I have a copy of the Lonely Planet Monterey diving guide published in 2000. There is a reference to "dive boards" as a near shore boat and extended swim alternative. I have never seen one of these. Does anyone still use them or have they been replaced by kayaks or something else? I saw a polyurethane short board in Costco yesterday for $35 and thought it might be a neat way to skim over the kelp.
Dive Boards???
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mattaphore
Contributor
Hrm, I've heard dive boards mentioned before on a Pt. Lobos thread... maybe they're a fancy boogie board?
Back in the day they used "surf mats" in the monterey area. Basically was an inflatable pool bed.
If you've seen Jaws, that blue and yellow inflatable bed that the kid Alex gets eaten on, that's a surf mat.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_2Ecwm7Alrc&t=1m09s
If you've seen Jaws, that blue and yellow inflatable bed that the kid Alex gets eaten on, that's a surf mat.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_2Ecwm7Alrc&t=1m09s
For free diving (ab diving, spearfishing free diving), I use a board call "Banks Board." Banks Board It cuts through kelp easily. I don't know if you can throw your scuba equipment on top and "push" it out. The basic board will cost $200. A fully configured board sells for about $250.
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If you look at my avatar, that's a bunch of us at Monastery in the late 1960s. Note the surfmats we are all holding. Diveboards were one step up, big surfboards, but not yet kayaks, there was even one with a built-in water jet engine (as a remember that cost $300 back then, which was what I lived on, comfortably, for a month).
Jim See
Registered
I see them up on the Sonoma Coast pretty regularly. They're usually fiberglass about 8' to 10' long and the front is shaped a bit like a touring kayak only more narrow. The back half flattens out for the diver to lay on and kick out. They usually have hatches to stow gear in the front.
This is all from pretty casual observation and I'm usually already diving when I've seen them.
This is all from pretty casual observation and I'm usually already diving when I've seen them.
Rob Wilks
Contributor
As JIM SEE said:
"I see them up on the Sonoma Coast pretty regularly. They're usually fiberglass about 8' to 10' long and the front is shaped a bit like a touring kayak only more narrow. The back half flattens out for the diver to lay on and kick out. They usually have hatches to stow gear in the front."
If anyone is interested, my dad has a set of moulds to make these boards. We've had them for years. They are in need of a srub and that's it.If anyone wants them, they are up for grabs. They are in Santa Cruz and would need a truck with solid racks to transport. Send me a PM if
interested.
"I see them up on the Sonoma Coast pretty regularly. They're usually fiberglass about 8' to 10' long and the front is shaped a bit like a touring kayak only more narrow. The back half flattens out for the diver to lay on and kick out. They usually have hatches to stow gear in the front."
If anyone is interested, my dad has a set of moulds to make these boards. We've had them for years. They are in need of a srub and that's it.If anyone wants them, they are up for grabs. They are in Santa Cruz and would need a truck with solid racks to transport. Send me a PM if
interested.
Eric Sedletzky
Contributor
I know about the old dive boards.
What they where was a lay on top fiberglass kayak of sorts. There was no seat. There was a hatch in the center or a hair forward of center that you could put your fish, weightbelt, spear guns, bottled water, etc.
It was a two part construction with a seam along the side. There were a few glassed in baffolds in the fore and aft sections of the center hold. They had a little keel at the back end and the bow was very narrow up highly upturned. This was so you caould go over bull kelp in a moderate swell and not pick up kelp if the bow dipped under.
They were propelled by laying on a slightly upsloped section right behind the hold and kicking with fins. There was no way to sit and use a paddle like a modern kayak. They were also very narrow and very long. Some boards were 20 feet long, others were from 12 to 16 feet.
Some brands were Litehall, Smith, and another one that escapes me now but restored one for a guy once that was 20 feet long. It weighed almost 100 pounds!
Those lay on spearfishing boards went out of fashion as soon as Ocean Kayak was born and came out with the Scupper Pro.
I know one guy who still swears by them and ownes three. He says by laying down you get out of the wind better and can make headway very easily. He also claims they are fast becase they are long. But to me having to fin those things, then fin some more when you start diving, then finning again to get back to the beach. That just seems like a lot of work.
I like my kayak, I can kick back and eat lunch, paddle around, fish off it, scuba dive off it, and freedive/ab dive off it.
What they where was a lay on top fiberglass kayak of sorts. There was no seat. There was a hatch in the center or a hair forward of center that you could put your fish, weightbelt, spear guns, bottled water, etc.
It was a two part construction with a seam along the side. There were a few glassed in baffolds in the fore and aft sections of the center hold. They had a little keel at the back end and the bow was very narrow up highly upturned. This was so you caould go over bull kelp in a moderate swell and not pick up kelp if the bow dipped under.
They were propelled by laying on a slightly upsloped section right behind the hold and kicking with fins. There was no way to sit and use a paddle like a modern kayak. They were also very narrow and very long. Some boards were 20 feet long, others were from 12 to 16 feet.
Some brands were Litehall, Smith, and another one that escapes me now but restored one for a guy once that was 20 feet long. It weighed almost 100 pounds!
Those lay on spearfishing boards went out of fashion as soon as Ocean Kayak was born and came out with the Scupper Pro.
I know one guy who still swears by them and ownes three. He says by laying down you get out of the wind better and can make headway very easily. He also claims they are fast becase they are long. But to me having to fin those things, then fin some more when you start diving, then finning again to get back to the beach. That just seems like a lot of work.
I like my kayak, I can kick back and eat lunch, paddle around, fish off it, scuba dive off it, and freedive/ab dive off it.
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