Santa Cruz Harbor to Mile Buoy - too rough to fish

I went out this morning around 11:30 from the Santa Cruz harbor. Beautiful weather, temps in the 70's. The marine forecast didn't look great, but I wanted to get out there anyway. Coming out of the harbor, there were waves breaking over the lighthouse side of the entrance. No problem getting out on the left side, though. I was moving slowly into a moderate wind, choppy wind waves and swell up to around 9 feet. As I got closer to the mile buoy, the wind got stronger. Waves were breaking on their peaks, some of them pretty big. I fished for a while, but the occasional breakers nearly knocked me off the kayak. I was wishing I had brought out the thigh straps. Then I realized that if I was wishing I had thigh straps a mile off shore, it was probably too rough to be out there. I fished for a few minutes, but otherwise it was mostly paddling. Still fun, in my book.

I was in a Tarpon 160i. I think my Prowler 15 would have handled the choppy breaking waves better while sitting and fishing, but the Tarpon definitely got me out of there faster.

some nice salmon reported out at soq hole today, one guy saying later bite

I might try for it this week

some nice salmon reported out at soq hole today, one guy saying later bite

I might try for it this week

Out of Moss Landing? How many miles out?

it's around 7mi from Santa Cruz Harbor.

Best approach is probably from SC harbor

Early start kind of stuff The way things are going for me these days I'll make it out there about midnight

7 miles out.  That gives me about enough steam to get there and back but no time for fishing.

set me straight but 8 miles is about 2+ hours grunt With 2 or 3 sociable people chatting etc factored in itd be a 3-4 hour grunt

What I need is pedals and a nice sound system blasting mozart

I went out of SC harbor yesterday about 10 just to test new ff.  It was surprising how choppy it was once I got out of the lee of Lighthouse Pt, yet at the harbor and in the city you'd think there wasn't any wind at all.   

I went out of SC harbor yesterday about 10 just to test new ff.  It was surprising how choppy it was once I got out of the lee of Lighthouse Pt, yet at the harbor and in the city you'd think there wasn't any wind at all.   

Yeah, quite a contrast. On my way back in around 1:30, I couldn't believe how calm it was near the harbor entrance. Sailboats were getting towed out of the harbor due to lack of wind. Just 1/2 mile outside the harbor, it was whitecaps all over the place.

blue, get a hobie adventure.  The fishfinder battery should do well for
blasting the tunes instead of the sonar.
I still see you as a vivaldi or maybe dvorak kind of guy tho.

I went out there yesterday, too. Good to meet you Tom. I was quite surprised about the wind, too. I fished (not sure I can call it that) for about 6 minutes until my reel broke (fixed it, Tom) and headed in. Wind was blowing, and I definitely took some gallons over the side. I was heavily under dressed in board shorts and a t shirt. I even thought about getting in the dry sack for the jacket. Once in the harbor, no wind, and lots of sun. I went home and sat in a lawn chair with some PBR. As a side note, I later had lunch at Aldo's (decent) and saw one of them. $65??? Ouch!
I love my kayak.
Garen