YARD SALE @ AOP

Man it was bad for me Sunday.  I got there late forgot some of my gear, water was choppy,windy,cold & did i mentioned  choppy, got on the water anyway, headed out to the fist bouy and anchored about  fity yards righ of bouy I think, about  hour later started raining on & off, kept on fishing, didn't even get one bite, hoping for a shark or a bat ray even a bullhead,any thing. So 3hours later decided to call it a day, so I released my anchor, the line got tangeled up  at the front tip of the yak, couldn't reach the line , so I  leaned forward to try to reach and cut the line then a huge wave hit the yak and down I go. So now I'm  in the water the yak is upside down the water was cold, so I flipped the yak over and try to get back on, tried about 2 times and kept on flipping the yak upsided down, I was trying to get back on going against the wave, that wasn't working. Exhausted, so I stop and rest for a little bit and catch my breath, I decided to go to the oposite side  and managed to get back on. got back on and saw all my stuff just floating on the water including my paddle, didnt bring my leash, (one of the gears I forgot ) lost every thing even my pole and my extra pole.  I saw RELENTLES/ RED FISH
so I yelled for help for about  15min, they finally heard  and RELENTLES came to the rescue, he mannaged to cut the rope and had an extra paddle with him (THANKS AGAIN RELENTLES I OWE YOU ONE). got back to the shore  all wet and no fish, luckly I had my PFD and wet suit on.
     

Oh yea this is my first post
 OH

That's a cracking first post. I was playing soccer in a howling gale on Sunday and thought "at least the sturgeon are safe today; no-one will be out at OAP".

Kudos for trying! In addition to a PFD and a wetsuit, I would very strongly recommend the purchase of a (floating, waterproof) marine radio and a whistle. Then you have a much better chance of attracting the attention of nearby vessels or, if neccessary, the coastguard. A decent knife is also essential.

There is a thread for "ocean newbies" in the general fishing section. Most of that thread applies to the bay as well.

Welcome!

Wow, I cant believe you posted that story.  Sucks when things go bad like that.  Was this your first time out in crap conditions?  Do you know any other NuCKA's?   Are you a pfic.com convert?  What does "odat" stand for?  O dat aint *****, dat some other guy?  Welcome aboard.  JTF

now that is what i call a grand entrance. welcome aboard !! i have certainly held my share of yard sales up and down the state. its good for the economy.  

There were mini whitecaps on Quarry Lakes, I can only imagine what the bay looked like.  Glad you're ok, and thanks for the chuckle, (after I saw you were ok).

WTG Dave with the rescue.

Welcome and hang in there....You can't have much of a worse day. I 2nd the whistle and marine radio. If nothing else at least you'll be able to get help. I also recommend a short section of thin rope that can be cut to make leashes, etc.

I to have left gear (forgot) at home. I now have a big plastic tub that ALL my gear fits into so I just toss it in the car and then I know I have all my stuff when I get there (and I also have a list of all the stuff that I need to remember like paddle, bait, water, etc taped to the lid).

Glad that you're OK. odat. Welcome to the board. I was out there last Saturday
and the weather was pretty bad. Very scary if you ask me specially if your out
2 miles from shore.

Jedmo

  I hate posts like this.  WTF were you doing out there?  It really sounds like you had no clue what was going on, and you just got lucky.

Tuff love ... nuff said.

-Allen

glad you are alright odat.
you need a paddle leash.
it was very very rough that day, i left early.

Next time you might try paddling towards your anchor creating slack in the line to where you can grab the line from the cockpit and cut if neccessary. Lesson learned I am sure. You are alive to tell about it. You got some guts telling a story like that for your first post. Everyone else said it "leashes".Welcome to NCKA.

Uh welcome to the madness but you just survived a worst case scenario. I have been concerned with the number of newbs on the bay and ocean and I am glad you survived. I hope your experience will help others learn and prepare so this never happens again.  Thanks for the post and look forward to fishing with you in the future.

Scott

Ahhhh, maybe next time that little voice talkin' to ya says no, NO! don't go. Listen up. It could save your life. Cold rough water is nothing to mess around with. That's how statistics are developed.... Sorry you lost your stuff, but glad you saved your life...

Hey, you had a wetsuit and a pfd.  As far as I'm concerned you had the 2 most important safety items for a day like that, so it's not like you were way out in left field.

As for losing stuff, well if you dig into this site you'll find experienced people who have lost more.   

A couple of the things you did to get into that mess may not have been all that wise in hindsight, but again, I think most here have made some of these decisions as well. I know I have, (just guessing about anyone else)   

The one thing that bothers me is not having your paddle leashed.  That can get you into deep do-do fast.

Mine is leashed 100% of the time unless at a surf entry/exit or similar situation. If I didn't I'd lose it for sure.

Great first post, Welcome to the board, a more helpful group will be hard to find.

Dale L

After getting A radio, and whistle, get A damn CAMERA!!!!!... ... Welcome aboard...Andy

Glad you're OK. Like others have already said, you got yourself into a pretty hairy situation and managed to survive. There's a lot of pretty heavy criticism here, but all of it is 100% right.

BUT, just by being willing to post this situation for your first post and sharing it with others shows a lot of character. Don't be too embarrassed by it, and just know that every one of these guys would do anything in their power to help you out in a jam.

I hope you aren't too intimidated and stick around to fish with everybody for many more years to come. I'll tell you that I was awfully cautious about kayaking at first and never even attempted the Bay in good conditions until I had been paddling for almost 6 months in fresh water. I didn't try a surf launch until I had been paddling for 9 months. Even now I'm still a noob with just under two years of paddling under my belt and I'm always on the lookout for Hookup posts from the most experienced members on the site.

Short of writing a huge checklist, my advice is:
1) Don't paddle alone until you have some strong skills on your boat, and even then don't paddle in rough conditions alone.
2) If conditions are questionable and you're missing some key safety gear (knife, paddle leash, pfd, etc) pack it in and post about the bummer of forgetting your gear and having to go home without fishing.
3) Follow the hookups section of the board and paddle with others every chance you get. I learned more in two or three trips with the OG's of NCKA than I did in 6 months of paddling on my own.
4) Don't be too hard on yourself for this mistake, but learn from it.

I'm looking forward to paddling with you soon!

-Jay