Capitola Sunday - PFD works!

Capitola Sunday - PFD works!

Sunday morning, launched Capitola beach at around 6am, and it was foggy as hell. Got out past the pier, and jigged up a bucket of live bait. The fog was thick, I felt like I was the only one out there, my GPS got me through it perfectly, but the display on the unit took a crap, right as the sun came out! Anyway, drifted the edge of the kelp with live bait, for NOTHING, again. This is starting to sound like a broken record. Anyway, I tried from Soquel point back to the cap white bouy, then back to the kelp near the main beach, fished live bait all day. Nothing, not even a nibble. I was sure today was by big catch day.

Got hassled by a giant fur bag, sorta freaky, kept buzzing under my boat really fast, I could feel him ripping bye, skimming the bottom of my boat, then all the air bubbles would rise as he sped by. Finally I pulled out my 9mm and filled him full of lead, problem solved!


NO, KIDDING, actually he finaaly just left me alone and we each went about our bizness.

Anyway, I was over it and hungry, and fish-less, this is my 7th straight week fishing in Cap/SC and I only have two rock fish too show for it... Boooooo, boring I know....

So I was coming in to land on the beach, lots of beach goers, kids playing, lots of constant crashing waves, nothing big, but consistent enough and big enough to roll me, so I waited and waited.... Finally got my break, dropped my head and paddled like hell...WHAT?? That first stroke felt really soft, I look down and my paddle has broken in half... Errrrrr... At this point Im in the surf line, near the beach goers, so I had no choice but to jump off and abandon ship and swim the yak in..... That worked perfect, so did my PFD.. Swam my boat to shore with no lost gear.....

So now I have to find away to come up with a new paddle, pretty bummed as money is tight... At least it didn’t happen off shore.... I did A LOT of paddling yesterday, hard paddling, I was able to hold 5mph for some time... I think I paddled it to pieces.....

Man, I think it was the tides, but there were some really weird sideways currents...sometimes almost impossible to tur33n unless I stopped, then spun the nose around....

Anyone got a long paddle for sale?

That blows in many levels....no fish, had to swim and broken gear. Can you remove the blades from the broken shaft? If so, you may be able to buy a cheap paddle and just use the shaft. I'm sure someone will chime in with a paddle. Maybe a multiple hobie owner will be willing to part with one of their paddles. Also keep checking CL.

yeah other then exercise, it was very unproductive, I felt like I did minimal fishing and lot of paddling...

Yeah GPS is wasted too.... errr...

yeah Ill look around for a paddle..

I'll sell you a Aquabound 230mm cheap if you want it.

really, how much, and thank you!

Dude what a bummer!
 I had that happen during a yak surf session in socal a few years ago. There's nothing like the feeling of committing to a wave, digging in with the paddle for a strong forward stroke...and instead of a solid dig there's just that ineffective, flappy feel of a compromised instrument.
This is usually followed by "@#$%!'er!", as the wave essentially says "heh, I"M in charge now buddy!"

I've seen those aluminum shafted paddles bust just like that many times before. I highly recommend a werner or similar paddle. the Werner 2 piece I have is still serviceable, even after being beat on for close to 20 years.

make sure you can remove the blades from the broken paddle. The blades are usually held on with rivets. Once you drill them out see if you can slide the shaft off. Then you can look for a repl shaft. Not sure if the shaft size is standard. If you wanna go read cheap piece of alum tubing will work.  

Dude what a bummer!
 I had that happen during a yak surf session in socal a few years ago. There's nothing like the feeling of commiting to a wave, digging in with the paddle for a strong forward stroke...and instead of a solid dig there's just that ineffective, flappy feel of a compromised instrument.
This is usually followed by "@#$%!'er!", as the wave essentially says "heh, I"M in charge now buddy!"

yeah, classic, thats how it felt...

Thanks guys, ill look into the blades as well, maybe i can turn this into a spare paddleand store it with me.... Im just happy it didnt happen at the mile marker ion that fog with the crazy currents...

also, just giving back to all of ypu who helped me, the good news is my FF worked PERFECT


http://www.norcalkayakanglers.com/index.php/topic,18841.msg188365.html#msg188365

I can repair your paddle do not remove blades!!!! It will be around five to six inches shorter but it beats buying A new one.. Problem is I dont know when im going to SC....Andy

really, you can fix that?

yeah man, then i can throw it inside the boat and have a back up, after this i realized have two paddles is a MUST! Just say when!

Sorry to hear about your broken paddle.  I was riding my bike up from the Esplanade around noon and stopped for a minute to check out the surf/yakkers from the top of  stairs up the hill and saw you wading ashore behind your yak, thought that was strange, because although there was some medium mixed swell, it wasn't big; then I thought for a second I saw a broken paddle, but convinced myself you'd just taken it apart, tho it seemed odd how you just tossed it back into the yak.  I kept looking for you to haul some fish out of the yak, but I suppose you've explained why I never saw any.  Hope you have better luck in the future, and are able to replace the paddle without breaking the budget.

Fuzzy,

Ha, thats a funny story... yeah man, it just folded in half... I suppose I could have waited and seen what those little waves would have done, but didnt want to loose and gear or take out any kids on the shoreline with the yak... So i just threw the paddle in the boat, and swam her in...

Yeah, no fish at all, not even a bite... just one of those days, funny you saw it go down.

Broken paddle offshore could've been very sketchy - especially in fog.  You carrying a VHF?

You're putting in your time.  Keep your karma good and you'll have jackpot potential...   

Whoa porky!  Were you going hulkamania on the paddle or what?!  wonder if that happens alot

I can repair your paddle do not remove blades!!!! It will be around five to six inches shorter but it beats buying A new one.. Problem is I dont know when im going to SC....Andy

Nice. It will work perfectly as a back up!