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Freedive WI · 05-06-2003, 09:40 AM,

I don't know how many of you have these already,but I have been using one for over 10 years and love it for local diving. I have even taken it out on Lake Superior and Lake Michigan to scuba/freedive off of.

I hook my wreck reel onto the bow and tow it through the water behind me. Because of the shape of the boat she actually is much easier to pull than a conventional flag and float.

A friend of mine just opened up a new tec shop in Milwaukee and I talked him into carring a rental fleet of them. He got a chance to try his out for the first time this past weekend on Lake Michigan.

You can see the tank well on the back and the front hatch where the rest of your gear goes.

Jon

LKunze · 05-06-2003, 09:45 AM,

Man, that would be a great thing to have for diving wrecks like the Madeira where it's a longer surface swim out to the wreck.

Freedive WI · 05-06-2003, 09:46 AM,

The surf wasn't that big, as far as lake Michigan goes, but it was still fun to play around in it for an afternoon.

In Wisconsin they don't need to be registered. They can be thrown on the top of almost any car and launched form almost anywhere. I have used mine to get onto some pretty secluded lakes- as in the only public access was a flight of stairs!

They are also a LOT cheaper than owning a regular boat and can take quite a bit of abuse. One of mine can handle class II rapids and can be completely recycled if I ever drop it off of a building or something. Wink

With all of the lakes in Minnesota I would think that this would be the perfect boat for divers.

Jon
Jon

Freedive WI · 05-06-2003, 09:47 AM,

I have launched in Squaw bay, on Superior, and paddled to the caves to play.

On Lake Michigan I have used it many times to dive all of the wrecks in less than 40' of water- because those are the ones less than 2 miles from shore in the Milwaukee area.

Jon

JoelW · 05-06-2003, 09:54 AM,

I do like my Cobra Fish'n'Dive. Diving out it is a good time. As far as using it as a regular kayak goes it is a bit of pig in the water. It's a bit too wide to be nimble. The width makes it great for stability. I keep trying to find people around here who are into kayak diving but I haven't found any yet. Going Under was trying to sell a Cobra for about $600, which isn't too bad a deal.

JoelW

Freedive WI · 05-06-2003, 10:01 AM,

For scuba diving I have an Ocean Kayak Scrambler- that's about all there was to buy 10 years ago. I've heard good things about the Cobra's.

A couple of years ago I bought a Futura surfski to use for freediving only. It is more fragile than my Scrambler because it is made out of fiberglass and not roto-molded palstic. It also has a rudder to fight the wind and is wicked-fast. ;D

rudolph_medic · 05-06-2003, 09:02 PM,

is there anywhere around here that would rent these. I would really like to try one out before I bought one. Also- any LDS around here sell them?

Punky · 05-06-2003, 10:12 PM,

I know Scuba Daddy sells Cobra kayaks.

JoelW · 05-29-2003, 01:43 PM,

We need to get some more kayak divers going in this town. I took mine out to Square last night and after I was done diving I put it into the water and headed over to the shore around from the state park. Sitting at the surface it looked like I could see the bottom down to 8-10 feet. It looked a whole lot better there than by the beach. I would go by myself but solo diving across a lake from assistance is not my bag of tea.

JoelW

DanL · 05-29-2003, 07:39 PM,

Joel,
Have you got the hang of getting out/in, etc? I'm taking our tandem kayak - not a dive kayak, but a 14ft "touring" model with a long open cockpit and a wide beam - up to Crosby this Sat just to try in/out, etc.
Any tips?
Has enough capacity for two divers, maybe for 2 sets of gear, too.