first taste of salt

Mouth of Siletz.  No wind.  Sunny.  8' Daylite.  Dry suit. About an hour before low tide. 

Today was an awesome day.  I began at Moe's and set a pot out then I road the current to the mouth.  I beached on the north side and watched the waves for about 30 minutes.  I was timing the tide to play on incoming (just in case).  But the tide change was so small today that it didn't make much difference.  I noticed that the waves on the south side seemed more regular, smaller and consistent so I walked up river a bit and set out again to the south.

I began by heading nose first into 2 foot waves.  Just big enough to wash over the bow.  Then after about a dozen of those I turned around and waited for a nice solid wave to surf in on.  I know 2 feet isn't much but it's a start and I didn't get dumped.  I did realize very fast I needed to lean way back to surf in.

That accomplished I headed out to four foot waves.  Again I took several waves in the nose.  Thank God for the back rest.  Then I turned around again and surfed in a few times waiting for just the right wave.  About the sixth time in I caught a good one and found out what it would be like to swim in a washing machine.  What a blast.  Held on to my paddle but the yak went about 30 yards away.  A few more waves and I made it to the yak and got to learn how to climb back on.


Learning experience:  I think I need to work on upper body strength.  A longer yak with a rudder is now on my Christmas  list.  Mattie (12 yo daughter) isn't going to surf launch just yet. But I will take her to Puget Sound.

Questions:  Has anyone experimented with leashes for yak like surfers use? And also leashes for paddles.?

Dave

got tired of losing gear, so I leash almost everything, except myself to the yak. I'd be very uncomfortable leashing myself to the yak on a surf exit. don't want to get knocked out. I'd rather get clear, then retrieve. In the surf, I've found that my yak rides very well all the way to shore upside down without me on it. I always leash the paddle.

You can add a length of floating rope to both the bow and the stern to lay freely in the water to act as an extention in the event you get seperated from your kayak.  Not completely fool proof, but adds to the length of the kayak.

Congrats on the baptism! I spent hours tonight reading about waves. Not sure if I'll ever try surf launching or landing but fun to study.


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I'm with PNW.  I leash everything but myself to the boat under normal circumstances.  In the surf I make my deck as neat as possible and unleash my paddle.  This way when I dump I have no leashes to get tangled in. 

Way to get out and gitterdun! Nothing better than playing in the surf to raise your comfort level in the salt.
I like leashes, but a lot of folk that I respect, don't. In any event, it's a really good idea to have a good knife at hand that you can get to even if your upside down, underwater, in the dark... you get the idea.

I recently found that coming in backwards works really well and you might want to give it a shot next time.

http://www.northwestkayakanglers.com/index.php/topic,6609.msg69192.html#msg69192

Great job on getting out fishinreddog! I am still on a no-salt diet  It sounds like you found some really good conditions to get your feet wet, so to speak. Before I head out into the ocean I need to spend some serious time thinking about how I am going to secure my rods on my Outback. I dream that Hobie and Ocean Kayak merge and they come out with an Outback and Revo with a rod pod.

Way to get out and gitterdun! Nothing better than playing in the surf to raise your comfort level in the salt.
I like leashes, but a lot of folk that I respect, don't. In any event, it's a really good idea to have a good knife at hand that you can get to even if your upside down, underwater, in the dark... you get the idea.

I recently found that coming in backwards works really well and you might want to give it a shot next time.

http://www.northwestkayakanglers.com/index.php/topic,6609.msg69192.html#msg69192

I'd second everything that Wali says here.  The only thing I leash is my paddle.  It remains leashed during a surf landing.  The 5th to last thing that I want is to have a 100yd swim back to the beach with a 7 foot long stick in my hand.  Use a bungee style leash so that it isn't snapped when a wave hits your unmanned yak.  An unintentional benefit of the leashed paddle is that it becomes a sea anchor and helps to keep your yak nearby after an unexpected ejection.

-Spot-

When it come to leashing paddles how do you guys roll? Leash to yourself or to the boat?
Thoughts?

The boat.

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IMO Always my boat.  My paddle is of no use to me if I am separated from my boat, in fact, I'd say it'd be much more hinderance trying to swim with a 'sea-anchor' as mentioned above. 

Personally, I keep my boat leashed except during launches and returns in surf.  My thought is that there is much less chance getting tangled in the leash of a boat that flips upside down versus the chance of getting caught in the leash of a boat that experiences the 'wash-cycle' of the ocean.  In open water, there are many directions the boat could go or be carried by the wind, but in the surf, it's pretty much a given that you will come across your boat on the same shore that you're trying to gain footing on.  That being said, I always keep a sharp knife on my PFD.  It's money well spent even if I never have to use it.

I like leashes, but a lot of folk that I respect, don't.

Is that your way of saying you respect me Wali?   

Leashes suck!!!  Really, I don't like them.

-Allen

I like leashes, but a lot of folk that I respect, don't.

Is that your way of saying you respect me Wali?   

Leashes suck!!!  Really, I don't like them.

-Allen

And you're good enough Allen that you don't need one......unless you forget to close your relief zipper....   

-Spot-

I try to make as much stuff float as possible but I always leash my rods and mirage drive.  I never leash my paddle while in the surf zone.  The only method of leashing your paddle while in the surf zone I've seen that makes sense to me is leashing the paddle from the front of the yak.  That way, if you fall off the kayak there really isn't a chance for you to get tangled up in the line.
I highly recommend Hobie's horizontal rod holders for you Hobie owners.  No more worries about breaking a rod on the way in!

I used to be a leash guy for everything when I first started out but a couple of tangles in the surf zone was enough for me.  I only leash my rods while fishing off shore in sloppy conditions, when going through the surf they are in the hull. Leashing the paddle (attached to a coiled paddle leash connected to the bow toggle) is not a bad idea on big surf days but for most all normal days I don't (always leash the Mirage Drive).  I do have my rescue knife attached to a Hobie gear retractor (attached to my vest) and my fish bonker is also on a Hobie retractor attached to the deck. Everything either floats, is on a retractor or below deck, no loose lines to tangle with.  Self rescue with a bunch of leashes wrapped around you is less then ideal DAMHIK