wind lesson learned in quest for halibut

Well, i have been living for may 1st. I had big plans to attempt a halibut day. I just picked up my trailer that i had a guy modify out of a motorcycle trailer the day before. had my harpoon, float and all my gear ready to head out of freshwater bay and drift to tongue point on the ebb and then back to freshwater bay when it turned. I loaded up at work and the wind was blowing. I have heard you all talk about wind but i thought, this season is so short i am going to go for it. I checked wonderground and it said 15-20 NW.  Got to freshwater bay and there were 4 chicken butt carcasses at the edge of the water. My heart was beating but i was looking at white caps. I should have remembered what i have read over and over on this forum. Well, I paddled out past bachelor rock about a 100 yards and then tried to head west. When i was paddling full steam the gps said .3 mph. Funny thing is that when i stopped paddling my speed increased to 6 mph. The other way. It took me 1 hr and 45 minutes to get back in that 300 yards or so. When i took off the drysuit i was soaked from sweat. When i finally got in some guys had some halibut on the rocks with knives and i asked if they had just got them. they said no that they were scavangers and whoever had left the carcasses had not cut out the cheeks. They went home with a few baggies of meat, I went home with a lesson learned. I will now believe you all when you say you really have to make wise decisions before the launch.  This newbie is now a little wiser.
doug in sequim

Chalk it up to paying dues.....  Hard knocks are the best teacher. 
Glad to hear you made it back in!

-Spot-

Hats off to you for getting out there and giving it a go.  Best place to learn is by getting out there and "giving it a shot" they may be hard lessons, but they are ones you won't forget.

Yeah man, lesson learned. Now you know what bad conditions look like.

Z

More importantly though, what a nice simple trailer!   

I hate kayaking in wind, it just takes the fun out of it for me. 

Thanks INSAYN, the bummer is that right after i paid 750 to a guy to make it for me, one showed up on clist for 225. I think it is still on there. I am still hoping for an opportunity to go for halibut i just hope the weather cooperates. doug

nice trailer....good lesson...i was too chicken to even load er up

showed up on clist for 225. I think it is still on there.

No doubt. Great deal. If I had a trailer hitch on my truck I'd have bought it by now.

Z

What kind of paddle are you using? The T-15 is alot of boat to push around. You might want to check out a paddle/blade with greater surface area. The fat blades will give you a little more torque to overcome wind/current than the long skinny blades will. I like the Werner Coryvreckin & Ikelos for big ones, Werner Shuna or Cyprus for slightly smaller big blades. Cory & Shuna are non-foam core blades, Ikelos & Cyprus have foam cores.

You have to rotate at the torso with big blades on your forward stroke though. If you try and push a T-15 through 20mph wind with big blades just using your shoulders, you won't last long!

With a little practice, right technique, and paddle....you should be able to deal with winds up to 20kts more reasonably. I'm not saying it won't be challenging, but will work better.

J

Thanks Nanook, I've got  a werner Camano. I am an out of shape old guy and so there were rest stops where i would lose half the progress i had made. I wasn't in danger just realized later that it is one thing to go out fishing when the forcast is good and turns bad. it is another thing to go out when the forcast is bad to start with. Thanks for the advice. doug

"I am an out of shape old guy"

I have the same problem. I went out Saturday on Mayfield Lake. The wind was blowing about 20knts. I had the wind to my back for the paddle down the Cowlitz river arm. It made for a challenging paddle back with wind in my face and against the river flow.

Doug, Glad to hear you made it back in OK. I hate trying to fish from yak (or any boat) in any real wind, and just wait for lighter wind forecasts.
When the wind comes up strong, I forget about fishing and start thinking about sailing.
Right now I am slicing and dicing and laminating an old surfboard blank and a stripped longboard hulk into "amas" (outriggers) to install on my Tarpon. I'm making some outrigger poles (akas).  I am also making a couple of sails, making my own spars, doing my own rigging, making some lee boards, gonna have to install the rudder kit after all, and I'm having way too much fun doing this.  
I already have a Pacific Action Sail mounted on the bow of my Tarpon (quickly and easily removable, as well as stowable).
The mast of the sail I'm concocting will be mounted behind my cockpit, as will be the outriggers. The goal is to achieve a balanced rig that requires little effort to sail, so I can extend my range beyond what I now can paddle in one day before getting tired. This is kinda low priority right now, with work and fishing and other stuff ahead of it, but I should have it all put together within a couple of months.
Then I figure I'll be able to sail off into the sunset! Or maybe even troll for tuna at 7 knots!

Man, that is a really nice job on the trailer!

One thing that got me with wind for a long time is thinking that I had to work harder because the wind was blowing harder. I realized that if I focus on my technique I don't have to paddle any harder than I do in no wind. I've been able to make relatively easy forward progress against winds to 45mph. Haven't really tried in more than that.

I should say that making forward progress in 45mph is pretty easy. I could not, however, keep the boat from quartering the whole time without deploying the skeg.

I would check out the Werner Shuna. It catches more water than the Camano and will provide an easier time against wind, but it's small enough to not burn out the shoulders when you're cruising. You'd probably have to special order in the length you want.....230-250cm....They usually don't make them bigger than 215cm.

I like the Camano for cruising, but I've been using the Coryvreckin for 4 years, and I generally feel I'm paddling with a toothpick when using the camano. I think the Shuna is a good compromise.

OLd at 48 and 54?!?!?  YOU guys are spring chickens!

Glad you made it in ok SS! That did not sound like fun at all.

But that really is a nice trailer! 

More importantly though, what a nice simple trailer!   

I hate kayaking in wind, it just takes the fun out of it for me. 

When i was paddling full steam the gps said .3 mph. Funny thing is that when i stopped paddling my speed increased to 6 mph. The other way.

Zee is too polite to say it but get a Hobie!

  Actually, the real answer is don't go out and play in those conditions. But if you do, that Mirage drive is the Lickity Split (especially for the "less than teen-aged" physique)
I've been in very similar conditions pedaling and I was shocked that my gps said I was going 4 mph straight into the teeth of a good 20 mph wind and with no more than normal effort (and I am NOWHERE near "teen-aged" physique)
Probably has something to do with maintaining a less wind resistant form and not waving around those little sails on each end of the stick.