Dive Kayak Review

Hi everyone,

I just bought a new Sevylor DiveYak inflatable dive kayak. This is the
black version, not the white one that I just found out about that seems to
be a better version. Anyway, I got it for $369 which seems pretty good for
me. Got the 4 piece paddle for $30.

It weighs less than 30 pounds empty and inflated seems to be about 10-12
feet long, maybe a little longer. Haven't measured it.

Yesterday, I inflated the kayak and took here down to the local marina to
try it out. You don't sit in this kayak, you sit on top of it. Comes with
a seat. I wore my drysuit since it was obviously possible to take on some
water. It didn't get much water on it to my surprise.

Paddling was fairly easy with my drysuit and, yes, I wore a life jacket to.
Picked one that was made for kayaking. I know that my drysuit would keep me
afloat but the law requires life jackets be worn.

The kayak has very little resistance in the water and I was able to move
pretty fast. I brought with me some snorkeling gear and a weight belt to
practice getting on and off the kayak. No tank this trial run. I was able
to get in and out of the water pretty easily. Grabbing the hand hold on the
opposite side of the kayak and pulling my self up wasn't difficult. When in
the water, the kayak looks like it sits really high, but that is just an
illusion. The only difficulty was trying to get myself turned around while
on the kayak with my fins on. Drysuits don't let you be as flexible when
they have very little air in them.

So far I really like it. In the next few days I will try actually diving
it. I don't see putting my rig on while on the kayak. Will probably have
to inflate the BC and swim into it as it is a hogarthian harness and wing.
The seat would get in the away of putting any rig on anyways.

Plenty of storage all over the kayak and they have even labeled it where it
is best to put things like your weightbelt. The total payload capacity is
350 pounds including the kayaker/diver.

Seems like a really good buy to me. We'll see.

David

Thanks for the report and would like to hear how it works out for you when
you use it as a dive platform. I saw one in a dive shop down in the Keys a
couple of weeks ago and wondered how well it might work......keep us posted.

Steve
"David M. Burnworth" <xlh883@earthlink.net> wrote in message
news:tlDZa.2642$Nf3.1143@newsread4.news.pas.earthl ink.net...
> Hi everyone,
>
> I just bought a new Sevylor DiveYak inflatable dive kayak. This is the
> black version, not the white one that I just found out about that seems to
> be a better version. Anyway, I got it for $369 which seems pretty good
for
> me. Got the 4 piece paddle for $30.
>
> It weighs less than 30 pounds empty and inflated seems to be about 10-12
> feet long, maybe a little longer. Haven't measured it.
>
> Yesterday, I inflated the kayak and took here down to the local marina to
> try it out. You don't sit in this kayak, you sit on top of it. Comes
with
> a seat. I wore my drysuit since it was obviously possible to take on some
> water. It didn't get much water on it to my surprise.
>
> Paddling was fairly easy with my drysuit and, yes, I wore a life jacket
to.
> Picked one that was made for kayaking. I know that my drysuit would keep
me
> afloat but the law requires life jackets be worn.
>
> The kayak has very little resistance in the water and I was able to move
> pretty fast. I brought with me some snorkeling gear and a weight belt to
> practice getting on and off the kayak. No tank this trial run. I was
able
> to get in and out of the water pretty easily. Grabbing the hand hold on
the
> opposite side of the kayak and pulling my self up wasn't difficult. When
in
> the water, the kayak looks like it sits really high, but that is just an
> illusion. The only difficulty was trying to get myself turned around
while
> on the kayak with my fins on. Drysuits don't let you be as flexible when
> they have very little air in them.
>
> So far I really like it. In the next few days I will try actually diving
> it. I don't see putting my rig on while on the kayak. Will probably have
> to inflate the BC and swim into it as it is a hogarthian harness and wing.
> The seat would get in the away of putting any rig on anyways.
>
> Plenty of storage all over the kayak and they have even labeled it where
it
> is best to put things like your weightbelt. The total payload capacity is
> 350 pounds including the kayaker/diver.
>
> Seems like a really good buy to me. We'll see.
>
> David
>
>
>

David M. Burnworth <xlh883@earthlink.net> wrote:
>So far I really like it. In the next few days I will try actually diving
>it. I don't see putting my rig on while on the kayak. Will probably have
>to inflate the BC and swim into it as it is a hogarthian harness and wing.
>The seat would get in the away of putting any rig on anyways.

Yeah, throwing it overboard and donning it there is generally the way
for kayak diving.

Looking forward to hearing about the full test, and if you experience it,
how well it tracks on a windy day. I've seen pictures of this Sevlor model,
but I also have experience with other inflatable kayaks that keep turning
about with one person on board. (Similar problem with canoes).

Did it come with a power inflator? How long to build up, and at the end
of the day, take down?

--
Jason O'Rourke www.jor.com