So yeah, the day begins and I tow my kayak gear and cooler on my new wagon. The Kayak packs in a very small area and is fairly light 50 pounds or so. Inflation with the foot pump is painless and well not bad, could use a better pump though. The kayak packs in allot of stuff, tank in the back, seat goes next, then at the very front where the bungies hold all my other gear (fins, mask, computer, etc.) The seat is comfortable and the nature of the craft being an inflatable lends in comfort.
So launch time, I drag the kayak through the sand (not advised, shells, rocks, etc) hop on it and tackle the surf. The waves were not too big, but my lack of experience made it daunting none the less. After the exiting surf war I made it out with a big grin on my face. The kayak is very stable and about the only thing to take note is that under-inflation will cause it to buckle at the crest of the wave (did not happen to me, but I can see it happening).
Some what of a disclaimer, while I consider myself a good diver, well I am not a kayaker at all and this is a learning thing for me. So I am out in the water and I am following the gps coordinates to the dive site. Paddling this thing is kind of tough, and I attribute it to several factors 1. Sit in kayak 2. Heavy aluminum paddle 3. Lack of technique 4. Shape of boat
It took close to an hour to get to where I needed to go and the 2.5 mph current was not helping at all.
I join in on the collection of other dive boats out there and proceed to gear up. Gearing up is surprisingly easy as the boat is really stable. I push my gear out the back and jump over board. I also had a dive flag buoy and well I chuck that over board with a 40 foot line. Attachment of the reel is done via the anchor line at the front. And the dive begins.
I sink down and begin a normal descent and it feels not very different from using the buoy to drift dive, only heavier. In fact, the boat is rather stubborn to pull I need an anchor badly as I can only fight the current for short spurts, and this means no progress against it (I need a dpv). Dive was fine other than that. Reeled up my line and went up. The gear strip down was easy and as long as everything is take off in the water its ok. Pulling up the gear was the hardest thing to do though, its just heavy.
Paddleling back, was complete hell though. After the dive the wind kicked up and got cold, and back is sore. To make things the weather was getting REAL nasty, and my toe hurt (kidding). If anybody asks I will tell the rest of the story , but let’s just say the weather sucked.
I had a great adventure and I will look forward to more diving on the yak. However, I learned allot on this outing and I know what to do different, and one thing that I think I would love is that gas motor that mounts on the back. This is one great diving machine, and if anybody wants to know about my gear setup, well vote yes on the solo forum.
edited for spelling
