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Tech divers, David Strike forwarded me the following posting so I thought I'd subscribe for a little while and post a reply. Also interested in replies from list members. On Tue, 14 Apr 1998 23:41:25 -0500, Hungry Hill <hungryh@nc*.ne*> wrote: >>Diving from a kayak, that is. Does anyone on the list do it? Don't know, but I do :) >>1) anchoring vs tethering and what is your maximum depth with a tether? Only new to kayak diving but generally I anchor the kayak. Wind and current tend to create a lot of drag which is very annoying (with no gear on board and a largish dive flag a kayak can sail quite nicely as I found out on my first kayak dive, a long story :) ). The annoyance factor can make you do silly things like tying the tether off to loose rocks while you watch interesting fish breeding displays, only to find the kayak gone when you get back (again it's a long story). Although I do occasionally tether the kayak to myself if I want to do a bit of exploring. The length of line must be greater than the depth your diving or you get bounced around a lot by waves. I use floating water ski line for the anchor rope and attach the anchor (a sand anchor I found a while back, reasonably compact and heavy enough to hold the kayak without any chain) with two metal clips for added security (also means I can use the same line as a tether instead). I have 30 metres of line as I usually dive to no more than 10-12 metres (3 times depth) with the kayak (see answer to next question). Given how little drag the kayak produces relative to a boat I'd happily use the same length of line to anchor in say 20 metres. Locally though if I was diving to this depth from the kayak I'd probably tether it instead as currents and distance from shore would make being away from the kayak risky (given you don't have a boat sitter to pick you up). This would depend of course on the conditions on the day and how confident I was of navigating around the site (I'm assuming I'm away from spots I usually dive by boat, the kayak is a good way of getting places the charter boats never/rarely go). >>2) do you kayak further than you could swim if you lost your boat? At present no. As I get more confident and better at paddling this may change. The kayak makes getting to spots much easier. It means the difference between doing a few dives a day and doing one (if you have a long walk and/or swim to get to a site). You can even bring a couple of tanks along, lunch, etc. and make a day of it :) >>3) if so what do you do to make your tether/anchor system bullet proof? Rather than relying on knots (a lesson from my second kayak dive) I spliced both ends of the 30 metre line and (because I didn't trust the way the line was spliced, with this type of rope you feed the end of the rope back down the core to form a loop) stiched the splice with nylon thread. On the kayak end I added a 3-4 metres length of bungie cord to shorten the line and take up any jarring from waves that might strain the main line or attachment point on the kayak. I also covered both ends of the anchor line with a metre or so of plastic sheath to prevent fraying from contact with rocks or the side of the kayak. As I mentioned I have two clips to attach the anchor (one on the anchor line (no webbing, that would be another potential point of failure) and the other on the anchor itself). >>4) when/if that fails, what self rescue techniques do you have? I'd swim for shore if this was an option. Ditch weight belt and tank if need be. >>5) if/when that fails, what equipment and methods do you have to attract >>rescue from others? I carry a safety sausage, helioscope, torch, whistle, strobe and lift bag. Where I dive regularly there is usually a lot of boat traffic. When I lost my paddle on my second kayak dive it was picked up by fishermen and returned before I came up from the dive. I carry flares on the kayak but would like to have personal water proof flares to carry in my BC. Personal EPIRB may not be a bad thing either I guess. I'd make flares a higher priority. >>And the 1000 other things I haven't even thought of yet. A few more points I can think of. Launch (if you are the only one to carry the kayak) where there is easy access to the water over hard sand or solid ground (like a boat ramp). Avoid spots where you have a long paddle to get through the surf zone (particularly when the surf is big). A fully laden dive kayak handles surf poorly on beach landings (getting out or going across the surf (keeping the nose into the waves) is usually easier). Related to this buy and use a kayaking helmet and reduce the number of deck lines. I have now switched to having a line perminently attached to my BC, to attach it to the kayak while gearing up or for extra security returning to shore. I also have a second line I carry inside the kayak which I can use temporarily to hold other gear when getting into the water (and for lifting the kayak on shore). I still have a paddle retainer and there are perminent gear lines at the back (tank well, these can be left loose when using the kayak for surfing/snorkeling (ie. no dive gear)) and front (hold the gear hatch on, can't remove) of the kayak. Lines pose a danger through entrapment of limbs. A rudder would be a nice addition but would have cost me another $200, a bit much at the time. You may wish (or be required depending on local maritime safety guidelines) to use a life jacket in offshore waters. In Australia this would be a PFD 1 jacket which keeps your head out of the water while floating (depending of course on whether you can expect prompt assistance or not). Use a dive flag, pick bright colours for the kayak (mine is bright yellow, though in choppy water the flag may be more visible, trust me) and carry flares and first aid gear. Somethings I'm still working on is paddling style. It was suggested to me (and I'll suggest to you) that a specialty course or going out with experienced kayak divers is a good way of helping with this and other problems. Not available where I live. Well hope this is of some help. Simon Simon L Hartley Associate Lecturer School of Resource Science and Management Southern Cross University P.O. Box 157 Lismore NSW, Australia 2480 Ph: (02) 66203251 or (61 66) 203 251 Fax:(02) 66212669 E-mail: shartley@sc*.ed*.au* http://www.scu.edu.au/staff_pages/shartley/index.html -- Send mail for the `techdiver' mailing list to `techdiver@aquanaut.com'. Send subscribe/unsubscribe requests to `techdiver-request@aquanaut.com'.
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