How NOT to beach launch

How about golf as an alternative activity?

Does anyone else think the guy might be elderly.  Watching his movement patterns it doesn't look like he has the ability to move quickly, or with strength, and his balance even out of the water looks suspect.

Does anyone else think the guy might be elderly.  Watching his movement patterns it doesn't look like he has the ability to move quickly, or with strength, and his balance even out of the water looks suspect.

I was actually thinking he might be loaded.

    Lots can be learned by watching this video. And even more can be learned if you listen to some of our comments. I'm going to try to address a few without stepping on any toes.

  Positioning: Obliviously he made a bad choice in his launch location. Starting in a washing machine is only going to make a successful launch more challenging. He should have moved over.
  Knowledge about hydraulics : Water movement is very powerful. He found out the hard way. Putting himself between his boat and the shore got his ass kicked. While I can admire a person who keeps trying--- not so much if he keeps making the same mistakes. Need to realize what is not working and try a different approach. And yes -- he was exhausted after his first couple of fails.
  "It falls on the more experienced guys to coordinate and implement the rescue" : Thankfully that wasn't needed. But as a lot of us have seen and know from having been there... self rescue is paramount to going out in the salt water. You won't always be close at hand when a buddy gets dumped. Or you might be too far away to be of immediate help. You have to be able to get yourself back to and hopefully back in your boat. By yourself. A PFD will help save your life... but you have to have the strength to get back to your boat. Then use that whistle you have on your PFD to let others know you need help. And hope it is not too knarly/windy/wavy that someone can not hear your distress calls.
  "Launching is so easy" : We all hope for that to be the case... but it never is. Conditions change quickly on the ocean. Be prepared for the worst and only hope for the "easy days". Because they wont all be easy. I don't know of any "Formal Training " that is available. Though going out with more experienced kayakers can certainly be beneficial. We should all learn something every time we go out. And practice will make the challenges involved more readily meet. But do know your own limits.
  Take a break : the guy looked like he was total spent by the end of the video. He needed to stop and regroup. Again--know your own limits. We can all learn by pushing those limits... but don't be stupid about it. No fish is worth your life.

  I hope my little rant doesn't hurt anyones feeling. As mentioned--- use this as a learning tool. And I am most certainly not claiming to be an expert--- I  too have been humbled many times and lost more gear than I'll admit. And I'll probably push my own limits again and have it handed to me ...again.

  I see a lot of "new" kayakers wanting to fish the salt. That's great and I want to see more people get out there and enjoy all the ocean has to offer. I just want you to go there with your eyes open and be smart about it. The ocean will "fix stupid".

 

The single most important lesson to learn from this video is:

DON'T GET CAUGHT BETWEEN YOUR KAYAK AND SHORE!

Everything else that happens is just funny. 

-Mark-

+1

That vid was funny as hell!!

Even cooler cuz I know exactly where he is at and have spent a lot of time there diving, fishing, paddling and playing with my girls on the beach.

On a calm day it is an amazing spot, but on a rough day the shore dump can be pretty strong cuz the beach is very steep.

I wouldn't take a newbie out there...there is a much easier launch a little bit down the road at the main carmel city beach.

Sincerely,

Jim

I figure it was a good thing he never made it out there. Can't imagine all the dangerous stuff he could do to himself.

I think I see the problem .... he is an idiot.

I think I see the problem .... he is an idiot.

OR, maybe he's just not trained yet...  The one and only time I have done a surf launch was a rental kayak at La Jolla CA, and it kicked my ass 4 times (and a rest break) before the fifth attempt got me out thru the waves.  Granted, I did not try chasing gear around (in fact I had nothing with me), but what I see in the video could very easily be a guy who's untrained and out of his depth of knowledge, rather than "an idiot".   Everyone starts somewhere.  We know nothing about this guy except what the clip shows us, so I give him the benefit of the doubt until otherwise shown...

I have only gone out in the Sound with 'stuff', so I might look pretty bad too in actual surf, and I like to think I wouldn't make the mistakes this guy did but who knows till it happens...
 
Jim

I think I see the problem .... he is an idiot.

OR, maybe he's just not trained yet...  The one and only time I have done a surf launch was a rental kayak at La Jolla CA, and it kicked my ass 4 times (and a rest break) before the fifth attempt got me out thru the waves.  Granted, I did not try chasing gear around (in fact I had nothing with me), but what I see in the video could very easily be a guy who's untrained and out of his depth of knowledge, rather than "an idiot".   Everyone starts somewhere.  We know nothing about this guy except what the clip shows us, so I give him the benefit of the doubt until otherwise shown...

I have only gone out in the Sound with 'stuff', so I might look pretty bad too in actual surf, and I like to think I wouldn't make the mistakes this guy did but who knows till it happens...
 
Jim

Nope .... pretty sure he is an idiot. 

Nope .... pretty sure he is an idiot.

As soon as he started losing gear, he needed to remove all his stuff from the water and start over again.  Instead he kept dropping the things he captured back in the surf zone....   I may not be the smartest guy but even I can see how this is a little counter productive.

I agree with Fungunnin.

Nope .... pretty sure he is an idiot.

As soon as he started losing gear, he needed to remove all his stuff from the water and start over again.  Instead he kept dropping the things he captured back in the surf zone....   I may not be the smartest guy but even I can see how this is a little counter productive.

I agree with Fungunnin.

I would have been more concerned about my stuff floating away and hustled a little more.  Of course, never having done that yet, I hope I'm not going to be "that guy" when the time comes.

Nope .... pretty sure he is an idiot.

As soon as he started losing gear, he needed to remove all his stuff from the water and start over again.  Instead he kept dropping the things he captured back in the surf zone....   I may not be the smartest guy but even I can see how this is a little counter productive.

I agree with Fungunnin.

+2

Nope .... pretty sure he is an idiot.

As soon as he started losing gear, he needed to remove all his stuff from the water and start over again.  Instead he kept dropping the things he captured back in the surf zone....   I may not be the smartest guy but even I can see how this is a little counter productive.

I agree with Fungunnin.

I would have been more concerned about my stuff floating away and hustled a little more.  Of course, never having done that yet, I hope I'm not going to be "that guy" when the time comes.

If you just put a full size cooler in your tank well without securing it to your boat in a surf launch ... you may be 'that guy'

If you have enough common sense to at least lash it down some how, I think you are a bit further along in the critical thinking department than our friend in the video.

I think I see the problem .... he is an idiot.

OR, maybe he's just not trained yet...  The one and only time I have done a surf launch was a rental kayak at La Jolla CA, and it kicked my ass 4 times (and a rest break) before the fifth attempt got me out thru the waves.  Granted, I did not try chasing gear around (in fact I had nothing with me), but what I see in the video could very easily be a guy who's untrained and out of his depth of knowledge, rather than "an idiot".   Everyone starts somewhere.  We know nothing about this guy except what the clip shows us, so I give him the benefit of the doubt until otherwise shown...

I have only gone out in the Sound with 'stuff', so I might look pretty bad too in actual surf, and I like to think I wouldn't make the mistakes this guy did but who knows till it happens...
 
Jim

Nope .... pretty sure he is an idiot.

Possibly, possibly not.   *I* will reserve judgement - you can make mistakes and do things wrong without being an idiot.