Diveyak?

[Floridawannabe]

Took my Diveyak out yesterday, I was very impressed with it. I went up the James River, very mild current. It is like other people have stated, very stable. Never felt like I was going to fall off. It is slow but I am not out to race someone to a dive spot. It tracked easy and went off course a few times but then again I am a begginer at this. I did a couple of 360 in the middle of the river and it responded great. You will get wet so do not let anyone tell you that you will not. The weather broke here in Missery( Missouri) and made it up to around 76 degrees. Now the water was probably about 55 degrees. I found that out because when I got onto the Diveyak it made a little pool of water where I was to sit. I am not sure if I did not have it filled enough but I will fill it more the next time I go, to see. I took my wife down the river and she had fun watching and me paddling. About the water pooling up where I sit, you can look at it at one or two ways. One I am 265 Lbs and 6' 1"(Fat) but that is why I got the yak, EXCERCISE. Now my wife being a lot smaller than me did not get wet and had no problem walking on the Yak to the front to sit down on and not getting wet. Two, I did not have it inflated enough, Maybe, but I am using it to dive so who cares if I get a little wet. Brings me to another point, the foot rests. At 6'1" if you use the foot rests while trying to paddle and have your knees bent, plan on bruised legs. I just put my legs flat, plenty of room. I also have not tried out the diving part yet because of the water temperature. I tried loading all the equipment on the Yak and it looks like if you have two light people you might get 4 tanks on the back. I went out and bought a hundred feet of rope and made homemade landyards, to lash things down. The yak has plenty of D rings on it so you can connect all your equipment and not worry about it if it falls off. I am going to take it down to Biloxi, MS and try it there next week and also in Pensacola, FL also. I will give you a up date when it is over. One more thing, when taking it out of the water. Tilt the Bow up and let the water drain out of a special pocket on the bottom before trying to lift it.

 

[dannobee]

Good to hear you that you like it! I finally broke down and bought the one I've been talking about. Brought it home and inflated and deflated it with the shop vacuum (less than a minute each way). I'll try to dive off of it early next month in Monterey.

 

[Floridawannabe]

Took my DiveYak on vacation with me to Mississippi and Florida. I took it out to Ship Island in Mississippi. It performed great, I paddled around for abour three hours. I even met a dolphin while paddling around. The dolphin was curious about me and came within about five feet of the kayak. I paddled around and followed the dolphin for a while, with no problems controlling the kayak. The waves were about one foot swells. The kayak handled them with no problem. The one thing I am going to complain about to the foot pump that came with the DiveYak, it SUCKS. I have used it about five times to pump up the DiveYak and the material already has a holes in it and can not pump the DiveYak up completely. I went to Wal-Mart and for $9.98 I bought a hand pump that with the pull of the handle and compression of the handle pumps up the DiveYak. It is a great pump and it also deflates it. Also, I could not take my scuba tank with me on the boat to Ship Island because they need a special permit to carry tanks.
At Pensacola is where I finally got to test out the use of the DiveYak. The Ocean had two to three foot swells breaking on the beach. I pumped up the DiveYak and put my equipment on and strapped everything on and attached all the lanyards. I had to pull the Diveyak out about thirty feet because of the waves. I hopped on and took two big waves headon. The Diveyak had no problem handling them and I never felt like I was going to fall off. I got out to a area that looked alright to try a dive and anchored. I put on my mask/Snorkle and fins and slid off the side. I then went back to my BC/Regulator and tank and unsnapped the straps, then inflated the BC and lowered it into the water. I put it on then went to where I was sitting and put on the weight belt. Then grabbed my dive flag and was off on my dive. When I was done with the dive I stored all my equipment back where I had it. I then paddled back to shore. When I was close to shore is when the excitement started. I rode a couple of waves in with no problem. I just used the paddle to adjust which way the Diveyak was going,it was a blast. I hopped off right before I got to shore and pulled it in the rest of the way.
Planning on another dive trip to Florida in July and I am sure the DiveYak will do great! ! !

Hope this helps you and anyone else out with deciding if the want to purchase the DiveYak.

 

[Jmaserati]

Two people on one kayak---holy cow batman

Kinda like swing dancin' in a phone booth, huh? LOL

Anyone getting into "dive-yakking" should check out Jim Spears' site: http://kayakdiver.com/kayakdiving/topics.htm

Lots of good tips there, and things he's learned from trial and error.

Hey there Floridawannabe! Welcome to SB! Come see our "Midwest Muck Divers" forum.

 

[Ishie]

I finally tested out my two-person diveyak. Love it! VERY stable, easy to paddle, easy to get into shore. Beats the heck out of surface swimming! Next time, I'm tying the weight pockets under our feet though. Leaving them in the BCs made it very backweighted, but still, more of a PITA dragging it in and out than in the water.

 

[Floridawannabe]

Took my DiveYak out on 3/30/2005 with just myself. We had real strong winds all day long. I do not know if me being by myself had anything to do with it but I had a real hard time controlling the DiveYak. It would either go to the left or right no matter how hard I tried to go upstream. I made it about a 100 yards and I turned around because it was impossible. When I get a chance I will give it a try with my dive buddy on a windy day but I will not try that again, on a windy day by myself.

 

[Ishie]

So you have the two seater yak and except with the wind, you do pretty well on it solo?

 

[dannobee]

Wait, Ishie's got one too? Bring it next time we set up a Monterey thing!

 

[Ishie]

You know it, Dan! Cool things.

 

[Floridawannabe]

Yep, I have a two seater and it is great. I think that the wind deal was because I was trying to kayak solo and the front was up in the air. Maybe next time I will try to sit in the front and try it again. I love the Diveyak and plan on using it a lot this summer to get into shape and explore the local rivers and lakes around here. I hope you and Danobee have a great time with both of your DiveYaks. They are a good investment I think.