It’s so simple of a a system.  I bought a new fish finder ((Garmin) for my Hobie. Mounting the transducer in a “Lowrance ready” kayak, I thought would be my biggest hurdle.  Nope!  Minor drilling, minor cutting of transducer plate and it was a well fitting slam-dunk.

However, it would not retract fully.  I effed with the knot time and time again. No successes.  I finished up running the wires , sealed everything from leaks, and gave up. 

I took it to Billy at Wind Toys.  It yanked on the cord and smiled.  He knew exactly what it was. The internal bungee knot was tied too closely to the pulling up near the front. He pulled it all out, moved the knot and VOILA!  It works.  Not sure I would have cracked that solo.  Thanks Billy.

I hope u have luck, Paul.

If not, they might have fresh squid at the end of the first pier by MBK, plus other types of seafood as well as the shop next door that has fresh abalone.

This is are great back up plan if your squid catching is slow.

Welcome to NCKA!

Some great advice and experience to prepare for a great adventure in the future. Looks like some requirements before your even considered.

I would imagine a new kayak would be a must. I would think a dry run would also be in order to familiarize yourself with a new one as well to make sure there are no defects.

How much use and stress has been exerted on your current kayak on your last journey? I think it was considerable? 

Love the enthusiasm. I think with some more thought-out research and planning you will achieve your goal quickly.

Quote from: tedski on May 14, 2024, 04:12:46 PM

Just my 2 cents.

HI Tedski, thanks for your concern, as usually, you always use so sharp words. I believe no one is perfect, what we can do is to be alert, to be careful, I will be good.

I saw some NCKA quote an interest words: "A ship in a harbor is safe but that is not what ships are built for". I do like this word, this theory not only apply for ship, but also for man

And not all the R2AK applicant will be accepted by organizer, around 50% will be rejected, they accept me should have their own judgement, so please don't be too worry for me, I will be very much appreciated for the useful information/advice which someone give to me, like how to get the weather forecast(MooMoo), what the real situation looks like there (Ex-kayaker)......

Life is short, just do it. Once again, thanks for your care and concern. 

I'm sorry my words come across as sharp.  I intend for them to be blunt.  You have to understand that it comes from a place of pulling dead bodies out of the water and returning them to their loved ones at the dock -- or worse not finding them at all and having to show up to their loved ones empty handed.  In the vast majority of those cases, it was due to a lack of experience and poor judgement.  Your actions leave a mark on everyone involved in your rescue and recovery.

I've said it before and I'll say it again that your sense of adventure is inspiring.  I agree, more than you can realize, on your points about old sayings, too.  However, there's a difference between adventure and recklessness.  I think the R2AK is a great aspiration, I just don't personally feel you're there yet.  I think you should do more trips like your other ones that work up to the mileage of R2AK.  Maybe do some shorter trips that are as remote as R2AK but shorter in distance.  "Training" is a word that comes to mind.

Think of it this way.  Just because I ran a Turkey Trot two years ago and a 5k this year doesn't mean I'm ready to sign up for the Ironman.

I hope that softens the sharpness some.  You're an extremely valuable member of this community and you would leave a very large hole if something were to happen to you.