Search the Conch forums for "kayak" and you will find a few hours' worth of reading there on kayak diving. There are a few good kayak divers here on ScubaBoard on your coast; if you ever get over to SE Florida, come join me for a dive with Kayuba!
Gps
- Thread starter Da Nizz
- Start date
Please register or login
Welcome to ScubaBoard, the world's largest scuba diving community. Registration is not required to read the forums, but we encourage you to join. Joining has its benefits and enables you to participate in the discussions.
Benefits of registering include
- Ability to post and comment on topics and discussions.
- A Free photo gallery to share your dive photos with the world.
- You can make this box go away
I know there are a bunch of us. I'm not going to try and list them, due to the fact that I'm sure to leave some out, but there's enough that we may want to consider starting a club. What do you guys think of this idea?
I think it is a GREAT idea, then we could come over with our yaks and dive with y'all, and you could come over to our coast! Check out the Kayuba website for some good ideas. The more of us that do this, the more people we attract to it, and the wider net of dive buddies we create!
I don't have a Yak 
Besides .. that would be a long paddle
Besides .. that would be a long paddle
I don't have a Yak
Besides .. that would be a long paddle
We could make you an honorary member. Just send your $250 membership fee to...J/K
Seriously, though, I don't really mean an actual club thing with officers and membership fees and meetings and stuff. Just a loosly organized group that love to kayak dive, who could share ideas and when we do have meetings, it would be dive events. As opposed to meetings with minutes, orders of business and all those other things that go with a formal club. I propose that we get together a list of people in, say Sarasota, Charlotte, Lee and maybe Collier counties(the LESSER Tampa Bay area
) with locations and contact info that we share just amongt ourselves. Maybe plan an event once a month or so, other times it would be someone wanting to dive on short notice and going down the list until they find someone able to get away for a dive.Debby, how does kayuba do it? Are you guys an actual club or more like what I described?
Sounds like what we have here with our monthly Wrinkles Dive get togethers that are held in various spots in SoCal .. just a bunch of SB'ers that come to dive and socialize at a scheduled event that they can count on where it's going to be in advance each month, and when.
I think your on to something with that idea
I think your on to something with that idea
Headhunter:
I'm a new member but yes, they are an actual club but loosely run. No minutes, no newsletter, dues are inexpensive and you get a free t-shirt or cap with the dues. We meet at a local dive shop and we get two free air fills per meeting (which MORE than covers the dues, WAY more). Membership gives you access to members' e-mail addresses so you can contact the group to see who wants to dive. Again, I'm a fairly new member but they do have picnics and trips now and again and sometimes they do boat diving. They have an annual Kayak for Cancer where they raise funds for the American Cancer Society. They are eager to help new members learn how to kayak dive correctly and they are just plain NICE FOLKS!
I hope that answered your question.
I hope that answered your question.
Yes, that answers most of my questions. A couple more, though: If the dues barely cover the hat or t-shirt and fills, keeping up the website has to cost something too, right? And secondly, If you do fundraisers for charitable causes, do you have to file as a 503c non-profit?
I haven't a clue, but there are many business owners in the club, and they've been doing the Kayak for Cancer for YEARS, so I suspect they have it covered.
By the way, did you know that ScubaBoard will give dive clubs a free website? Kayuba's is covered by someone in the tech industry but if you want one, ask HowardE about the details.
By the way, did you know that ScubaBoard will give dive clubs a free website? Kayuba's is covered by someone in the tech industry but if you want one, ask HowardE about the details.
I think starting a loosely organized kayak diving group on the central west coast is a great idea. I would participate. I think it should be kept as simple and loose as possible, it is about the fun afterall, not about who is who. Having done several clubs in the past, I think officers, minutes and collecting dues should be avoided. Those are the things that will deter prospective members. And yes, if you do any kind of fundraiser, or collect money for anything including dues, you have to file a 503c non-profit expemption, in order to open a club bank account(another big hassel)along with keeping very careful financial records. I have nothing against well run and organized clubs, but they can become clique-ish, more concerned with doing business than having fun, and as they grow, being an officer can literally become a full time job.
Similar threads
