On a chilly January morning, the team here at Discount Divers set up camp at our local Seattle diving hole for an equipment demo day. We had gear from a variety of manufacturers laid out for our shop folks and dive club members to try out and give their opinions (we test what we sell). One of the most impressive pieces of gear was the inflatable Dive Kayak we tried.
This easily inflatable vessel that packs away in a carrying case that you can easily heft over one shoulder. The package also includes a foot pump that inflates the air chamber in minutes. The air chamber is made of a tough material with a tear/puncture resistant nylon cover. The Kayak is equipped with a seat and a number of tie-downs and netting to store a full scuba unit, including a scuba tank! The seatback has loops sewn in and you can slip a rod through and fly your dive flag.
Inflatable Kayaks use a classic sit-on-top design. I was quite impressed with the quick maneuverability. As an inflatable, sitting atop the water, there felt to be very little resistance and I could accelerate and change directions with little effort in paddling. Small fins or skegs lock into slots on the bottom of the boat for smooth tracking.
I was pleased with the performance of the sit atop inflatable kayak but I was particularly interested in how easy it was to remount the craft. I slipped off into the water to try it. To my surprise, it required much less effort than I expected. I simply hoisted myself up to my hips, then swung my rump around directly into the seat. It was as easy as one, two, three!
Landing the inflatable Kayak was also pleasingly easy. I simply hopped off in knee deep water, grabbed the handle on the bow of the vessel and dragged it up onto the beach. Disassembling the kayak was straight forward and packing it away in its storage bag makes it very easy to transport, no need for elaborate rigging to tie down a kayak to the top of your car.
Over all, I was very please and had a lot of fun trying out the kayak. Give us a call at 1-877-SCUBDV or 206-298-6998 with any questions or ordering info. NOTE: Sometimes we have economical used kayaks (in addition to stocking competitively priced new ones!)
John Bruels, DDS Web Guy
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