Kayak diving setup

Anchor line that at least doubles the depth you'll be diving in (Bass pro sells 100' of good polypro line with carabiner for <$20.00 ) plus a short piece of line to tether your two kayaks together when not using the tandem. A dry box and someway to secure your gear if you are not stowing it inside as one day you'll probably get swamped coming in or going out. Most dive flags are not anywhere near tall enough without extending it. Fishing poles work or walmart sells bicycle flag poles for a couple bucks that are about 5 feet tall and can be rigged.

That covers the essentials that will keep you from losing your kayak and your stuff. Flag pole extension does not at all guarantee you wont get smacked

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vnbFst5M2Bc

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PokwKQUTa3w

Quote from sdeisen

Anchor line that at least doubles the depth you'll be diving in (Bass pro sells 100' of good polypro line with carabiner for <$20.00 ) plus a short piece of line to tether your two kayaks together when not using the tandem. A dry box and someway to secure your gear if you are not stowing it inside as one day you'll probably get swamped coming in or going out. Most dive flags are not anywhere near tall enough without extending it. Fishing poles work or walmart sells bicycle flag poles for a couple bucks that are about 5 feet tall and can be rigged.

That covers the essentials that will keep you from losing your kayak and your stuff. Flag pole extension does not at all guarantee you wont get smacked

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Holy shit - hope you got tat asshols boat number and reported him. Jesus.

I did a lot of shore diving off South Florida but always went at sun up so I could be off the water when the assholes went boating.

Close call bud - dam!:@

Oscar never found that boat. I got wackes once without go pro going and the guy towed me in and paid for the broken gear. Lots of other close calls

Oscar--sdeisen gave GREAT advice.
I might suggest that you also:
1. Rig up some type of line or paddle tether to tie your yak paddle to your yak while out in the water. (Nothing like being a mile off shore, get back to your yak and realize you lost your paddle).
2. Go to Home Depot and buy 16--24inch of their SS chain. (Home Depot only carries one size). Buy a small SS clevis to connect your 3lb folding grapnel to the SS chain, then securely tie your poly anchor line to your SS anchor chain. Many of us use a plastic wire tie to hold the fingers of the grapnel anchor closed. (In an emergency you can knife the plastic tie off and open the anchor fingers).
Hope this helps

Here's what I recommend:

#1: An anchor, hopefully setup with an anchor trolly rigged on your yak so switching anchor from bow to stern is a no brainer when the current/winds change. I bought a "divers reel" from divers direct which comes w/ 250' of line. I put a 600 lb tuna swivel on the end of the line that connects to the chain/anchor so it doesn't get line twist.

#2: Rig some tie down straps so you can secure your guns and paddle. I used those bungies with the balls on the end and it holds me Speardiver 120 just fine. I also recommend a leash for your paddle. My buddy just lost his paddle the other day while we were drift diving off the kayaks because it wasn't tethered.

#3: Depending upon the size of your yak, setup somewhere to stow your catch. I have a 48qt cooler strapped down down on the stern of mine. I prefer not to stow dead fish inside the hull of my yak because its a hard area to clean thoroughly and I don't want the boat to stink like death when Im out and not diving on it.

#4: Dive flag. I have mine rigged on a 3ft fiberglass pole which rides inside one of the fishing pole holders. Its very visible from even a mile away. Standard size vinyl flag.

#5: Life vest, whistle, and some first aid gear. You never know. I also bring along a dry box for my fishing license.

My next addition will be a GPS/FF to start marking my spots.

Happy hunting,

Chase

Also, for the anchor I have one suggestion. I rigged a line running from the bottom of the anchor to the top of it and then attached my chain to this line via a quick link from home depot. The purpose of this is that when you drop anchor up current and drift down to your spot sometimes the anchor can get stuck when you go to retrieve it later. If this happens paddle up current a little past where you dropped initially and pull the anchor from further up current and it should pull it the opposite direction of what it was caught on. Other divers use many different techniques for this and theres more than one way to skin a cat so just set yourself up an "emergency" way to get dislodged if/when it does happens.

Good luck,

Chase

Hey sdeisen, do you mind posting a picture of how you mounted your dive flag on your kayak? I have the same speardiver flag attached to a piece of pvc on mine but I would rather use a thinner pole. Thank you.

Quote from sdeisen

Oscar never found that boat. I got wackes once without go pro going and the guy towed me in and paid for the broken gear. Lots of other close calls

Quote from Royakdiver

Hey sdeisen, do you mind posting a picture of how you mounted your dive flag on your kayak? I have the same speardiver flag attached to a piece of pvc on mine but I would rather use a thinner pole. Thank you.

Royak I'm afraid I'm a few states away from my kayak right now so I can't post a pic. What I did was take a bicycle flag pole (they sell them at Walmart in the bike/sports area ) and insert and epoxy it into a wooden dowel that fits snug into one of my kayaks scupper holes. The poles are dirt cheap, 4+ foot long, sturdy enough to hold the flag up in the wind yet flexible enough to not break when bent. They are great , I need to buy a dozen in case they ever stop making them. The kayak I have now is a scupper pro and it has a convenient hole in the back that the flag pole fits into perfectly so no wooden dowel just the pole and a wine bottle cork as a stopper. I looked up pics of ur those royaks, they look very cool but not sure if ull have a hole to put the flag pole into, but I'm sure u can work something out. Good luck

P.s brother Hau gets all credit for discovering the bicycle flag poles

Is this the one you're referring to?

Bike Security Flag - Walmart.com

Quote from sdeisen

Royak I'm afraid I'm a few states away from my kayak right now so I can't post a pic. What I did was take a bicycle flag pole (they sell them at Walmart in the bike/sports area ) and insert and epoxy it into a wooden dowel that fits snug into one of my kayaks scupper holes. The poles are dirt cheap, 4+ foot long, sturdy enough to hold the flag up in the wind yet flexible enough to not break when bent. They are great , I need to buy a dozen in case they ever stop making them. The kayak I have now is a scupper pro and it has a convenient hole in the back that the flag pole fits into perfectly so no wooden dowel just the pole and a wine bottle cork as a stopper. I looked up pics of ur those royaks, they look very cool but not sure if ull have a hole to put the flag pole into, but I'm sure u can work something out. Good luck

P.s brother Hau gets all credit for discovering the bicycle flag poles

Yessir except this one seems to come in two pieces but I don't think that'd be an issue. As far as the little flag and the metal bracket at the bottom are concerned u can just take them off. Also the one peice one I got at Walmart in the store was more like $4 than $11

Royak, you mentioned you have a Speardiver flag, since we're talking about rigging a kayak I assume the flag is boat size as required by law. I designed the Speardiver boat size flag Diver Down Flag to accept the cheapest and most readily available flag pole; a 1/2" white PVC pipe you can get at home depot.

If you need a flag pole for the Speardiver float size flag, you can use a driveway marker, also available from home depot for about $2. It's 48" tall, just cut off the reflective head. I like the material and diameter of the driveway marker pole better than the bike flag pole.

Any thought of creating a monster size flag, like 3ft. I have always wanted one and figure it would just add to the visibility? Never really gotten around to trying to find one. My boat is only a bit larger than a kayak, hence the extra concern for being seen. Carry on

Interesting idea JC. I always thought people want the minimum size flag they can get away with as required by law. Anyone else would like a bigger flag? Obviously we're talking about boat flags, a bigger float flag and the float/ballast may not be able to bring it back upright if turned over.

Hey Dan, I think I'm already using a 1/2'' pvc for my flagpole. I think its too big for my application. Sdeisen are you using the boat/kayak flag with the walmart pole? Thanks.

They thing is in South Florida even a regulation size flag sometimes goes unotice. I am thinking full on like the flags youd hang up on a dorm room wall. I know I would fly it on my boat for sure.

The thing about south Florida is that some boaters think dive flags are racing markers.

What anchor do you guys recommend for my kayak to use in 20-40 ft of water? My yak weighs 60ish lbs. With me on the yak and all my gear, I want to say the total weight will be 320lbs (I added extra weight to be safe). I'm leaning towards a 3.5 folding grapnel anchor. What has worked best for you guys?

PS does anyone want to help me with ideas as to how I can install a fish finder on my yak?

Quote from Royakdiver

Hey Dan, I think I'm already using a 1/2'' pvc for my flagpole. I think its too big for my application. Sdeisen are you using the boat/kayak flag with the walmart pole? Thanks.

Yessir

Royakdiver

The length of anchor line (rode) in relation to depth (scope) is more important than the anchor weight itself. A scope of 5:1 is recommended. In storm, or poor ground, a scope of 7:1 is normal. In calm conditions and firm ground 3:1 may be sufficient. In addition to increased length of rode, chain the length of the vessel is a good idea. I also carry a buoy, which lessens shock on the anchor system.

That being said, I generally up the anchor weight to the next size, and carry a minimum of 150' of anchor line. This may seem like excess, but is standard procedure on bigger vessels. If your boat drifts off without you the result is the same, whether she is 10' or 400'