Put this on your list of how to work on the WAF:

http://www.extremeironing.com/modules.php?set_albumName=album24&op=modload&name=Gallery&file=index&include=view_album.php

If that doesn't do it, let me know and I'll get a better address.

This really is "Stuff that doesn't fit anywhere else."!

I might have posted this before:
  Fry's sometimes has a $65 sale on Magellan Explorist 100 GPS which are normally about $100.  It serves my purposes, but doesn't have maps and probably a lot of features others have, such as being able to enter waypoints from a computer (but then, that's one less hole for water to get in it, and not much of a problem if you have just a few usual launch places and don't want to navigate on the road.) .
 I used it bare, it got cranky after 25 uses, the factory sent me a new one, I put it in a tiny dry bag and have had no further problems in another 40 trips.   It's not obvious from the brief manual that comes with it that there is a much more complete one on their website, which really helped, because I'd never used a GPS before.  It uses AA's, and I can 6-10(?) half-day trips from them, but choose to use rechargeables (Long's has some deals) and replace them each trip.  It seems impervious to flopping fish and other gear banging on it.
   One button click and you can mark the honey holes, later go in and name them.  It has a compass-like needle screen to point you to your go-to, a cookie-crumb (track) screen to show how you've wandered, which helps to show your drift and whether you have a big one on or are just snagged and confused by the wind.  Also has a screen to show the lat/lon numbers, elevation, miles traveled, etc.  I took it skiiing just for fun and logged 33 miles up and down(and traversing) one day!
   Do other GPS's show you moving at .5 knots when you are pretty sure you're just going that fast up and down on the swells?  I guess that's not much of a problem if you just look at the cookie-crumb scale to see that you actually haven't moved horizontally. 
  You do have to remind yourself whether you've put a go-to in it so you know that the arrow is pointing to it and not to North. 
  I bought it after a very foggy day where I was going 90 deg off the direction I thought I was, and naturally, haven't seen fog that thick again! 
   I also take  a "Scout" compass and have one of those small-ball zipper-pull ones on my life-jacket.  Only for newbies: of course you always mark your launch site before you go out, or you might wind up not only lost, but feeling super stupid!

   I read the post about perching and wanted to give it a try, but didn't want any more used-it-once gear, so I dug out a 40 yr old 8'6" fiberglass fly pole, mounted a spin reel on it, then like any worthwhile project, I cut a 16"piece of 3/4" PVC pipe to put on the butt end.  If you cut it lengthwise a few inches on one side, cut a couple of shallow sideways cuts where the base of the spinning reel meets the rod, you can slip it past and around the reel base and up so's it meets the cork handle.  Then a little duct tape and a wine cork(Two-buck Chuck,of course.) in the open end of the pvc and it looked like it'd do the job.
    Went to Manresa at high tide and caught a 9" Barred perch on MORF today even tho the surf was bigger than I thought would be productive.  A 1/2" sand crab in it's stomach.  Rod worked fine.  Saw some guy using a fly rod the right way, I might have to try that next.   
   I'd gone to the Goodwill store the other day and picked up a 2 -buck large fanny pack to carry some fishing gear.
   Perching's fun, I'll have to try it again.
 

I'll say you don't need much room!   I was amazed to see you two guys in that little yak, anything's going to seem roomy and seaworthy compared to that.  But you guys did fine in the fish dept inside the cove compared to my lingless outside cove stuff.
Not even newbie: If you let the kayak dealer know you're serious about buying something, I think they will be pretty flexible letting you try out a few in the same day.  A day with at least light chop can give you some idea how they perform in the wind and waves.  The other thing to think about is whether you'll be wheeling the yak to launch it, or carrying it over rocks.  If you've got a strong back, or help, you can go with a longer heavier one over rocks.  Otherwise you might sacrafice speed and range, go with shorter but get it into rockier launches.  Use a good paddle to do the testing, and check out that little movie somebody posted on this site that shows proper paddling technique - you don't have to go Olympic to make a big difference.   I really like my rudder, I was afraid it might break off loading and unloading or some other way, but it's taken some big hits. But it is an additional expense, and some wouldn't have one even tho they can afford one. I absolutely wouldn't go out further than I could easily swim without both my compass and my cheapo gps, VHF radio,  some small flares, knife, wetsuit  and needless to say, lifejacket ON.   
   Those of you planning trips: I'd like to give Big Sur a try with someone who's been there before.  I've never been out in a yak there, but I've got the camping gear ready to go.  Let me know if any of you would like company.  I don't have one of those pesky job things anymore, so am pretty available.   And if there's a salmon season this year, or ever again, I've been out of Moss a few times alone, but I'd much rather do that  with someone else.

That's a good spot to launch, the inside of the south breakwater.  Some of the PB's park down at that end of the road, and you get a few lost tourists.  Don't leave valuables in vehicle, maybe it was just the trash that got me thinking that way.    Never seen anyone drive down to the water, there are lots of  marine scientist types in that area who might try to figure out why you shouldn't, but I can't recall if it is signed a no-no.   There are some sort of squirting creatures under the sand, looks like one of those fountains when you walk down there. 
    Because there are few landmarks on the shore except the fog-making stacks, it's real easy to get out and away pretty far without realizing it on a calm day, then the wind comes up and you're paddling further and harder than you expected and the wind waves can get uncomfortably big in the hour or so it takes you to get in.  If I had a clunker bike I might be tempted to launch and then park at the surf access south of the bridge and ride back and lock the bike in the weeds somewhere in those warehouses there.

Brainstorming Alert! Reading this questiion over breakfast: Mission Foods tortilla warmer looks like it's made of the same material as my Prowler.  It might be a good way to test fixit materials. Tho how to find the leak?  Can you run a shop vac backwards, stuff rags around the nozzle in  some hole and hold a candle near likely holes to see if the flame flickers, or put soapy water on the spots like you would an innnertube?   

 Things that would be nice dept: CG regs appear to change very slowly, probably because they must be compatible with international customs.  However, regs that worked pretty well when there were many fewer people and boats , and types of boats, on the water seem pretty out of date today.  I have had more than one sail boat or power boat skipper tell me that kayaks are very difficult to see in any kind of conditions.  That might be for many of the same reasons that motorcycles are often not seen by prudent drivers - they are looking for large moving objects, not small ones.
  I think that some kind of flashing light could help solve the problem, but I don't think they are legal for non-emergency use.  I'm guessing they don't want them confused with the flashing lights on emergency vessels or aids to navigation, like buoys. (I've sailed the lower Delta and Bay at night, and the biggest problem was spotting the red and green lights against the backdrop of land stop signals and other lights, not strange lights on boats.).
 So we won't use red, green, blue, or white flashing lights. There is better technology now, and it should be taken advantage of, such as different colors, flashing sequences, etc. 
   Happily, most of the time we are out there on our lonesome and it isn't a big issue except at places like Moss on big weekends.

Thanks, that helps.
 I recall reading something in the back of the reg book about some kind of shark being o.k. to take in there.  I assumed that by including that species they meant to exclude others.  I know they do a lot of research there and I assumed I couldn't fish east of Hwy 1, but it did look like a place to do some relaxed fishing.  I'm putting it on my list to research the chapter and verse of the laws/regs - if and when I do, I'll post it and laminate a copy to keep on the yak (and maybe give to the judge!).
 I think I'll also want to check to see what kind of pollution runoff it collects so's to know whether to eat anything I catch.  I'm pretty sure it couldn't be worse than the Bay/Delta, but I won't eat things that spend time in that water either.