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My first day was horrible! Took my used Tarpon to Carpinteria camping with my family. Had only been in a kayak one time approximately 10 years prior so "I knew what I was doing." I arrived to 4' surf and dragged my kayak down the beach to launch without pausing to look at the surf. I'd watched numerous YouTube clips of launching and landing in bigger surf so I figured I had it in the bag. After about 30 minutes of fighting in the surf, rolling my yak multiple times and getting nowhere near past the breakers I called it quits. Lost my sunglasses, hat, sandals, and swallowed more water than I wanted to. I waited an hour and attempted again, only to spend another 30 minutes wrestling in the surf before finally getting out. Once past the breakers I was absolutely soaked and beyond tired so I only spent a short time out before calling it and heading in. Landing was another cluster as I was rolled and again got my ass handed to me. It was at this point I decided to call it quits with kayaking and was ready to give my stuff away. After spending time on this forum as a lurker at the advice of my wife, I gave it one more shot in the safety of the harbor just getting to know the kayak and I was hooked from then on. My two pieces of advice would be to mind the words spoken by members on here, they know their stuff and have your best interest at heart. Also, you have to crawl before you run so start simple by launching in the harbor or marina, or even some of the nicer freshwater lakes. I'm glad I stuck with it and learned as much from experience as from the other members on here.
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