HMB 7-18

what Porky said.  Side saddle to reach back.

It is good that everything turned out fine. That being said, Lunker has no freaking clue how lucky he is.

Understand one thing:

Jeans and T-shirt.
No leashes and lanyards.

Had there been any kind of a decent breeze that we normally see on our coast, even upside-down, your now empty kayak would have sailed away so fast, by the time you realized what happened, it would be 100 yards away and going, going, gone. You are very lucky that it was calm and you were able to grab it but even more lucky that there was someone there to help you.

You could just as easily have ended up being a corpse right now. Never temp the ocean.

Forget the training wheels, practice getting on and falling off inside the harbor with a good and proper wetsuit. Jeans and T-shirts only belong in the brochures.

Good Luck.

An other example of why you need to be a kayaker FIRST and a fisherman second

Chris and Doug of Half Moon Bay Kayak give self rescue lessons right in the harbor.Check it out.You will be glad you did.

MBK offers a Surf Zone Class.  When I took the class several years ago, I was the only one to volunteer to practice self rescue.  At first its a scary feeling when you're feet are not touching the bottom and you can't see the bottom.  I insisted on doing it over and over till I was comfortable.
The surf was unusually rough that day by MBK area standards which was a benefit because the conditions were more realistic when something can go wrong.

This year I have fished with NCKA newbies in the salt without the proper safety equipment.  Next time I hook up with them, I won't hesitate to give them advice.

This year I have fished with NCKA newbies in the salt without the proper safety equipment.  Next time I hook up with them, I won't hesitate to get them advice.

Hey Mel, giving safety advice is always a good thing but also know that we are adults here and we should all know better and respect the ocean. I'm just glad everyone made it back safe.

I had the same experience as Lunker did when I first started kayak fishing the ocean over a decade ago. But the two things I did differently was that I started out fishing the foothill lakes before I even thought of going into the ocean. And the second, I wore a 3 mil wetsuit and a properly fitted PFD. What really saved me from further harm was that I was fishing with someone with more experience and that I had a whistle attached to my PFD (no VHF radios back then). And when I flipped my kayak, my unleashed paddle went beyond reach as I struggled to self rescue (self rescuing with swell is a whole different animal) My saving grace was that I blew my whistle, my buddy heard it and gave me a hand. After that incident, I took another lesson with HMB Kayak Company. I also took an advance course with Aquan Sports later on. And even after taking all these classes, I make it a point to practice, practice and practice what I've learned. Life is short and IMO, every waterman should be skilled in every way possible.

An other example of why you need to be a kayaker FIRST and a fisherman second

 

this.

+ about infinity.

Hi Mel,

This happened to me at SWS few years ago when I tried to reach behind the seat to get my gears and out of no where I was in the water. Luckily I had wetsuit and PFD on me and there were other people few hundred feet away. I lost all gears also.

After this instance I was thinking how to stabilize my Kayak 'EXTERNALLY',  not so much depending on my kayaking skill and other people.

The solution is to add an external stablizer as shown in thess videos after one year's design and modification for mounting (you can imagine what my profession is!!)







As years go by (of course I am getting much older!!) I am thinking 'what the heck' why not installing an engine to it. And wa La, a motorized kayak!!!!

The engine is 1987 HONDA 2HP 'water cool' (I bought it from the owner of Malibu Kayak Inc. in LA. Honda does not make this kind of engine any more!!). I also spent few months at my spare time modifying the engine so that I could control it from where the kayak seat was. The engine is very quite and can run up to 7.2 mile/hr.

The setup time is a little bit more than the regular kayak setup since I need to attached the enigne and the engine control mechanism to it.

When I ran my (motorized) kayak in HMB, MB or SWS, usually one group of people gave me thumb 'up' for my creativity and other gave thumb 'down' since they thought this was so unconventional in kayaking.

NOW I can carry my (motorized) kayak (boat) on top of my car and go anywhere I want without suffering the gas milage too much. My better half always asked 'why don't  you buy a boat?' and my answer was 'have you ever seen anyone put a boat on top of his/her car and easy to load and unload without help?'


Let me know if you want more info on the stabilizer.

John

Lesson well learned today... I appreciate the assistance Krusty. Looking forward to another outing  I will be doing things a little differently.....

hey man, we have all been there in one form or another, small and big. i lost my speargun, weight belt etc.... in carmel a while back.

one minute it was dead calm and the next thing you know a tsunami like wave smacked me upside the head.

all it took was once for me to learn my lesson.

it'll be better from here on out!

glad you are well.

I spoke to Cullen who works at Aquan a few days ago. He's planning to offer a Surf Zone class in the Half Moon Bay area where one can experience real surf situations.  He's going to post in the site once the details are set.  This guys a kayak surf expert.  I rolled for the first time this year last Saturday.
If I am available I signing up.

MBK offers the a similar class but its generally calm over there.

Hi Mel,

This happened to me at SWS few years ago when I tried to reach behind the seat to get my gears and out of no where I was in the water. Luckily I had wetsuit and PFD on me and there were other people few hundred feet away. I lost all gears also.

After this instance I was thinking how to stabilize my Kayak 'EXTERNALLY',  not so much depending on my kayaking skill and other people.

The solution is to add an external stablizer as shown in thess videos after one year's design and modification for mounting (you can imagine what my profession is!!)

nice setup, being that it has a motor is vessel registration at the DMV required?

thanks for the info,

john







As years go by (of course I am getting much older!!) I am thinking 'what the heck' why not installing an engine to it. And wa La, a motorized kayak!!!!

The engine is 1987 HONDA 2HP 'water cool' (I bought it from the owner of Malibu Kayak Inc. in LA. Honda does not make this kind of engine any more!!). I also spent few months at my spare time modifying the engine so that I could control it from where the kayak seat was. The engine is very quite and can run up to 7.2 mile/hr.

The setup time is a little bit more than the regular kayak setup since I need to attached the enigne and the engine control mechanism to it.

When I ran my (motorized) kayak in HMB, MB or SWS, usually one group of people gave me thumb 'up' for my creativity and other gave thumb 'down' since they thought this was so unconventional in kayaking.

NOW I can carry my (motorized) kayak (boat) on top of my car and go anywhere I want without suffering the gas milage too much. My better half always asked 'why don't  you buy a boat?' and my answer was 'have you ever seen anyone put a boat on top of his/her car and easy to load and unload without help?'


Let me know if you want more info on the stabilizer.

John