[Jesse_Ape]

Well I picked up my espri on the weekend.....Turns out it was brand new and never been on the water...475...I love ebay.

The maiden voyage was straight out through the surf. I though hey I am going to be spearing in the ocean why not take the yak out in the ocean. Up until this point i can count the amout of times i have paddled a yak on one hand. I later regretted this decision

I did about a dozen surf lanches managed to capsize going out only once as i hit a 1.2 as it broke and the back got sucked down.

However coming back I concluded that I should be renamed captain capsize. I suck really hard at coming back in through the surf. Out of the dozen re entrys I managed to keep the kayak up right once. I got completelty hammerd the kayak was on top of me many times.... I finally worked out that you have to have ALL your weight at the back otherwise the front dived down and digs into the sand.

I tell you it would have been a sight for on lookers. But the yak was good once out of the breaking waves. I capsized a few times on purpose to get the hang of getting in and out. I had heaps of fun

The second voyage I doubled my Fiance out around cotton tree for 2 hours. it was fun and i didn't capsize once on the flat water My whole upper torso hurts now But It'll be right i will just have to grow more muscle.

I also got a sounder and a GPS for the yak and some other stuff that i will have to rig up before going for a spear.

So in conclusion the yak is fun and it should be great to spear from if i make it past the breaking surf. Any tips on going in and out off the surf would be appreciated. So far the yak has been fun

Cheers

Jesse

 

[Guest]

Hi have a look through sticky links and here is one site I have found useful http://www.paddling.net/guidelines/showArticle.html?98 . Sounds like you had fun.

 

[RedPhoenix]

Unfortunately, due to the change in ownership of this web site and the lack of response by the owners to my requests to remove my email address from all administrative-level notifications and functionality, I have decided to remove my posts on AKFF. Thank you for the great times, the fantastic learning experiences and the many many fish. If you are desperate for the old content of this particular post, it is available below base64 encoded and bzip2 compressed.

Red.

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[shayned]

The question now is will the dent come out of the bottom of the yak. Be interested to know if it really was a storage problem or possibly a production problem instead.

 

[Magicrik]

Hi Jesse Ape sounds like you had some fun out there........but your alot braver then me, i wouldn't go out in a yak i didn't know on my first trip in the surf. You said you was around cotton tree? Are you in maroochydore too?

 

[Jesse_Ape]

Hi,

Thanks for the links... they are were very helpful. ... and the tips.

I think the espri doesn't quite have the punching through ability that those ocean yaks have in the picture however. But practice makes perfect i guess.

As for the ding in the bottom of the yak... It doesn't really bother me. It's not that bad and the kayak still paddles perfectly. Chances are if it wasn't there when I got it it would be there latter down the track anyhow. I got it cheap and thats the main thing. I am glad i took someones advice and got a good paddle (plastic blades and fiberglass shaft) cause it makes a huge difference the paddle is nice and light and works like a dream.

Cheers

For you help

Jesse

 

[shayned]

Jesse,
Try closing all the hatches tight, bung too and lay it on the lawn upside down in the sun as per previous instructions on here to see if it rights itself.

 

[Jesse_Ape]

Ok I wil ltry that tommorow and see if it works

 

[troppo]

Jesse_Ape, sounds like an adventure with that surf. With my limited experience of surf, I have found it much easier going out than coming in. From the sea, it is hard to judge exactly what is happeing as the waves come onto the beach. Once when I came in, I thought the waves were huge but when I finally landed, found they were tiny.

The first time I went out in surf, I thought there was something wrong with my yak as I kept on getting flicked off and it wouldn't handle properly. So, I scoured the Internet and library for more info. I found my yak was not a problem, but my knowledge and experience (lack of) was. With summer coming up again, I am keen to do more "exploring" of my yak's capabilities in the surf zone. I found when my experience grew enough where I could handle something which I couldn't do before, I got a big buzz out it.

Then I got flicked off in knee deep water from a 30 cm tiddly wave and lost my sunglasses which I didn't take off as the waves were too small to worry about. :?

 

[spooled1]

Hi Jesse,

In breaking waves it's not unusual to get nailed on re-entry. Plastic yaks automatically drift out and sway no matter how much momentum you've got or stick you give it.

Once you're sideways, it's pretty much all over.

When you make a re-entry it's fun. If you don't it doesn't matter because all your gear is stowed - right?

[Note to yak manufacturers] A surf skeg would make the world of difference to a yak. Think about a: pull the handle so the skeg drops down type of thing.

 

[sunshiner]

yay, Espri in the surf -- great fun. Red's tips are really good especially in regard to picking a quiet time to enter, and a deeper section. If possible note this deeper location carefully while standing on the beach, before you go out, because it's difficult to pick when you're out the back waiting to come in. One other thing I find useful is to push down with the paddle, concave side down, when you go sideways, which you will, frequently. So if the yak yaws to starboard, push down with the paddle on the wave, on the starboard side -- lean into it. You'll be surprised how you can stay on the broken wave while scooting along sideways if you do this. This takes a bit of practice (or did for me, anyway), so it's worth challenging yourself occasionally and heading out sans fishing gear for a praccy.

And make sure everything is secure, even your hat will blow off if you catch a wave, which you will.

 

[YakAtak]

sounds like fun mate, good times ahead!