Humbling Experience

[Fishin Phil]

Originally Posted by jorluivil

April 5, 2014, early AM………. Roby and I are sitting at the waters edge at LJ with kayaks in hand listening to the surf pound the shore. As we sit and wait for the lull I notice the window has come and I see Roby board his Revo but because my PA went sideways I was unable to launch right at that second. No more than 10 seconds go by and I decide to go anyway, NO GUTS NO GLORY!

Well, that attitude lead to me sitting in the white wash for at least a minute , the whole time water is constantly coming over the kayak. During this time I realized that the kayak would lean hard to the left and then to the right without notice, I couldn’t figure out why until I look down and notice that the entire deck is filled with water. Apparently, the water was sloshing side to side and that was causing the kayak to lean hard to the left or right. Add to this the fact that I had the drive plug installed, I’m assuming this was causing the water to not drain out, well, at least not as fast as it would have if the plug wasn’t installed. Finally, after what seemed like a lifetime of sitting in the kill zone I manage to make it through the surf. As soon as I reached Roby I took a minute to regain my composure, I wasn’t sure how I made it through the surf but I did.

Once I was in the clear I decide to go into my front hatch to pull my HDS unit out, as soon as I open the hatch I notice that the entire bucket/liner if filled to the top with water, literally to the top. I immediately start to panic and start to pull items out looking for my backpack which had my Nikon Coolpix camera in it. Fortunately, after taking everything out I realized that I had left the backpack in the truck because I didn’t want to anything else to mess with while I’m trying to figure out the kayak.

Landing time as arrived, gear is stored, rods are put away and Tony is sitting at the launch waiting for me to land, ‘NO GUTS NO GLORY”!!!! Shortly after back paddling and avoid what looked like a 3’ wave I decide to pedal and go for it. Well, pedaling as fast as possible worked against me because as soon as the smallest waves known to man came through my PA starts surfing. Not knowing what to expect I brace for the worst and into the drink I go.

Before I know it I am in the water and under the kayak, as soon as I try to come up I feel myself being pinned down under the kayak, I try to pick the kayak up (8:58 mark on the video) but it’s to heavy. Next I try to slide out but my PFD somehow gets caught on something and because it’s designed to float I can’t push myself down to slide under the kayak……I’m stuck and because I wasn’t prepared to go under I didn’t take a big breath of air. I am at the point where I am about to panic but I told myself that panicking would only make it worse. I somehow manage to slide out and immediately come up for air, when I did no one knew what I had just gone through. It felt like I was under the kayak for 1minute but it was more like 5-6 seconds.

Regardless, it was a humbling experience and all I can do is learn from it and share it hoping that others may learn from it. Anyone that has fished with me knows that I ALWAYS wear my PFD when I’m fishing, this just happened to be one of those events where the PFD worked against me. Fortunately, I remained calm and came out of it with no loss of gear, about the only thing that happened was that I had a plastic buckle break.

Fish on and be safe!

I noticed you said "I had the drive plug installed". All of you other Pro Angler owners, do you use the drive plug when launching and re-entering? If you do or don't then why? I am glad you are okay.

[William Novotny]

Originally Posted by Fishin Phil

I noticed you said "I had the drive plug installed". All of you other Pro Angler owners, do you use the drive plug when launching and re-entering? If you do or don't then why? I am glad you are okay.

When I would launch and land the pa I would have the mirage in, locked in the up position with the bungee.

[Old Man in the Sea]

Good news > the Pa hull bottom looks to be in great shape....

[taggermike]

No guts no glory can turn you from hero to zero real fast. I don't want to add insult to injury but learn how to brace while riding in on the white water. Its kinda natural to lean away from the wave but if you do, like you found out, you'll end up swimming. Also if you fall off while bracing you'll be in a position where the wave will push the yak away from you and not in to you. The best surf landing kayak I have ever used was a cobra fish n dive. At 12 feet long and 36 inches wide it might not be quite the dimensions of a PA but it is still a wide short yak. It was super stable, like the PA, so I could lean way out in to the white water with the paddle. The PA seating is taller but it still might work. Maybe practice with out any gear. I found this vid that shows a few a few landing options and good examples of bracing. Mike
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qRdYMIU3Di8