Sorry for the admittedly stupid question, but how does kayak diving work without an umbilical anyway?
I mean even in absolutely still water it will drift off and carrying enough anchor line even for only 20-30 meters of water must be heavy and cumbersome on a kayak.
I always thought I would want to try that, but I cannot find solutions for all the problems I could think of.
Anchoring is not a problem. The kayak weighs very little and has minimal windage. I also tow it as if it were (and it is) my surface float. The tow/anchor line is just 5/16 nylon double braided line as you would use on a hand reel. I use a Trident flip winder. I clip it to me. My anchor, if used, is a 1.5/3 pound depending on conditions and sometimes just a reef hook. I never leave sight of my anchor, usually just carry it. It is very small and no hinderance. If drifting I just carry the reef hook, if I see something I hook in for a moment, then carry on. Remember, a kayak is only 70 pounds or less, sits very low and has very little drag.
Anything worth doing is worth a little effort. If you want easy, kayak diving is not it, if you want adventure, then yes.
I put my wing/BP in the water with the wing inflated and the rig always tethered to the kayak until it is on. I may put the rig on as a I descend. I take it off once returning to the kayak and clip it to the tether. Once aboard I hoist/drag it into the tank well. I typically use an aluminum 63 or a steel 72. Occasionally an aluminum 80. I have, not a brag, a quite low air consumption, a 63 gives me plenty of BT even in deeper water (than most on my much larger tanks) and is much less cumbersome to handle. Deeper than 60 feet, just like any shore dive pulling a float, you are dragging an awful lot of line. Yes, I have done 100 foot plus kayak dives, again, not ideal, think of this as shore diving with a place to take refuge (if needed) instead of a silly styrofoam floatie with flag.
I do not think having tanks suspended from a kayak without a (inflated) BC attached to be a good idea unless you want to flip it. YRMV. Good luck with that.
Concerning Pelican kayaks. They are not one piece rotomolded UV inhibited PE boats to my knowledge but instead two piece thermo-formed sheet plastic. Not particularly rugged I should think. You could use a 10 feet Pelican from Dicks for a surface float for calm water but I would rather not challenge the open sea with one. An OK Scrambler 11, OK Prowler 13, the long gone and highly sought after Scupper Pro TW, the Wilderness Systems Tarpon 12/14 are all better suited to SCUBA use. For spearing you want a hatch that can take your guns and most spearos prefer the longer, sleeker boats with a large bow hatch. SCUBA divers do fine with the chunky little Scrambler.
I think of kayak diving as an extension ladder to extend my reach for shore diving. The typical, my opinion, practical maximum one way distance is 1.5 to 3 miles meaning a 3 to 6 mile round trip. A Scrambler can cruise at about 3.5 MPH, a Scupper, quite a bit more, 5ish. Long skinny boats can be just as stable as short fat boats and a lot faster, just more difficult to manage, load, tote etc. Thus my recommendation on midsize SOT kayaks of 11ish to about 14 feet. Again, spearos/free divers are not toting a tank or tanks thus they can better handle a longer/larger boat.
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