Outfitting your Dive Kayak

[Mr. X]

Great thread.

The blue & white "Alpha" (letter-A) flag means ""I have a diver down; keep well clear at slow speed." . Used by Britain & most of the rest of the world. The red flag with white diagonal has a different but very similar meaning & is the norm for the USA. Although the former is normal here, the latter show up from time to time (I have one of each).

More info here:
(USA perspective!): [ame]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dive_flag[/ame]
http://www.dive-flag.com/alpha.html

...fellow canadian divers yakers.
... hard to get stuff frome the usa..the shiping and border fee etc is way to mutch $$$$$.

Border fee?! I thought NAFTA did away with all that. I visited Canada several times. Sometimes it struck me as very American, sometimes as very British (more British than Britain is now in many ways) and other times uniquely Canadian. With regard to taxes, it struck me as very British though.

re. Mundial's advice on 4L of water, got me thinking. That's probably good for the Med. In the UK, I've been diving for 4 hours+ without any -- it's usually not hot or dry here. But I was thirsty when I got out. So probably a good idea to carry some water in UK if going out for more than a couple of hours (& also for emergencies), and perhaps leave some on the beach/in car for when you get out.

Bailing /bilge pump was interest, thought I didn't need that with my self-bailing SOT kayak but they do sometimes get a little too much water in. So good idea.

I use the same Omer winder as Mundial for my anchor rope (bought it for my float line but it's too big & yellow for that). I've swapped my rather bulky, high quality, thick, twisted multi-strand nylon anchor rope for some cheap & cheerful, thinner, bright yellow polypropylene from www.spearo.co.uk. I also have a thick bungee that I can rig as a shock absorber if necessary.

 

[mundial]

this is a problem
here in israel most Boaters ignor all flags
by the international rule
the only active flag to keep away from diver is the ALFA flag
some divers use both flags even on a bouy :head

BTW
joco
nice Palmico135 rig i saw in Yakfisher.net :king


my symbol painting on my Yak

 

[Pav]

So which flag should I be displaying?

I always asummed the Blue/white flag was for a boat, and the red flag for bouys.

Sorry need it in simple terms for me!

UK...

Bouy should display ....
Unmanned Kayak should display ....
Small Rib / Boat should display .....

 

[scottwilson]

Pav for the Uk its the Alpha flag all the way.

Boat,float and kayak.

rule of thumb for me is the bigger the object the bigger the flag.

Its also a good idea to rig the flag so that it stays open and visable when theres no wind, this is easily achieved by running a bit of coathanger wire across the flag so as to keep it open

Its also worth remembering to take the flag down when you travel between spots (unless on your float) I was out in the boat a few weeks ago traveling to my next spot when I trawlermen stopped me and asked if I had a diver down, When I explained to him that I did not he politely asked me to "take the BLOODY FLAG DOWN THEN"
I can see his point as he had slowed down to a snails pace to avoid hitting a diver he thought was in the water.

 

[Magpie]

I go for both, see attached, but agree with Scott, in the UK the A Flag is far more recognised than the red job.

Back on topic, here's some pics of my kayak.

 

[Old Man Dave]

Tom I've been having another look at kayaks. Browsed quayside again tonight. What model is your Kayak. Had been looking at the smaller ones but now thinking bigger may be better. How easy is yours to launch (and hoist onto the roof rack). How about getting in and out with your diving gear on?

Dave

 

[Magpie]

Mine (and Jonnys) is a Scupper Pro. Size wise, longer is quicker, fatter is slower.

Don't be suckered into thinking wider means more stable either. Wider means good primary stability, but the monent you lean past it, in you go. Narrower rocks but it has better secondary stability so you can bring it back.

Size wise, well, I wouldn't want any heavier. I can get it on/off the van on my own but it takes some hefting. Easier on a car because its lower but I guess you'll be using your van too. Once it's on the floor it's easy with a trolley.

Getting off in diving gear is easy! Plop. Getting back in is actually easier with dive gear than it is when not in dive gear. The fins give you the push you need to get your butt straight into the right place. Without fins you have to lean over it so you're lying across before turning over and righting yourself.

 

[Magpie]

Oh, the other thing with long is it tracks better, ie it stays in a straight line more easily than a shorter boat. So you don't have to put as much effort into keeping the thing moving in the right direction.

Of course the downside of this is it's less maneoverable when you're tight in around the reefs.

 

[sunfish]

Oh, the other thing with long is it tracks better, ie it stays in a straight line more easily than a shorter boat. So you don't have to put as much effort into keeping the thing moving in the right direction.

Of course the downside of this is it's less maneoverable when you're tight in around the reefs.

Mines Scupper Pro too and I'll second what Tom say's about getting on and off, though I always mount it like a horse, popping up with the fins and throwing a leg over to land up sitting just in front of the seat. Thats where I sit while dropping and hauling the anchor too.

My gun is "bungee'd on behind the seat, on the left. Anchor line is on a wooden winder. Once the anchor line is out it clips to a "pulley line" which takes it to the front of the boat.

 

[Old Man Dave]

Do you both wear your fins and weight belt/vest at all times or do you take them on and off?

Dave

 

[sunfish]

I prefer to wear them if the weather's in any way rough. The fins catch the wind a bit, but if I get pitched out, I want to know I'm equipped to catch and right the boat and get back in.
If you're wearing a weight belt it makes the boat slightly more "tippy" but without one I can't swim properly. I've never worn a vest.

 

[Magpie]

With the weight vest I leave the weights on, might be uncomfortable with a full belt, and leave fins on for short distances but take them off and bungie them to inot the box on the back when going to/from marks.

 

[mundial]

Tom I've been having another look at kayaks. Browsed quayside again tonight. What model is your Kayak. Had been looking at the smaller ones but now thinking bigger may be better. How easy is yours to launch (and hoist onto the roof rack). How about getting in and out with your diving gear on?

Dave

Dave my friend
as I see the small kayaks are good for a short distance
or maybe lakes
when you go out to where can be winds or cur U may find
the small yaks difficult to maneuver or get forward fast
i use also to fish by Jigging or trolling from my yak
so a long yak have better benefits
most common good yaks here are


OCEAN KAYAK
scupper pro
prowler 15 ,13
trident 13 & 11

SA Stealth
Wahoo
express

wildernessystems
tarpon 12 , 14 .16
Ride

pic 5 miles in the sea 40 m deep in a 2-3 feet waves
I manage even to fish from this yak :inlove

Old Man Dave

Do you both wear your fins and weight belt/vest at all times or do you take them on and off?

Dave

i put my fins on the kayak
my mask & gloves are in a fast reachable place
so i slide in to the water put my mask on then
put on the weight belt
then finaly unlock the gun & take it with me
simple as that
practice some times then it will be a way of life

 

[agbiv]

Definitely interseting thread and great info shared by all. From the view point of the USA (former USN as well) the Alpha flag would be recognized by any respectable commercial vessel. I don't think a single recreational fishing, touring, skiing boat would recognize the flag and give way. The Alpha signal really does apply to the divers vessel regardless of power (paddle, sail, engine, tele-kinesis). In the USA the red & white "diver down" flag is the most recognized and norm. Even then idiots will run over you! I use both. Both on my vessel and diver down on the float. :head

I also recommend a small compressed airhorn on the yak or larger float--good for emergancy signalling for help or to get the *&^%$#@! wave runner to shear away.:martial I've driven them but realy destest most who are on the water with them--especially fresh water. Does that mean I'm entering geezerhood? :blackeye

 

[joco]

amphibious.

cool to see your into kayaks to.

come see us kayak fishing site and soon to be spearfing kayak site to.

yakfisher.net

joco

 

[Jon]

I'm using a scupper pro these days, but in the past I've owned a Scrambler and a Furtura Surfski.

The surfski was fast, but couldn't hold a lot of gear. It was stable enough to dive out of, bt dived into the waves instead of going voer them.

The Scrambler was my first boat and worked well for many years. It turned pretty quick and I loved to surf the waves out in Lake Michigan with it when the November winds started kicking things up.

The scupper has a large enough hatch in front that one of my kids can ride in it when I'm not diving. I stow the fins and belt inside the hatch when I'm paddling. I used to strap a gear bag onto my old scrambler to hold everything in- the tie down straps in front would thread through the handles on my gear bag and hold everything nice and tight when going through waves.

The one question I have for some of you is how you mounted your fish finders on your boat. I have a GPS for mine, but never mounted a bottom graph and that looks like it might be a nice upgrade. Do you worry about flooding it and can you post any pictures of how you mounted the sensor?

Jon

 

[Pav]

this may help jon (not my work! , just a good web site and description)

Prowler_Fishfinder

loads of other projects also listed here.

 

[Magpie]

As that link alludes, no worries about flooding because any fishfinder can easily shoot through a kayak hull.

You can simply stick them inside the hull with some silkflex or other strong gloop and as long as you don't get any bubbles between the glue and the transducer it'll work fine.

For a bit of added strength I melted two offcuts of kayak into the hull either side of the transducer with a strap over the top to hold it down.

They're great for seeing what the bottom is like and locating reefs and stuff, and for simply knowing what depth of water you're about to jump into.

Here's mine, you can also see the battery box sat infront of the transducer, again simply glued to the hull. I use 8 rechargeable aa batteries rather than one of the big brick types and have had it running for over 6 hours without it conking out. Thats on a fairly simple greyscale FF, colour or combined FF/GPS would suck more juice.

 

[LunkerBuster]

i just added another bit of rigging to both of my yaks. I went to west marine and purchased a few of their velcro wraps (just a length of nylon webbing about 10" long with hooks on one side and loops on the other at the other end) they make them for holding rope or such things together. I just punched a small hold in each and then used a rivet and a small ss washer and now I have a very nice gun holder. I run one through the trigger and the other just around the stock where it happens to reach to, this way it will fit other folks guns as well
total cost was around 6 dollars for three gun mounts

 

[abusingelves]

kayaks look good guys. i'm looking to get a scupper pro or a tempo when i get some cash together, probably be august before i get a hold of one.

prob around the time i get my first paycheck!rofl

then i'll be looking to get as much diving out of it as possible.