaning towards using a snowmobile trailer inner tube for flotation, rather than foam, for ease of storage. The intent is to remove the outrigger and keep it in the canoe while running, and deploy it when needed. My drawing isn't to scale but shows the idea. The braces interlock with the gunwale on the boarding side, and would be held in place with a clamp on the nonboarding side where there isn't as much stress.
I know that to the extent that people dive from paddle craft at all, they use kayaks. They're more in vogue than canoes overall in the outdoor recreation scene, for one thing, and unmodified are easier to reboard. Any serious canoeist will tell you their limitations. Chief among them is that they are awkward on land. I can carry my canoe down a flight of stairs or a steep unimproved trail, balancing it with one hand leaving the other free for holding the handrail if necessary, and still see where I am going. It is lighter than a kayak large enough to carry even one diver and gear as those average around 70 pounds.
This summer I'm thinking of using it to dive some river locations that don't have shore access. These are locations where you put in, run the river for a mile, dive in a deep pool, and run the river for another mile or two and take out. Not a fun swim but a peaceful canoe trip in the wilderness. They'll more or less be mud puddle dives, shallow, poor vis, nothing to see but the carp and debris. Still, something local. The banks can be steep and rocky so I can't count on beaching the boat.
I can reboard the little craft in deep water even without a wetsuit or fins, but it's not easy or graceful, and not something that my available dive buddies are likely to want to try. I'm thinking of making an outrigger. There are a few commercial ones for sale out there but they are geared towards use while moving, more emphasis on streamlining than on sufficient flotation to maintain stability for reboarding.
I think that with a stirrup, a single outrigger, and a very moderate amount of balance and athleticism, it should be possible to board it from the water. Similarly it should be easy to get a scuba kit in or out of the water without tipping.
I think I can make a prototype by cutting the curves out of a piece of 1x12. If I like it I might remake it in a wood strip layup to make it lighter.
I'm currently leaning towards using a snowmobile trailer inner tube for flotation, rather than foam, for ease of storage. The intent is to remove the outrigger and keep it in the canoe while running, and deploy it when needed. My drawing isn't to scale but shows the idea. The braces interlock with the gunwale on the boarding side, and would be held in place with a clamp on the nonboarding side where there isn't as much stress.
I know that to the extent that people dive from paddle craft at all, they use kayaks. They're more in vogue than canoes overall in the outdoor recreation scene, for one thing, and unmodified are easier to reboard. Any serious canoeist will tell you their limitations. Chief among them is that they are awkward on land. I can carry my canoe down a flight of stairs or a steep unimproved trail, balancing it with one hand leaving the other free for holding the handrail if necessary, and still see where I am going. It is lighter than a kayak large enough to carry even one diver and gear as those average around 70 pounds.
