Anacapa Island - A 15 mile Journey

[Zed]

Originally Posted by aren_denman

15 ft Malibu fishing kayaks... too poor for a Hobie!
We have them rigged up with basic bait tanks and fish finders.

What are you doing to train? Have you ever paddled more than 10mi straight w/o stopping in your 'whole life'? I would practice fully loaded nearshore. Try 3 6mile legs in a triangle nonstop thatway youre never too far from shore. 15mi on a straight line on a kayak is unrealistic. It will end up more than 15. With all that crap in/on your hull stability and seaworthiness is tailing off and you are more subject to capsize. Have you ever flooded your yak at sea and pumped it out to remount in wind and waves? Do you have a pump? You say camping is pricey so does that mean you have nowhere specific planned? Rangers arent too keen on anyone just hauling out to camp.

Youre crossing a nasty channel trying to hit a speck of rock in a month that historically is one of the stormiest. Call me a goober if youre a mod but you do not sound prepared enough to do it. You sound like a statistic. Aren meet logistics.

Follow Andys advice and try Cabrillo to 2 Harbors in a calmer month for your first long paddle/open ocean crossing.

[monstahfish]

I would highly recommend the PLB and a VHF radio. The PLB needs to be registered with SARSAT(search and rescue organization which will coordinate with coast guard, park ranger, police etc...) which is free. There are other units that are similar like spot and the delorme one that you can broadcast a message with but they require subscriptions. I have an ACR resqfix(they have newer units now) and though I've never had to use it, I always keep it in my PFD pocket, just have to send it in to change the battery every 5 years.

I would also recommend a flare gun and a visibility flag of about 4 feet with some kind of metal cap to act as a radar reflector on your kayak. Don't want to get run over crossing shipping lanes or by other boats.

[aren_denman]

Originally Posted by Zed

What are you doing to train? Try 3 6mile legs in a triangle nonstop thatway youre never too far from shore.
Have you ever flooded your yak at sea and pumped it out to remount in wind and waves? Do you have a pump?

Youre crossing a nasty channel trying to hit a speck of rock in a month that historically is one of the stormiest. Call me a goober if youre a mod but you do not sound prepared enough to do it. You sound like a statistic. Aren meet logistics.

I am confident in a 20 mile paddle, however, I have never trained with this much gear. You never know what can go wrong. I take your concerns seriously and will not do the trip if I feel like I am not prepared.

To answer your question I do not have a pump and have never been capsized in my kayak and in another post, I do not have a visibility flag with metal on top for shipping traffic.

My kayak is watertight, I just went through with marine epoxy on all the cracks, but as of right now, if I flip I am screwed. A pump is very necessary. I have a flare gun. I plan on communicating with coast guards and Island officials. (I will pay for every night I camp there.)

Some new items on my list - waterproof pump. vhf and plb system. GPS system. visibility flag (ill probably rig something up) And finally, a full understanding of the common wind, currents, and MPA (Marine Protected Area)
Thanks for the suggestions, keep em comin.