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Spearing: Boat, RIB, Dory, Dinghy, Dive Kayak?

Thread Status: Hello , There was no answer in this thread for more than 60 days.
It can take a long time to get an up-to-date response or contact with relevant users.
land shark said:
here she is loaded and ready to go
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That is a nice boat. Looks pretty roomy, like a dory -- although you say it is small for 2. The CSki 440 looks quite small too - I suppose the idea is to transport 1 - 4 spearos in wetsuits with gear (& fish) a few km without fuss. I image the tri-hull might work better in the rough than flat bottom Dory, from earlier comments. Hang on, you're in Madison -- you probably use this in lakes & rivers rather than the sea (the Lakes around Madison?, Devils Lake?, L. Michigan?, Fox River? L. Geneva? Osh Kosh? Appleton?)? L. Michigan is quite like the sea -- waves, cold, etc. The dive ladder is an interesting extra -- I bet most wouldn't think of that. How big is the engine?
 
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40 hp and yes I bought it from a guy who used to use it in Lake Michigan.
In fact thats how I aquired it he lost power comming in at Algoma and the rocks took the keel off. A few bucks in fiberglass and shes good as new
and a new engine of course too. Mostly it gets used right here in town but its been down to the big pond. This boat has been with me for almost 15 years now (yikes), thats a long time for me to stay with one boat.(except my conoe been with me for almost 40 years now). The dive ladder is generic just remember to lash it to the boat and it will serve you well. With just me it does 38 mph thats enough to get me outta most storms.(Ussually first one in :martial )

thanxs fro asking'
jim
 
land shark said:
40 hp .... This boat has been with me for almost 15 years now (yikes), thats a long time for me to stay with one boat.(except my conoe been with me for almost 40 years now). ...
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40HP ... I noticed that in the Mid-West (perhaps America in general?) people make sure they have enough power to do a job (friends ensured I had a sufficiently powerful gas weedwacker - not an electric strimmer - & mower). 15 years? The boat looks great -- you obviously look after it (and garage it?).

I have just been down to the canal -- saw more than a dozen people canoeing (US: kayaking) today...they were breaking through ice in places! People camped out in long boats too.
 
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Sometimes a bit of power is handy my boat is a 12 foot or 3.6m tinny-Aluminium runabout witha 25hp and I was using all of it yesterday getting in and out of a river mouth.
Teh Bar was up a bit on the way out with a bit of surf braking on it I waited for a bit of a lull in the swell and zipped out got a little bit airborne over 1 or 2 waves then it was over coming back in at the end of the runout was similar but swell had dropped so wave were no worries just sat on top of one to get into the shallows then had to walk bot to the channel.
the tide was ripping out of the channel in hip deep water i was struggling to hold the boat against the current whilst walking . my son started the motor and with it sitting on shallow running lever I had to shift kids fore and aft to keep prop in enough to get traction but no hit bottom on shalow spots it was planing and going backwards at one stage( relative to the shore) with a smaller motor I would have had to pull it up on the sand and wait for tide change.
Peter
 
I like the look of that Diveyak , so I ordered one and a 2.5 Yamaha . It sounds like it should suit my situation perfectly till I get a driveway. I will see.
 
omega3 said:
I like the look of that Diveyak , so I ordered one and a 2.5 Yamaha . It sounds like it should suit my situation perfectly till I get a driveway. I will see.
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Excellent - let us know how you get on. I too had a yak buying weekend. I just put the deposit down on a used Ocean Kayak Malibu 2 sit-on kayak. Hopefully pick it up next weekend. (2 paddle power!).
 
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Yup will do. That Ocean Kayak Malibu sounds pretty cool. I went with powered option since access to the sea in my area isn`t great(and I am also lazy). My criteria was....must fit in boot of car and be light enough to carry up 120 steps after use!!! It was a real toss up between the XK2020 and a small Yamaha or similar inflateable. The 2020 reviews were a real mixed bag which didn`t make the choice any easier! Even the local Yamaha dealer ummed and ahddd and he does know his stuff.....so of course I went on looks!
...It is supposed to arrive tomorrow!
 
Fitness & fun were considerations for me. However, I will have enough to deal with the spearing & the kayak to keep me busy for the coming year, without the complication & expense of an engine too. I will probably not combine kayaking & spearing for a while -- will probably get some more practice with each individually first. Eventually, a boat might be handy.

You are right about steps. It has already occured to me that it will not be practical to take the kayak to some places where it would good to have boat access. Maybe I should get one of those little inflatible kiddie dinghies (£7 for a 1 man & £12 for a 2 man in Cornwall last year -- surprisingly good too). One of the locals in Cornwall used one of the small ones to patrol the bay & dive from; he had a £7 boat and a proper £35 anchor ...there is probably a lesson to be learnt there, although for the life of me I am not sure what it is!
 
The Malibu2 is awkward for one person. You can get a nifty wheel thingy that goes on one end though - and can make life easier. If you have a dive buddy it's not much of problem.
 
LOL... I know what that lesson is..."A fool and his money are soon parted"
Saying that it does give me drive to earn more to feed the spending habit!rofl
 
omega3 said:
LOL... I know what that lesson is..."A fool and his money are soon parted"
Saying that it does give me drive to earn more to feed the spending habit!rofl
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I was thinking, perhaps the anchor is as important than the boat...but that doesn't make sense to. I suspect the Cornish have a very pragmatic view of boats - whatever works. The guy in question covered the whole bay pretty quickly -- would put many kayakers to shame!
 
That reminds me of Africa and getting overtaken by local kids on their butchers bikes while I was on my Speed-king 10 speed.

Anyhow my yak arrived today and it looks a lot of fun...its large so I am glad I got a motor for it cos I can see as mentioned earlier it won`t be such a great paddler with current and wind. Hope to give it a run in the coming week......now what size anchor, I think one of thos 3 kg Grapnell might do??????
 
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"ANCHORS AWAY"
I once built a 17' mahogany veneered Kayak for a customer. This particular boat had a sail rig fitted. The new owner assured me he had experience of such craft, so I joined him on her maiden voyage.
Setting off from the beach. a strong offshore wind soon sped us out to sea. The new owner was full of compliments & praise & all seemed well. At this stage, I guess we were about a mile offshore when the boat started to behave in an unexpected way. We concluded a strong cross tide was affecting the flat bottomed boat & sending her sideways.
As it proved the new owner was unable to turn the boat under sail! Out came the paddles, after 15 minutes of exhausting paddling the shore was becoming even more distant. Out came the anchor, a standard piece of equipment never to be overlooked. In this case, a 2 kg grapple with 1 mt of light chain connected to 80 mt of 9mm nylon rope.
We sat out the tide until it subsided enough to paddle back. I promise you my arms & shoulders took a week to recover.
Of course there are plenty of morals to this story but fact is "never go offshore without a anchor" Otherwise Mr X, I may of met you years ago, as our next stop would of been England.
 
Reactions: Mr. X
Have been watching this thread with interest. I have good experience of white water kayaking, some wave ski surfing and a seasons spearfishing. I have white water kayak and am toying with the idea of a sit-on (lame as it sounds to a rad surf n white water paddler:yack for spearing from.

What range from the shore might be feasible in the south-west UK? I've got my eyes set on a number of marks such as a reef a mile off Thurlstone, a few submerged pinacles in Tor Bay, maybe even the arse end of the Skerries Bank near Slapton Sands? Does this sound like a bad idea?

I have no nautical training and so finding these marks would be very hard for me, especially those that are permanently submerged.

I had a very scary experience paddling in a school trip out to Morte Point in Woolacombe (yes I know the clue is in the name now!) years ago and so will always have some doubts in the back of my mind. Just wondering if anyone currently does this sort of thing in my neck of the woods, maybe a joint mission. All pie in the sky at moment though, finally getting 'round to buying a house so maybe new kit is off the list for some time:naughty

Do those of you who spear from boats find more fish out there than from shore dives (i.e. is it worth the investment)? Any problems encountered with commercial fisherman netting wrecks and reefs (scares the shit out of me thinking about that)?
 
Excellent story Foxfish!
From your various posts, I reckon you must have made at least 3 or 4 boats. Do build them for a living/hobby/side-line?

Re. Anchors, thanks for the advice. IThere are various size anchors on eBay, esp. grappeling type -- inc. some very small ones ([ame="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/NEW-JET-SKI-FOLDING-ANCHOR-GALV-Chandlery_W0QQitemZ4612501315QQcategoryZ15263QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem"]for jetskis[/ame] I think). Would the size/style/lengths mentioned above be suitable for a 2 seater sit-on kayak, like the Ocean Kayak Malibu 2? [I read an article on anchors last year... it sounds like a short chain to the anchor is a good idea to keep it seated properly and a long rope, to reduce the upward pull, I think the length of rope needed was dependent on the depth of water (to keep the angle right I suppose). Are swivels required too?]

I think somebody (Picasso?) make a nice, small folding stainless steel anchor that slips into the tube stem-- but it might be pricey compared to the grapnel. Not sure what it is intended for - perhaps just a spearing float or perhaps a small dinghy/kayak?
 
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The Picasso folding anchor is not suitable for holding a kayak.The folding tines are floppers and while strong enough for a float they are nowhere near sturdy enough for a kayak.
I have another small folding galvanized anchor that weighs about 2kg and I find that very secure and affordable too.
Alternatively I have also got a small s/s grapnel that bought from a UK chandler which is very strong but doesn't fold up.
It is horses for courses but I would err on the heavy side rather than the light side.
You can always check the placement of an anchor too, which is a luxury not available to most boaters.
 
Reactions: Mr. X
Question for Dave, and others,

What is the life expectancy of an inflatable boat?

I've recently been offered a chance to buy a used one, at what seems like a good price, but it's 16 years old and been sitting in storage for the past couple of years. I'm not sure if somethinghtat old is worth my time even if it's free? Which it isn't.

I've been using dive kayaks and surfskis for the past dozen years and have had really good luck with them- you can really get into some areas that boats will never go and they have zero maintenance to them.

I use a folding canoe anchor on my dive kayak and it seems ot work well if you let out enough scope on it. For scuba diving I just hook up my wreck reel to it and pull it along with me. If I'm diving Lake Michigan i tie the reel off to the wrec that I'm diving on and it stays put.


Jon
 
I've owned inflatable boats and I think that they are GREAT. That said, I wouldn't take a 16 year old boat if it was free. Materials have improved so much in 16 years that you can't help but be disappointed. I really have no idea how long an inflatable should last, but it would depend in large measure how well it was cared for and how much time it spent in the sun. My boat was used for diving and fishing. It was stored indoors, deflated. One of my friends had the same boat, but it was used as a tender for his yacht - it was mostly stored outdoors, uncovered and inflated. He replaced his boat after 5 years. I sold mine after 7years. I think that it had about 3-5 more useful years in it when I sold it.
 
Thanks,

That's what I love about this site, you get an answer back in about 10 minutes!

I may just stick to dive kayaks a while longer. My first one is over 12 years old and it looks as good as ones that are a year old.

Jon
 
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