.

You're a good guy Vic don't beat yourself up! Even though we're just a couple of kids we would be more than happy to go out with you! We are just a PM or call away. Hope you find someone to help you retrieve the kayak. I also appreciate this post, Vic. Glad you could vent and potentially save someone else. See you at the shop!

You did what you had to do. You improvised and made it back safely, albeit to a different beach. Knowing when to ditch a plan and take a new course of action is key to surviving bad situations. Glad you're okay.

No need to be pissed or mad at yourself. You did what was needed. I have been to the point where I was so tired I was not sure a had any more in me to keep going. My options were to give up or float out to sea. You had an option to beach it and made that call to be safe. I had no where to go and had to fight to get back in, my last option if I could not make it would have been channel 16. Thanks for posting your experience.

I once spent the night across Pyramid lake freezing my arse off because winds came up and crossing the lake was not an option.

I've landed on the wrong beach and had to call a friend to come pick me up.

We all get in to situations that turn to crap. You made a decision to safely beach vs fighting it out in the slop. To me, you made the best decision in the circumstances. The ocean is unpredictable and you had to deal with a curve ball thrown at you.

Good story to share with everyone, but dont beat yourself up over it.  You made the right choice.  It's always a good idea to have a plan B.  Keep you eyes out for such a spot where you can safely land at all times.  Hope to never use the plan B, but always have it.  Best advice however is if you know the forecast is calling for windy conditions from the North, don't caught farther South than you can quickly paddle back to launch.  Conditions do change in a heartbeat at times.  As a rule of thumb I will almost never head South if I know that wind is coming from the North.  I'll always head up wind and let the wind carry me back to launch.

I agree with PablitoPescador . Many folks would have tried pushing forward and ended up in the rocks or having to be rescued . Many other have had similar experiences and never spoke of them; nobody learned anything from those experiences. You shared your experience and people have/will learn something from it. Mistakes are GREAT, if you (and others) learn from them! Thanks for sharing this experience.

+1.

Don't beat yourself up dude.

Sh*t happens, conditions change in the blink of an eye and you have to be ready, willing and able to hightail it to safety when needed.

You made it home safe and that's the bottom line. Period.

Thanks for sharing on here so we can all learn from the experience.

 

Sincerely,

Jim

M
 
You're a trooper and a survivor.

Live to fish another day is what you accomplished.

More so thank you for sharing your experience.  Knowledge is power.

You've just made me that much stronger with your experience.

Appreciate you!  & glad you're okay!  Life goes on, Fish On!

Cool, got you gear back.   

We've flipped yaks together and fished together. I'd fish with you any time.
Thanks for sharing your story.  Sometimes that's hard to do.

Don't beat yourself up dude.

This ^^^

Glad to see you got your yak back!

Thanks for sharing your story.  I fished TC last week and it got really nasty very quickly.  Fortunately, I was able to pedal back and land safely at the launch beach.  Sounds to me like you did the smart thing!  No sense taking any more chances than are absolutely necessary to get back on dry land in bad conditions.  As others have said; your experience serves as a learning experience for all of us.

Martin

Thanks for the account of your emergency landing.  It sounds like you made the right decision to get off the water.

I too prefer to fish alone, but on the ocean solo fishing can be a safety issue.  Solution: Post a hookup, and fish alone... together. 

Glad to hear things worked out. Lots of good input. Glad I'll have a chance to see ya OTW sometime this year.

reads to me like you handled your business right......another goodthing about these plastic boats, is you can abort if things dont go as planned.

good thinking when the tough WX showed it ugly face

I hava lot of issues going out, PTSD being one of them as well.  I also hate going out a lone, my swimming adventure at HMB taught me a lot. If conditions are not right for me, I just don't go.  So I can relate.

reads to me like you handled your business right......another goodthing about these plastic boats, is you can abort if things dont go as planned.

good thinking when the tough WX showed it ugly face

Exactly.