RE: [Paddlewise] Diving From Kayaks

One of the greatest advantages to diving from a kayak or surfski, is that it
represents next to zero towing drag, so you pull it along on a line behind
you. Major benefits include:
There is always a boat next to you when you surface;
Powerboaters that might otherwise run over you on ascent will stay farther
away due to your kayak w/dive flag
In a dive emergency, you would WANT the boat overhead
If currents pick up durring the dive, there is no danger of being separted
from the boat
Diving high current areas is actually fun with the kayak---this is what we
do in Palm Beach drift diving.

Regards,
Dan Volker


-----Original Message-----
From: owner-paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net
[mailto:owner-paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net]On Behalf Of Dan Hagen
Sent: Saturday, February 06, 1999 11:41 AM
To: Paddlewise
Subject: Re: [Paddlewise] Diving From Kayaks


Scott (KiAyker_at_aol.com) wrote:

> ...<snip>... Since I try to minimize the amount of
> equipment in my boat I eventually opted to simply dive down and tie the
boat
> to the bottom.
>    ...

Hmmm. Tying the boat to the bottom probably works very well. But why
rely on such a straightforward approach when there are so many really
slick gadgets from which to choose?  For example, how about installing a
Differential GPS with an anchor alarm, with a feed to an underwater
signaling device?  Then your boat will alert you when (and if) it begins
to drift away. Actually, given how well the hull transmits sounds, for
the signaling device you could probably just use some small stereo
speakers mounted in the aft compartment.  Hook these up to an MP3
player, and configure it to play "Anchors Away" when the DGPS alarm
signals significant drift. :-)

Dan Hagen
***************************************************************************
PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List
Submissions:     paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net
Subscriptions:   paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net
Website:         http://www.gasp-seakayak.net/paddlewise/
***************************************************************************

***************************************************************************
PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List
Submissions:     paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net
Subscriptions:   paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net
Website:         http://www.gasp-seakayak.net/paddlewise/
***************************************************************************