If you're interested, I have some old-style Yakima saddles w/ the straps attached, which solves some of my complaints about my Thule Glide & Set saddles, and are pretty ideal for any of the Hobies which have a difficult bottom shape to get working with most racks/saddles.  I bought them 2nd hand from another NCKA'er, only to find that they won't fit my X-Porter bars, grrrr.

Take care,

Bradley
510-323-5922(m)

Thanks Bradley!  Sorry it took so long to respond, I've been in San Diego all week.  I'm waiting for the racks to arrive at the shop and should have them next week.  I'll give you a call about the saddles soon.  Thanks!

Each police department is different in the way they handle these things.  Larger departments tend to do much less than smaller departments due to the fact they are crushed with H&R reports.  Your description leads me to believe that the Police department handling the investigation, is mainly interested in resolving the issue without a criminal report.  If that is the case, then not responding to them will actually force the officer to write up the accident as a H&R and possibly forward it to the DA for complaint if they have enough evidence.  In all likelihood, if your mother responds, they will include her information and send the case off to the insurance companies to battle it out.  With H&R investigations, the officer needs to prove not only that your mother's vehicle was involved, but that she was driving at the time of the accident AND she was aware she struck another vehicle.  That is often difficult to prove, especially if a driver is elderly and minimal damage was caused.

With that being said, I recommend your mother contacts the officer and provides a written statement and photos of her undamaged vehicle.  She should also contact her insurance company for advice as well.  The important thing here is, if she loses the dispute with the insurance company, she only has upped premiums and and acccident on her record to worry about.  If she doesn't contact the police and she loses, then she has a misdemeanor conviction for H&R. 

I've handled dozens, hell probably hundreds of these types of accidents over the years.  Most all of them were handled without criminal charges.  The ones that I sent to the DA were accidents were the suspect dodged my calls and didn't respond, or were total assholes.  Granted, every department handles things differently.. but I recommend she contact the officer immediately.  Good luck!

Incredible video!  I reposted it Facebook to encourage all my friends to get on the water with us!  Thanks Chris!

Fantastic... thanks for the replies!   I just picked up a descender but only a 16 Oz weight.

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk

Great report!  I won a 2 night stay at the Tides during the GS11 raffle.  I'm thinking I need to take advantage of it while the bite is going on.  When do you recommend Eric?

-Schills

And another dumb question by the Schills! 

I'm the only one in my family who will eat fish, so I really don't often keep the fish I catch.  No problem when I'm fishing 20-30 feet of water, but what about the deep water fish?  I fished 100+ feet of water the other day in Albion and the fish couldn't survive after being thrown back in.  I've heard of descenders.. do they work?  And does anyone know what is maximum depth where its safe to put the fish back without descending them?  And a million other questions.  Anyone have some insight?  Am I the only idiot who actually throws delicious fish back?

-Schills

Yet another car-topping question.  I've searched the forums and looked through about 50 pages of information but I need something a little more specific.  The "How do you roll" thread gave me some good ideas.

I have a Mazda 3 and just purchased a Thule Roof rack with square bars.  I plan to transport my Hobie Outback and would prefer to keep it upright.  Anyone have recommendations for what saddles are best for this situation?  Thule sells some saddles that look like they would work just fine but I've heard about Yakima Makos and a few other saddles.  I have the extending bar for side loading the kayak and rollers wont be needed. 

Another option is the Thule Slipstream, which would be overkill for the Mazda but I'd be able to swap it to our CRV as well.  Anyone had experience with this item? 

-Schills

Has anyone dealt with windtoys in Santa Rosa? Spoke to John over the phone and he seems like he's super knowledgeable on the hobies, mentioned he and his staff have outfitted a bunch of ncka'ers.

I make quite a few accessory purchases there and spoke to John quite alot before I purchased my Hobie.  Nice guy, good business and wish I could have bought a new Hobie there. 

Also.. I think the Outback is probably the most versatile out of all the models.  Just in my personal opinion.  And I'd recommend the red or mango colors.  I only care how the boat floats, not how it looks.  And if I'm stranded on the ocean, the most important thing I want is a color with the brightest contrast.  Good luck with the purchase!