Sunday Bean Hollow 5/6

NW wind would be onshore, not offshore.

Good call on the non-Bean practice.  That place is very tricky and dangereous.  Bean Hollow is the place we practice FOR, not the place we practice AT.

Allen

Bean Hollow is the place we practice FOR, not the place we practice AT.

Word

AlsHobieOutback

Where ever you do it watch out for the kids and dogs which for some reason are drawn like flies to landing kayaks

and landing can be way trickier than launching

Unless that thing has enough speed to outrun waves

Dude, go to bean hollow, get some, after all these warnings and tidbits of advice, it would make me want to go more.  If you get there and its scary, cruise on down the road and say you did it anyways.  I wont tell....

Alaine,
Having fished with you and most everyone else who has chimed in, I would follow the suggestions of those on this board who are in the know and pass on Bean Hallow even on a nice day.Until I could hookup with that experience and see them in action. Just my two cents.
Have fun and be safe. Frank

Dude, go to bean hollow, get some, after all these warnings and tidbits of advice, it would make me want to go more.  If you get there and its scary, cruise on down the road and say you did it anyways.  I wont tell....

Yeah, there's no college professor that can outchump experience

While you're at it load up with 6 or 8 rods and a net sticking up from a modified milk crate plenty of electronics etc and make the most of the experience

Seriously my main curiosity is if those Hobies can outrun a wave

 How did it go????

Well!  We went to Bean Hollow.  Mostly because I didn't realize how far LM was from BH, and by the time we arrived at 9AM, it didn't look too bad, and we heard the reports further north looked worse, and wind was gaining strength.  This is how it looked when we got there:



We only went out twice, the launch was not difficult, even for my first time.  And we powered through beyond the rocks, and maybe a few hundred feet into the open water.  A few times on the way out my yak was being jerked to the right, and took several paddles to straighten out.  Guessing thats the current pulling me around.  But once we were in the swells, I felt nice and stable, and enjoyed the view for a few minutes.  We turned around went right back in, where around half way into the cove it seemed like I couldn't get the yak to go forward at all, like the sea wanted to drag me backwards.  But a wave came along and took me side ways, I leaned in and rode it for a little while then straighted out, feeling pretty good about not flipping when the first wave took me.  Then a second one came and I guess I didn't lean enough, and I was dumped for my first time.  It was far shallower than I thought, and I was at standing depth already.  Flipped over my yak, and handed it off to my friend to pull in for me, while I walked out of the surf.

Second time I wanted to see what it would be like with the pedals in place.  The waves were a bit bigger than when we first went out, and I decided to just do a loop in side the cove.  Launch was fine, got my pedals going, and rode out to the middle, did a turn, and tried to pedal/paddle back in.  I got tossed, I think because when your feet are in the pedals, your angled back a lot father in your seat, and I felt a wave come over the back of my yak, and I was dumped again.  Flipped over the yak, let a couple waves carry me tward the beach, and walked out on to the beach dragging my hobie.  Lost my beanie, but nothing else.  Quite an experience to say the least for me   I enjoyed everything about it, even the swim.  And though my first trip out was no more than 30 minutes, I am hooked and cant wait to go again.  It was awesome! 

I will say that upon reflection that if for some reason I got dumped out of the yak while past the mouth of the cove, it could have been a much worse experience trying to either get back in the yak or swim past the rocks and such.  So I would not recommend it, unless its a calm day.  No way I would go at this alone for any reason.

Some pic's as well:

Cool Alain!   Yeah that's a rough day and swells look boxed up pretty tight coming in.   I don't recall ever fishing at BH last year when the surf was that active.

Glad you had fun.  The nice thing about practicing at Bean is that you may end up fishing there more than any other single spot this year, as long as the fish are still hanging out there.

Thanks for the vid/pics!  Nice.

Nice touch editing in the weather band guy!  Good job and way to go for it!  Seems like you have the right combination of adventure and caution.

Glad you went to bean hollow, IMO you should practice at the hard beaches so that you're bombproof at the easy beaches.  As long as there aren't rods and a FF getting trashed in the surf, falling in is kind of fun.  Getting tossed end-over-end even more so - like a pole vault into a pool! 

I guess I forgot my biggest piece of advice for landing - get out of the boat!  If you sit in the boat and try to paddle until the nose hits the sand, you'll usually get caught by the next wave.  Too many people wipe out in knee deep water when they could simply have hopped out and stood up.  Catch the back handle as it goes by and push the kayak the rest of the way in.  Kayaks generally won't flip if there's nobody in them and they're held by the back handle - better to dunk yourself voluntarially than to get you whole rig dunked and rolled by a wave.  Safer too. 

Well that's two things I really disagree with you about, Promethean_Spark. In my not so humble opinion,  I think you are way off base here. Dangerously so.

1) This was a pretty tough weekend for a first timer to be in the surf. In an Outback at Bean Hollow, without a helmet is just not wise. I figured Al would be able to do 3 launches and landings before giving up. It appears I was optimistic.

2) It is also unwise to hop off the boat into water of unknown depth, possibly onto a rock and spraining your ankle. So you'll end up suffering the long term pain of limping around for a week, as well as the short term pain of your boat being rolled over you by the 12" wash. Don't believe me? Believe Nigel Foster:

Touch down on the beach before the backwash begins if you can, then leap out and drag your kayak clear. You will now need to carry your kayak beyond reach of the larger waves of the next set.

More from Mr. Foster:

To be safe, practice to begin with when the surf is small. Choose a benign location without obstacles such as swimmers or rocks in the water, and build your experience and your confidence gradually.

Source: http://www.canoekayak.com/features/techniques-tips/surfkayaktechniques/


More gradual surf would have been 500% better for the first timer. Al may have been able to have done a dozen launches and landings on smaller surf.

If you can't control your boat in 12" of wash, you should be practicing your ability to control the boat, not jumping out of it.

Regards,
Scott

The other danger that I see at Bean Hollow is the fact that cell phone reception is poor in this area AND there are no hospitals near by. IF you get hurt, your on your own.

Take a class, learn how to brace against a wave properly and you'll be safer and more confident when doing such crazy landings 

Anyway, I'm glad your safe. See you on the water soon!

I also want to add that I 110% agree with Promethean_Spark, in that there is definitely a need for practice in full conditions. It is the fact that he is advising a novice to do so that I take issue with.

I'll also second Mooch's sentiment regarding Al's safe return.

Regards,
Scott

Glad things turned out for the best. Their are others here with alot more experience than I who have posted sound advice. All I know is that I enjoyed fishing with you and want to again soon. Frank