Monterey Bay alone?

Hey guys, I'm still very green kayak fishing. The past two weekends I ended up going out to the kelp beds in Monterey (not planned, we decided last minute to go to Monterey on Memorial day weekend and ended up in Monterey escaping the heat last weekend so we decided to take our kayaks). I've been going with my SO and her father, as he is hoping to get into kayak fishing as well. They have a family event this weekend so I'm left high and dry on things to do and figured why not go for 3 weekends in a row. Am I stupid to be going out alone as a fairly new kayaker? As of last time I felt pretty confident out and about. The only issue I can think of is just carrying the kayak to and from my truck as we normally carry them but I can pick up a cart later this week so that wouldn't be an issue. I'm understandably apprehensive to go out on my own but its a very easy area in my mind. Any tips or things I'm overlooking please send them this way. This is my "am I stupid" checking post before I go do something stupid.

If you got a VHF and a PFD and are dressed for immersion and keep an eye on weather (and are prepared to call it if it gets nasty) I think you should be fine.

Nothing wrong with a little solo exploration sesh IMO.

Good luck!

 

Sincerely,

Jim

Sounds like very sound advice from BigJim.  Look around for other yakkers before/while you're out maybe an opportunity to meet someone new. 
Like they said on "Dukes of Hazzard": 
   " a stranger's just a friend we haven't met yet."

Well whatever you decide to do, just be prepare for everything. Over confident is what will get people into trouble. hook ups are way better as you can chat and see other people's catch and help is immediate instead of hoping for delay assistance.

if the weather is good I won't mind heading down there for some fishing.

Because of my work schedule I end up solo quite often. When this happens I stay with in comfortable swimming distance of shore. It's important to have a plan, communicate the plan, and have a cut off time. If you aren't in communication by a set time. Someone calls a search. It's a basic plan for all out door adventures.
Like Jim said, radio, proper dress, pfd, and some training on how to get back in the yak is a must. Fishing together is better, but if done with caution, alone can be amazing.

Lots of good advice above. I'd just add that when going solo, popular places like Monterey and Santa Cruz and such are probably your best bet.

I fish all around Monterey alone more often than not. The other thing not mention is be aware of the tides and wind. You can't see tide but an out going tide can be much stronger than you think. I have worned   Unaware kayaker's  about it and they thanked me wen returned about how hard it was to get back to there launch site

What day do you plan on going? I am busy on Saturday but I'd like to try to make it on Sunday if the conditions are good. We were down there for the weekend too and it looked great out there in the kelp beds. I am pretty new myself so I feel a lot better with a lot of people around. We were actually down south of lovers point always shore fishing when a woman who had fallen out of her kayak came floating by. She clearly didn't know how to self rescue and she had no wet suite on either. I don't know how long she had been out of her kayak but she looked pretty cold. I had my huge astronomy binoculars for whale watching so I could see her pretty clearly. I didn't have my marine radio with me but somebody on shore called for help right away and another kayaker came and got her back into her yak after about 10 minutes of trying. He tried towing her in but she fell out again and couldn't get back in. By this time to Montery fire boats and come and eventually they got her and her yak into the smaller if there two boats. To me that just illustrates how dangerous it can be and how quickly things can go wrong. If nobody happened to notice she was in trouble who knows how long she could have been out there or what could have happened to her. I don't know how long the survival time is in that water but once you can't get back into your kayak your in serious trouble.

Take all the electronics you want but compasses are cheap and reliable, I carry at least two and will probably mount a nice one on deck at some point for when the fog rolls in

I did nothing but solo for decades

It's not stupid to go out alone as long as you have the skills and knowledge.  I like fishing alone for many reasons but there were a few times when I was happy to have a buddy with me OTW:
1.  The time a huge wave flipped my kayak over in HMB
2.  When I forgot to put my drain plug back in and a friend put it in for me

I guess it all depends on where you are going. places that are secluded and hard to launch out/land is not recommended soloing for less experience kayaker. places that have lots of traffic yes the less experience kayaker can have higher chance of getting assistance.

last year on one of my trips down south 1 of the less experience kayaker, if i didn't have that gut feeling, he likely would have drowned.
since that day, he doesn't kayak anymore because the fear of loosing his wife and kids. His kayak fishing days are over and i can respect that.

even the most experience kayaker can get into trouble and when that time comes I want someone to be there for me for whatever reasons. ex. shark bite a hole in your kayak and sinking into shark infested water, just throwing out scenario. no more solo for me as much as i love fishing.

Solo is the best way to learn to deal with stuff

Take all the electronics you want but compasses are cheap and reliable, I carry at least two and will probably mount a nice one on deck at some point for when the fog rolls in

I did nothing but solo for decades

Electronics can fail. Take a compass and a back up.

Post a hookup, or join one!  Try places like Capitola, MBK and stay within your safety/comfort zone. Practice self rescue and wear your PFD.  I kayak plenty solo, but mostly in SC, Cap, or Monterey/MBK. 

Thanks for all the input guys! I'm heading down to Monterey tomorrow, just sticking with the kelp beds near the coastguard pier since that's what I know for now. I'll definitely be hoping to head out to SC or HMB soon as they're considerably closer, but I'm leaving that first trip for a group outting. If any of y'all are on the water and spot a dude on an orange SOT with a gray PFD who looks like he barely knows what he's doing, be sure to come over and say hi!


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