Capsized Pro Angler

I live here on the coast and the Tillamook bay can get nasty. I was just out Monday and cut my trip short due to the wind. I have worked on the ocean for four years. I keep a close sense of the water and wind. I felt the wind pick up some so I watched for a 10 - 15 minutes and felt the wind getting stronger. As much as I wanted to fish I packed up secured items and peddled my PA14 back 3 miles. I have been in a 12 foot smoker with a 10hp in Tillamook bay and it got pretty fricken nasty. I worked on 90 foot steel boats in the ocean and samething I have seen these 90 foot boats do the same thing as this fellow, but the guys usually do not survive.  You just really need to pay attention and look at your forecast. We all will probably experience days like this, and by the grace of God we will live through it.
He did have his PFD on!

Rodger, for what you want to do you will love the PA12. It will work fine in the ocean on those calm days too. 

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no worries here, what I wanted was a boat that I could configure for different situations, stock PA12 sometimes with a nice rail around the back end and gear well secured, but I will also have a 30# trolling motor rigged up for when I want that on board and I plan to experiment with making some 'crab float pontoons', so I can really be a 'barge' when I want that.....

our regular fishing/crabbing boat is a 16" alumacraft with a key weakness: low sides.  so keeping a keen eye on NWS forecast comes natural to me, especially the hourly wind predictions, we often bugger off the Siuslaw due to wind wave spray, it just isn't much fun unless you are out expecting to get wet...cheers, roger

That scare me a little bit about how easily it looked like he went over.  I love my outback but as PP mentioned, when the seas get choppy and confused, the outback does seem to catch every little spike and "wallow" around a bit.  I've had mine out in 3 to 4 foot wind waves with very short periods and it handled it fine. 

Turbo fins and sailing rudder also help to get the yak pointed in the right direction a lot quicker than with the standard equipment.

I've been pedaling the PA12 off the coast a couple of times and I never felt like it was going to throw me off while I was sitting down with the seat in the lower position.  Now, when I was standing up, I may have felt close.    Watching that video a couple of times made me feel like he just hasn't had that boat very long and hasn't had a chance to get used to how the boat handles or else he wouldn't be quartering the waves in winds that high.  He mentioned in his comments that the seat being up in the high position wasn't a factor, but believe me, it was.  That, and his Yeti Cooler on the back raised his center of gravity dangerously high.  Throw in the fact that he wasn't leaning into the waves and I'm not surprised at all that he dumped.  Most importantly, I don't think anyone at Hobie imagined this boat to be the next off-shore sensation.  Sure you can take it on the ocean in nice conditions, but Hobie has kayaks that are better designed to handle the crazy stuff that the ocean can throw at you, like the Adventure and the Revo13. 

That scare me a little bit about how easily it looked like he went over.  I love my outback but as PP mentioned, when the seas get choppy and confused, the outback does seem to catch every little spike and "wallow" around a bit.  I've had mine out in 3 to 4 foot wind waves with very short periods and it handled it fine. 

Turbo fins and sailing rudder also help to get the yak pointed in the right direction a lot quicker than with the standard equipment.

it is interesting that in his text he describes rougher conditions than what appears in the video..

"It was still morning and going well no wind calm conditions but a good 1m swell. Instantly a sheer wind came over us and created heavy water spray and the swell doubled to breaking waves. these winds were gusting over 50 knots and at many times we actually couldnt move any direction of choice. After watching Bruce head to the rocky cliffs I headed back to the ramp. once I finally got myself in the direction needed a got hit to the left side on a peak swell with another breaking wave and huge wind gust, I slid out of the yak like a knob of butter in a hot pan"..

I should look at the text.  I do know that when I shoot video using my gopro wide angle lens, the waves seem a LOT smaller than they really are.  The best example of that I have is this video.  No fish but these were 3 footers with the occasional larger wave.  Mix in a fast current rounding the tip of the spit and it made conditions a tad rough. 

I'd say this is at the max end of my comfort zone when fishing with downriggers in my outback.  If I was just out in my kayak with no rod and just playing, this would have been fun I think.  Then again I wouldn't have a clue since I wouldn't be caught dead on a kayak without a rod!

Good of that guy to post the vid. Sure does highlight some of the issues with the PA12 we've been discussing. Those were some hairy conditions for sure though.

Couple things - just my silly opinion!

1: going in the water is pretty much an inevitability. The thing is to be geared for it. Then, it's just an inconvenience or minor embarrassment and not life threatening. It's really not that big a deal! The dude had a pfd and only thing he really regrets is not leashing his rod.  No biggie.  For my gear I usually leash it, stow it or at least make sure it floats. Also learned the hard way

2.  PA is not a great big water boat. It can probably be used as one but it's just not going to be ideal. Flats, lakes, rivers, even the sound are places the PA is excellent. I am really looking forward to destroying some pinks on my PA this year.

3.  IMHO the outback is a big water champ. At times you feel like yer pedaling a bathtub, but I haven't felt unstable even in some snotty weather. I love it!

And pretty much everything pelagic said

I have to agree with Rory about the outback. I have been on some really nasty stuff and have never felt unstable.  It does ride over every wave rather than slice through them, but that makes it fun.  However, if I am going far off shore with guys in revos ,  I will use my adventure so I don't have to work so hard to keep up. 

I have to agree with Rory about the outback. I have been on some really nasty stuff and have never felt unstable.  It does ride over every wave rather than slice through them, but that makes it fun.  However, if I am going far off shore with guys in revos ,  I will use my adventure so I don't have to work so hard to keep up. 

Good to know.  I've capsized the outback before, but only while practicing surf landing and re-entries...had to work pretty hard to flip it on flat water so I figured it would handle pretty good out there.

Feel bad for the guy, but know how it feels. I got rolled over at the entrance to pearl harbor on Oahu. Luckily enough I had dummy lines to my rod and tackle, but still its no fun after the fact.