Facing my fear: The sit-inside-kayak

Been paddling / fishing for almost 8 years now and all done form various types of sit-on-top kayaks. Today, I got an invitation from Mike Mead, one Aquan's Paddling Instructors for a free 2 hour lesson on basic paddling skills, assisted rescues and self rescue. How could I refuse Anyway, Vince (owner and manager of Aquan Sports) was surprised about my decision to enter the world of closed deck kayaking and kindly offered me a choice of Aquans demo kayaks. I ended up with a Zoar Sport made by Necky - perfect for a novice with wide birthing hips  The yak was a 14 footer and a width of 25 inches (just an inch shy of my old scupper pro)

Note: I've only paddled a few close deck kayaks in the past...but the paddle usually lasted about 9 minutes before I decided it wasn't my cup of tea.

 I finally met Mike his lovely home inside the Princeton Harbor of Half Moon Bay. His backyard was the shizzle If you were to flick a coin from there, you'd hit the ocean . Anyway, it was about noon, the wind was already blowing and the water temp was 54 degrees. WHAT THE HELL WAS I THINKING  I was ready to tuck tail and run but Mike (being taller and bigger) got in my way and that left me with no alternative

So we suited up and Mike gave me a quick over view of paddling properly and surprisingly, I learned a new tip:  keep your knuckles aligned with the horizon when doing your paddle stroke. A cool tip and it worked well for me as we paddled to the middle of the Harbor. Mike then showed me how to trust the edge of my kayak and had me sculling to keep myself from tipping over. Good stuff right there. He also did demos on the eskimo roll (thank the Lord that I didn't have to this part...for now at least). I also had to learn how to do the "T rescue" and the "side by side" (forgot the terminology of that one). And finally, we did the assisted T-rescue and the self rescue (with the paddle float). After all that was said and done, he was surprised to see that I was able to do the self rescue for the first time in one shot. I guess that 54 degree water just gave me enough incentive to get back on the yak PRONTO!!!!

All in all it was a good day to learn form a pro. Mike had to cut the lesson short because he had another client waiting so we got our feet dry at 2PM.

Many Thanks to Instructor Mike and Boss Vince for getting me out there 

Here's a pic of me...beat-up from the cold water and ready for a hot meal 

....now that I'm using a Mac, I can't seem to figure out why I can't rotate the pic the right way 

More importantly you have to warn us before you put that big of a picture of your head on here. 
Ed

More importantly you have to warn us before you put that big of a picture of your head on here. 
Ed

Sorry...didn't mean to scare you Ed....but I do hope that my ugly mug haunts you in your dreams tonight  Sleep well pumkin 

Aloha brah!

who's laughing, now
but sounds like you learned good stuff!
thanks for the good report!

 Way to climb in mooch!  Got to love the way the boat hangs on.
With a good hipkit you can make the SIK an extension of yourself and really go to work on a river.
 Embrace the boat young jedi and you will easily solve the riddle of the roll.
fear is the mind killer

that big head was kind of shocking

...

that big head was kind of shocking

you should see it emerging from the back of his camper at O'dark-thirty in the morning, after an "ALL-NIGHTER-MEAT-FEST"......don't go there fellas(leftdoorwideopen)

I would have had to bail on that plan....you TUFF bra'!! 

Joel -

The eskimo roll is all good until you are upside down in a steep shore break with your head in the sand. The SIK's are cool for sure but I don't have the skill or guts to take them through the surf. See you out there next year and Merry Xmas.

Scott

Mooch--We were there 7 to 11 on saturday, for waves that were 7 feet 11 seconds, the convenient swell. Did you put in right there? The far side of the green pier might be a better spot. Now that you know how to rescue, you can come out and join us in the lagoon.
  Funny story, I found out from the harbor master there is one guy in the harbor that can fish. Danglin knows who he is, we call him the eel man. His comercial boat is about 10 feet long and he keeps it next to the harbor master's wave runners. Mike's the guy that was on duty for the last hmb derby. He says the eel man has a special permit to fish so he can feed his ferrel cats!
Happy new year.