Clipping off to kelp

[mthomas]

Just curious how other kayak divers do this. I always carry an anchor and rarely clip off to the kelp. Looking at how much kelp there is this year I was thinking about leaving the anchor in the car more often than not. I have a bow line that is about six feet long and has a suicide clip on it. Big enough to clip tightly onto a couple pieces of kelp. Perhaps a short bungee to absorb any wave action?
Just want to hear what has worked for you and what hasn't.
Mike Thomas

[Ron S]

I dive the north coast and being a chicken of open water I normally park right in the middle of the kelp. I too have about a 6' bow line and just leave a "kelp clip" on the end. I just clip off to one solid strand of bull kelp and have never had a problem. The kelp itself has plenty of freeplay in the water, so I've never had a need for any kind of bungee. Much faster and easier than an anchor, (which I also carry and use if needed.)
Ron.

[So-Cal Spearo]

I used to use a 5' piece of rope with a clip on the end...I would tie the rope around the kelp a bunch of times and clip it back on.

Unfortunately one time in La Jolla the tide came up and my kayak came loose. It drifted about a mile while I held on to this tiny kelp bed screaming at all boats coming by. Luckily another kayaker dragged my yak back to me. (Turned out to be the leader of slightly stoopid's father)

Now I use a straight 3# anchor or one of the neptonics kelp clips.

[Tino Bernazzani]

I don't know if Josh has it on his website yet,
but Neptonic Systems came up with a Kelp Clip /bow line for kayak fisherman.
It has a tiger clip on one end and a kelp clip on the other.

Since using his set up I have never had my kayak pull free of the kelp, even in heavy swell.
I think they are pretty cheep to ~$30
www.neptonicsystems.com

[mthomas]

That Neptonics kelp clip looks sweet. The one Im using right now looks like the brass clip in the photo. The kelp clip looks like a little grappling hook also. Might snag some more kelp if it comes loose.
Mike Thomas

[Ron S]

I don't know if Josh has it on his website yet,
but Neptonic Systems came up with a Kelp Clip /bow line for kayak fisherman.
It has a tiger clip on one end and a kelp clip on the other.

Since using his set up I have never had my kayak pull free of the kelp, even in heavy swell.
I think they are pretty cheep to ~$30
www.neptonicsystems.com

Yeah Tino, that's what I'm talking about. What I use is just yellow poly rope, but with the same big kelp clip on the end. The kelp clip is great because it's big so it holds a couple kelp strands and is easy to work with cold, gloved hands.
I think the Neptonics rig would be better because that slick line won't tangle as easily as my poly rope.
Ron.

[la_chihuahua]

Before we knew what we were doing, we used some kelp to hold our kayak in place. We had a tiny piece of rope and we just tied it to a bunch of kelp. It worked just fine and our kayak stayed in place the entire time.

[rhyne]

i have even just wrapped kelp up and over my yak, sort of tying it in between the seat straps and what not until it seemed anchored enough to stay put. works on calm days anyway.

[sweatloaf]

Use the bowline. Take the last couple feet of a stringer, make a loose double overhand knot, slip the bowline through it twice, clip the bowline to itself, and take out the slack. Kelp clips are faster, one-handed, but not as secure imo.

[undrH2Ohntr]

I have always used a simple piece of rope and a tuna clip. I use this for my kayak and my 10ft. inflatable boat. I have found that the trick is to have extra rope (I use 15ft.) so the boat/yak can move up and down with swell and with changes in tide.

When you paddle up to the kelp, grab a bunch of strands of kelp, take the line and wrap it tight 2-3 times around the kelp then clip off the tuna clip tightly to it's own line. Never once had one come undone.

[Holy Mackerel]

Whatever you do, be sure to make sure your kayak is thoroughly secure, or you will be swimming around with just your head sticking out of the water (basically blind) looking for your kayak.... don't ask me how I know! :eek: :stupid:

I use a bowline on my kayak, and dive down, wrap and tie it around a big thick kelp stalk, until secure.

I usually bring a 9ft. Jig stick, and tie a dive flag off that, you never know if you are going to paddle and see foaming yellows. The day my kayak came free, I didnt have the jigstick and flag, only a small flag on a 2ft pole, I wish had the longer jigstick for more visibility while searching. Luckily my buddy found my kayak and paddled it up to me.

chris

[Diablo Loco]

When I first got my kayak, U/C Spearo was kind enough to buy me a kelp clip from Neptonics while he went and visited the store. Not knowing better, I bought a piece of yellow nylon rope and attached this to the kelp clip to use as my anchor. I had to learn the hard way that there has to be some "give" on the anchor line or else you might end up swimming after your kayak. So, I came up with this idea.

Pic #1
I bought 10' of black bungie cord, 2 brass clamps (used for horse bridles), a 1' piece of 1/8" coated SS cable, 1 brass ring, and some line that has a a 400# break strength (orange). To make loops in the coated SS cable, I used crimps that we use for shooting line on the gun. All of the clips and carabiners are SS or brass.


Pic #2
I attached one end of the looped bungie to a brass clip at the from of the kayak. Notice the orange line attached to the brass ring.
Pic #3
The orange line runs the length of the front part of the kayak, within arms length of when I am seated in the kayak. This line allows me the ability to pull the anchor line to me without getting out of the boat. I am able to pull myself to the kelp clip and unattach it and be on my merry way.

Pic #4
This is what the brass clamp looks like before it is used to make the loop at the ends of the bungie. The bungie can stretch more than double its length, so there is less likely chance of the kayak coming loose.


Not including the kelp clip, the whole setup cost me less than $12. And it took me less than 20 minutes to make. This setup works incredibly well. Hope someone can use this idea.