Ocean training (1st Salt for a Newbie)

I finally had a chance to take my Cobra Explorer out in the salt.  As tempting as it was to bring along a fishing rod and some jigs, I decided to focus on launching and landing thru the surf and developing some “self-rescue” skills. 
 
Conditions:
Buoy Reading:  3.9’ from the NW
Winds:  10-15 knots from the WNW with gusts to 20
Wave Faces:   Outside double-ups ~10-12’ faces (Swell was refracting off the headland)
      Inside reforms ~ 4-6’ faces

Getting Out:
I was amazed at how easy it was to bust thru the whitewater!  Even on the breaking sets, the worst that happened was losing a bit of headway. 

Getting In:
The large sloped waves on the outside were really easy to catch and ride.  It was such a blast to get in to the waves early and use the paddle as a pivot point for turning.
Why, if it’s so easy to ride the big stuff on the outside, is it so difficult and humbling to ride the little ripples that put you on the sand?  In the small stuff, I got rolled, pitch-poled, spun and bounced out…..   

Self-Rescue:
Getting back in took some time to figure out but I had plenty of opportunities to practice this under pressure.  By the end of the day was completely comfortable getting into an empty kayak.  Hopefully it’s as easy to re-enter a loaded kayak.

Dues Paid:
Pulled my drain plug on the beach and forgot to screw it back down before carrying the kayak back to my car.  By the time I got back, the plug was gone.
Broke the clip on my paddle leash during a spectacular smack down. 
I figure I’m due for a nice size ling now. 

Now for the questions:
-   What’s the key to dealing with whitewater?  Even the small whitewater humbled me. 
-   Do most people mount their accessories on one side of the kayak to facilitate re-entering the kayak from the water?
-   Where do you clip your paddle leash when coming back in thru the surf?  I had it attached to one of the eyelets on my yak and wound up snapping off the clip. 
-   While the day was fun with an empty kayak, I can’t imagine it being near as fun loaded down with gear and fish.  Do you guys only go out when the ocean is dead flat?
-   Any words of advice for a newbie?

Good on you for getting out there and practicing with a bare boat. You have just made a great step in making you life w/ gear on the boat much easier! The surf sounds pretty huge so extra kudos for braving and surviving with your pride.

The first important thing you've learned is that the surf will break your gear so avoiding time on waves is really important.

Self rescue is invaluable and the confidence and technique you have gained WILL help you in many ways when things get rough.

-   What’s the key to dealing with whitewater?  Even the small whitewater humbled me.

 
Try not to ride at all costs. For landing you're going to try to not ride any waves. You'd stay outside of the area where the waves break with as much gear as possible stowed or strapped down. Time a wave and the second it passes follow it full speed. Your goal here is to stay inbetween the two waves long enough for them to lose power and power through what's left.

-   Do most people mount their accessories on one side of the kayak to facilitate re-entering the kayak from the water?

This isn't really something I think we would re-adjust our entire setup for. A re-entry should be a rare occasion.

-   Where do you clip your paddle leash when coming back in thru the surf?  I had it attached to one of the eyelets on my yak and wound up snapping off the clip.

 
The ocean as we all know is oh so strong. I use a surf leash and strap it to a plastic cleat that I've mounted. I'm sure a wave can still snap it but it'll be stronger than an eyelet.

-   While the day was fun with an empty kayak, I can’t imagine it being near as fun loaded down with gear and fish.  Do you guys only go out when the ocean is dead flat?

You know, this could be one of the most important factors in being safe fishing in surf zones. Always stay on the conservative side. If you look out at the surf and question yourself, don't push it. I usually won't push through surf that's more than 3 feet. Problem is that launching you can see everything but landing you're totally blind. Nothing worse than a great day fishing ruined by a sloppy landing that wrecks gear. We need some calm conditions on the open ocean to have a good day.

-   Any words of advice for a newbie?

I'll keep it short and sweet.. Clint Eastwood said it best "A man's gotta know his limits." Explore slowly and find where they are.

Z

Were you out early last week (week of the 23rd)? We had some big north wind and some large swells 6-8ft with 4ft wind waves. Where did you practice?  I kept the boat on the beach.  Ditto on what was said above about staying out off the waves when returning to the beach.  I like to sit just behind the breakers (back paddling to stay in place) and wait for a small one to just pass under me then paddle hard and follow it in, you will most likely have to deal with the slop of the one behind it, but the key is to get past the break and then just power though the slop or brace and lean into it ,if necessary, and let it "push" you into the beach. 

 Paddle leash: I  bolted (think big washers) a stainless eye to the bow of my boat.  I braided an extension to my paddle leash so it would reach the cockpit and attached the leash to that.    I have dumped, practicing/testing gear, in small surf and the paddle (attached to the bow on a 6ft leash) drags in the water turning the bow into the waves.

Gear attachment:  All my gear (rod holder, depthfinder) is attached using "ram" mounts. I have all mine on the center line of the boat and the ram mounts allow quick removal (for storage under deck when moving though the surf zone) and leaves an uncluttered deck.

Returning through the surf tip that works for me (ymmv) : When you get to the beach sit and watch the surf line where you are planing on heading out (for 20min or so), pick where the most favorable break etc is for heading out and more importantly back in, then look for a landmark on the beach in line with the "good break"  that you could  see from behind the breakers (big tree, huge stump, high point in the dunes, rock point etc). When you are coming back in you line up with this "landmark" and it gets you in the neighborhood of a good return line to the beach.

Awesome tips guys!  I really appreciate being able to leverage off your experience!  It took this 1st trip to realize what it was that I didn’t yet know.  I think I’ll need one more practice session to get comfortable with timing and making the mad dash to the beach.  From a long time surfer’s perspective, the idea of trying to avoid waves on the way back in is counter-intuitive.

Pelagic, I like your paddle leash idea.  It wouldn’t have made any sense to me before but it sure does now.  Is that the set-up I see on your bow in the other thread?  Also, what’s a RAM mount?

I was out on Sunday at the Cove in Seaside.  It’s an area I surf regularly so I figured I could leverage off my experience with smaller craft.  The conditions were less than ideal for surfing or fishing but a great opportunity for learning. 

Thanks Again Guys!
-Mark-

Yes, the pic of the bow of my boat has my paddle leash connected to it.  It also has my "drift sock" trammel (thicker rope) set up also (both connected to the same eye).  It allows my to deploy and retrieve my drift sock from the cockpit.  RAM mounts can be found with a google search and are sold locally.  They are strong, interchangeable and so far in both offshore and kayak angling I have yet to have any problems with them.
Regarding flares, from your other post, I have a flare gun, the orange pistol type with 6-7 12 ga ariel flares connected to it all stored in a small drybag,  If something major went wrong  I plan on a call to the local coasties (pre-preprogramed into my cell) or a vhf mayday. Then later launch flares once help was in route to speed coasties to my precise local.  This may seem a little "over safe" but when I consider when I paddle out to the tip of Cape Lookout on the oregon coast I am about 3 miles west from the beach its nice to know I could get some ones attention if the shtf. Keep us updated on you exploits. 

Why, if it’s so easy to ride the big stuff on the outside, is it so difficult and humbling to ride the little ripples that put you on the sand?  In the small stuff, I got rolled, pitch-poled, spun and bounced out…..   

I think the issue is that you have the washback from the previous wave to deal with.  It's coming out while you're going in and tend to push your nose off.  Often times it will turn you sideways only to have the next wave SMACK you.

Good for you for getting some practice in.  I did the same at Sombrio last week.  I spent a number of runs intentionally coming in "weird", surfing crosswise along the waves (you really get going fast like that), surfing sideways in, and just trying to put the boat in various positions to practice dealing with it.  It paid off the next day when I came in, got cockeyed and had to lean/brace into a wave sideways to avoid getting pitched.  I'm sure it looked like I knew what I was doing, but I really was all messed up.   



-Allen