Bean Hollow 10/19/06- Two big fish C & R

Today, Frank, Phil (the King of Salmon), my dad and I decided to give Bean Hollow another try, especially after last Sat. report and the monster 41'' Ling.   Got there around 7:00 a.m.  It wasn't exactly calm but definately launchable,  much better than last time I was there.  Swells were about 6-7 ft every 10 sec.   Frank, offered to take the lead while my dad and I were still getting some last minute prep.  The launch was a little rough but they made it out OK.   After about 5 min. of watching and counting the waves.   I started to get a little impatient and decided to go for it.  Well, we didn't even get past the first wave, the boat decided to turn sideway.  We came close to flipping the boat.  Second, attempt much better.   Made it out past the danger zone.  For some reason because of the swell, I could not see Frank and Phil.  Finally, I caught a glimps of the kayak and appears to be two heads bobing in and out of the water.  I thought they must be getting into some action, trying to wrestle and big halibut or Ling to the the boat.  But as I got closer, the kayak appeared to be flipped over with Frank and Phil struggling to hang on the kayak.   I see the fish finder floating in one direction and bilge pump and other stuff in other direction.  It was like a yard sale on the water.  I just thought, "OH, MY Gosh,what do I do now?"  Frank asked dad and I to pull them back to shore.  We were about 1/2 to a mile from shore.   So we started pulling them back, didn't feel like we were gaining any ground.   To make a long story short.  I'll let Frank fill in the rest.  We ended up calling the coast guard.   About 45min of waiting, looking out for the landlord, the man gray suit, the chopper arrived.  It was like the movie "Twister" on water.  Dad and I straddled the kayak trying to avoid flipping over.  One man jumped in the water from above 100' high.  Before long, a basket was lower, and Phil climbed in and was quickly taken up.  They lower the basket again to get Frank, that's when the Harbor Patrol arrived on a boat.  To make a long story short,  they decided to let the small fish go (Phil ).  They lowered him back on the Harbor Patrol vessel.  Anyway, dad and I managed to land safely back on shore.  Wish I had my camera to capture all the action today.  I guess I can still call this place "Happy Hollow" because everyone made it back alive and safely.  Lesson I learned, 4 rookies does not equal one expert.  And always bring a VHF.  I let Frank fill in the rest.

Eugene.

Holy crap! Glad you guys made it out okay. Guess I'll be waiting a while longer before I attempt Bean Hollow...

Oh my god!  I am glad all are safe and sound and the landlord decided to give you free rent.  The ocean is a tumultuous and unpredictable place, precautiouns such as VHF, floatation device and wetsuit are musts.

Jason

Wow!  I'm glad to hear you all came home safely.

way to keep your cool
nice job guys

I think we all just gulped as we read that.  

This story needs to go under the "This happened to me"..........and by some miracle nobody died.

Glad that  you guys are all safe.
I hope we can all learn from this.

I think we all just gulped as we read that. 

Well, i certainly gulped!

what went wrong. How did the boat flip?  Why wern't you able to flip the kayak back and get back on it?

Man, I'm so glad everyone's OK.  Calling CG= good move, that is what they're here for, though the response time leaves something to be desired.  Goes to show when we fish the wilder coast areas, we are really on our own.

I advise everyone to practice falling out on purpose and doing a re-entry, preferably somewhere safe, like a beach in town.

Frank you gotta share with us the whole story.  I hope you're chuckling and not put off by a bad experience!

Allen

Apparently, Frank's kayak (Hobie) had a leak in it.  Factory defect.  It started taking H2O fast not too long after they paddle out that's why they could not climb back up on board.

Frank and Party,

I am so glad to hear that you all got back safely.  Really underscores how important having a buddy/buddies and VHF is when the unexpected occurs.

Doug

Glad to hear everyone is ok to yak another day.


Were you ablel to recover your gear?

Man, that must have been SCARY!  talk about an october fright fest.  Glad to hear everyone made it back.  Please fill us in, blow by blow, especially for all of us hobie outback owners.

About 45min of waiting, looking out for the landlord,

I'm glad everyone was wearing a wetsuit (and a VHF).....45 minutes in Nor Cal waters without one would have been tragic. Glad you guys made it!

Pick your days - a stringer full of fish is not worth a life....

Wow...Glad everyone is OK. What is up with all these reports and stories of factory defects ? I was just up north and heard i guy talking about his new cobra that had a big scupper leak and he had to swim to shore.

I have been kayak fishing for over 10 years and owned a bunch of boats mostly OK and never even heard of leaks on boats. Maybe its because there is 10 times the kayaks out there now ? Or sloppy work from the factory ? Do they test the kayak in any way at the factory???

If that happend to me with a new kayak i would spend the next 6 months calling and writing letters to the manufacture and the owners of the company.

One final note it takes a man like you to say your a rookie the ocean is no joke.