Who's gettin' salty?!?!?!?!

So about half-way through Sunday, the rod of one of my mirage drive fins busted.  I took a good look and it looks as though a small crack developed a while ago when I hit a rock or something and bent the steel rod in the fin.  There was a little rust spot about half-way through the cross section of the steel rod.  I spent the rest of the day paddling the Revo and using the mirage drive with only one fin.  I was actually surprised at how fast I could get going with just one fin but the ride was really jerky since there wasn't two fins to counteract the torque each of them makes.  I realized I could pedal with only one fin as fast as I could paddle - go figure. 

Sunday evening was pretty crappy weather wise with wind and rain all night.  Burger & fries with a tallboy at Ben & Jeff's hit the spot. 

Monday morning came and the rain and wind was gone.  Anthony and I felt like hitting the beach again after a beach report from DeaFish who stopped by to chat in the morning.  The surf was even nicer than it was on Sunday.

We decided to stay close to the rock the whole day since it was supposed to get pretty windy.  Kiwanda Jr. passed us in his dory right after we launched and we chatted with him a bit.  Fishing was the same as it was the day before, plenty of cookie cutter lings in the mid twenties to be had.  I couldn't seem to find more than one black though. 





I had a ling break me off that was easily mid-thirties.  I thought I had snagged but realized it would slowly give a little once in a while.  I knew I needed to be easy with it since I felt like my line for sure had a weak spot.  Sure enough, after about the third time it surged down, PING!  I never stood a chance.   
It was really nice hanging in the lee of the rock.  Since the wind was coming out of the south, this gave us a great chance to work my favorite side. 





We thought we were only going to be out there for a couple hours, but with it being so nice we stayed and soaked it up.  At around 1:30, I looked to the east and it seemed like the barn doors were wide open.  Plenty of sheep on the water so the wind was picking up pretty good after all.  We started heading in around 2 I think.  The landing was pretty tricky because of the wind waves, but I managed to slip in right between a break and the rocks.  Anthony backed it in through the surf like a pro.  There was quite an audience on the beach but we did a good job of making the landings not very interesting. We were glad we made it back to the beach when we did.  It was really nasty after that with wind waves that were easily about 6 or 7 feet.



Thanks again to everyone who made it out!  I'm really happy to hear that the worst that happened was lost gear. I think some surf landing practice is in order though once the weather gets nice. 

Cool. So you don't need to hold the fish at 50 for any period of time?

Not really as long as they haven't been at the surface for too long.  They come to pretty quick once they get back down a little bit.  You could drop them down all the way just to be sure, but I've found that if you pull them up from roughly 80 ft. they only really need to get down about 20 feet before they can make it on their own.  It varies depending on how long they've been at the surface and how deep you pulled them up from.  If you're fishing in over 100 ft., you'll probably want to go most of the way down just to be sure.   Also, if you're not sure if they are going to make it, it's better for them to be sent all the way to the bottom since I'd rather them be crab food instead of seagull food.

Great, nice pics too!

Thanks for sharing guys. I always take one dramamine about an hours from the launch and then two more as soon as I'm ready to hit the water. I then repeat the two pills every four hours.

Bryan, once you hit the water did you have your radio handy? I heard you radio that you were heading in and tried you later but didn't get a response. I wonder if next time we should have a procedure where you radio when you're heading in and then radio again once you're on the beach? Later in the day Rawkfish was trying to hail Flyin Portagee on the water and we were also not getting a response. We figured he had probably headed in but I don't think we really knew for sure. Also having a have a buddy system might be a good idea for the new guys for next time.

Noah, Yes I did have my radio. It was on my PFD. I did not make a call or hear anyone call me. The issue with me hearing someone call is the radio was volume was too low to hear when I was in the water.
I did the right thing by letting you guys know I was heading in and letting you know about me being sea sick. The radio procedure should be as follows.
1)    Give call out if you are heading in.  Let the group know if you have any issues. Like being sea sick, cramping or broken equipment. This would give people a heads up that you might be at greater risk of not making it safely ashore
2)   Give a call out when you are near the break water. At this time turn up the volume so if you end up in the water you will have a better chance of hearing the radio.
3)   Give a call out when you are safely on the beach.  Give a surf report. It could be as simple as surf the same as launch. A lot of people are now on the beach playing in or around the water.
I just think this would be the minimum radio contact.
I don’t know who make the radio call to watch the current drift when I was out fishing. It was very helpful to me. I did not realize that I was drifting to the north.
It looks like this needs to get moved to for safety’s sake page.

Wow! that is an amazing tale willbd. I am glad that it turned out well (as in alive and well).

Glad to hear that the fishing was good, sorry about the sea sickness. I think that ndogg mentioned that bringing anti-seasickness pills is a good idea until you are sure you will not get sick. This is probably a good reminder of that.

As for the landing, I would like to try to learn from what happened to you. So, how were you coming in (paddle or peddle)? If you had to do it again do you think you could have done something differently or was it just plain bad luck? Where did you put your rods on the way in? Did they stay secured?

Also, for  anyone going on the beach. Make sure you take some old towels. If you lay them down on the leading edge of your tires you can drive right out of almost any hole in the sand. You need to have one under a tire on each side unless you have a limited slip differential. In NC, I used to take my camaro places that 4WD guys would not go using this technique. It works in mud as well as sand. If you do not have a towel, you can sometimes lay sticks down width wise and get the same effect, but it is usually not quite as effective.

Glad you are safe and well.

I had my drive in and was still outside what I thought was the breaker zone. My rod was not secured yet and my paddle was on the side.
Thanks for the sand tips. One issue with PC is all the people that walk on the roadway to the beach.  They don’t realize that you need to keep moving to make it up to the blacktop. That’s what got me the first time. When I tried it again I did not get a good run at it.

A big thanks to Insayn for heading up ahead of me and blocking the foot traffic so I could get a good run at the exit ramp, or sure as hell I would have got stuck too. The old Dodge barely pulled itself up out of there.

I was thinking about how we could keep better tabs on everybody when we get a group that large launching on big water from one area. One thing that crossed my mind was a sign out/sign sheet on a clipboard. Put it in a big ziplock and hang it from somebody's bumper. Include cell #, so you can be reached if you forget to sign back in. That way the last guy(s) off the water knows he (they) is/are the last one(s).

3 or 4 guys it's easy to keep track of each other via VHF, 10+ people gets kind of difficult. Anybody else have any suggestions how we could improve on this?

At the very least, I think a radio check from everyone is a good idea.  I sometimes forget to turn on my radio or turn it up so making it a point to do some kind of "comms check" before everyone gets on the water sounds like a good idea to me. 

Thanks for the great reports and pics, gents...lots of good info discussed here. Good to see you guys got some fish and are all safe.

Glad everyone was ok and accounted for. Situations like this with so many "new" people on the water makes me real nervous. The ocean is no place to try to jump ahead on the learning curve.   Getting separated from your yak is one of the main reasons I leash my paddle to the bow eye of my yak when I go through the surf zone.  If and when I get thrown I keep hold of the paddle and the yak never escapes.  PC is a very tame launch with rescue very close by, other launches are not as forgiving and someone in Will or Insayn's situation could have a much worse outcome.   What was the plan if no zodiac or surfer was nearby?  Until you are VERY confident in your skills the buddy system is a VERY good idea

Ron thats a  really good idea about tying to the bow. what type of line do you use, is it stretchy? What lenght would you recommend. I know last year at the beach/surf lessons they didnt want us to have any thing leashed down. I can see that if you got toss out just remember "hold on to the paddle, hold on to the paddle".....

As a somewhat sensitive local, it was great to see such a group here. I for one was impressed at the communication and genuine regard for each other, and those around that I seen and heard. This is my kinda cool and the kind of cool that gains the respect and acceptance of the community. As fickle as it is.

The radio checks are a great idea in my opinion. Just as important is acknowledgement of receipt of transmission. After being on the right channel all day, sometime or other I unknowingly switched to a different channel. As I was heading in I called out (to nobody apparently) and received no response. At first I thought it was a bit odd but wrote it off to being the new guy. I got in fine but in hindsight I can see the the advantage of set procedures giving warning of possible trouble. Anybody care to guess what the button lock function on a radio is for?

It was great to meet those that I did and would love to fish with you again. Would have liked to of met more but my timing was a bit off this trip.
What a ling-fest eh. Wonder what make em ball up like that? Bigger badder predator in the area?

Most importantly, everybody is safe. Way to go fellas.

Guys, regarding the return through the surf, I found it relatively smooth paddling into shore within the rip, between the surfer's break near the rocks and the other nearby break further away.  As a surfer I'm used spotting these areas, but am very aware of the current that flows straight out to sea.  If I lost my yak I'd probably struggle quite a bit to catch back up with it.  Has anyone every thought of using an ankle leash, similar to what surfers use with their boards?  Maybe extra long like 25 ft?  The kayak is bigger than a surfboard and would "tow" you a bit more, but with a PFD on I'd think it wouldn't be a problem.  You could pull yourself back to your boat. 

Ron thats a  really good idea about tying to the bow. what type of line do you use, is it stretchy? What lenght would you recommend. I know last year at the beach/surf lessons they didnt want us to have any thing leashed down. I can see that if you got toss out just remember "hold on to the paddle, hold on to the paddle".....

I use a commercially available paddle leash that is just long enough to paddle freely but not too long to be a major tangle hazard (snapped to the bow toggle with a locking carabiner).  This particular leash is similar to some dog leashes that have a bungee covered by a woven nylon sleeve.  It is very strong and I'm sure you could literally hoist the yak off the ground with it.  All I have to remember is "hold on to the paddle" and no matter how bad a spill the yak is close by.

Thanks all you guys for sharing your hard won experience with the rest of us. This is really informative.

I am probably speaking out my behind here, since I have zero surf launches and landings to my credit, but I used to dive / snorkel beaches with a lot of surf, and I think Waterman has a great point about using the riptide as an entry and exit point. There is a rip on every beach, and it usually knocks the waves down quite a bit. It is especially useful for going out, but most rips aren't too strong that you can't go against them coming in. What do you seasoned guys say?

Also, did anybody do the reverse landing (bow out to sea)? That method looks promising as a safer & surer method, even if less stylish. (Kind of like the underhand foul shot in basketball.)

About half way in I got  spun around and went the rest of the way backwards.  It's probably equally effective with my kayak since I don't have a rudder.  I really don't have a preference, but have only done this once!