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Hi guys, with today being only my second day off in over 5 weeks due to excessive study and work obligations recently (the other one I had a wisdom tooth pulled) I made the decision to ignore a strong wind warning this morning and chuck the P15 on the roof of the car and go for a look.
In the three years of living on Bruny I have learnt to launch in most adverse conditions by finding the right launching position. I went to a beach I thought I would be OK on and after sitting on the sand for 20 minutes or so thought I could sneak out alongside the sheltered headland where a nice strong rip would give me a quick run through the break. I threw a rod in the front hatch, strapped the esky into the rear tankwell, the shark shield to my lag and off I went.
I got out without to much issue and got my rod from the front hatch while still relatively sheltered from the wind. When I rounded the point and headed for open water I was welcomed by 35 knots of wind and 2.5m of swell with the tops breaking nicely. I punched through it for an hour or so and by this stage was still only in around 30 metres of water.
I attached my new large drogue or sea anchor I had recently made as I wanted to see if it would offer too much resistance when a large wave hit me beam on and tip me. It is close to twice the size of my existing one so I didn't quite know what to expect. I tied it off to the handle at the centre of the yak and adjusted my rudder so that the oncoming waves would hit me from the stern at an angle of around 45 degrees to my beam.
It was better than I expected with the low rounded profile of the P15 allowing me to be pushed sideways but not trying to tip me too badly. I dropped shotted for a while only getting a few small flathead before deciding to head in as the since had changed from a north westerly to due north.
At length I got back to the beach to see that my safe entry point wasn't going to offer me an easy run back to shore. I attached my rod to the yak with the paddle retainer as it was too rough to open the front hatch. After sitting and paddling to hold position for around 20 minutes behind the break watching and trying to plan my best route in I decided to go for it. I was around 1/2 way in when a big wave threw me sidewards despite my back paddling and I was wiped out in the most spectacular manner.
Luckily I wasn't in the stretch of the beach where the rip was and both me and the kayak were washed up onto the beach. The only casualty for the day was the lid off the esky which is at the moment floating towards Antarctica. I provided quite a bit of amusement for a campervan parked along the road beside the beach. The guy in it came down to see if I was Ok and when he saw me laughing he stopped his fake concern act and had a good laugh at my expense.
Catch ya Scott
In the three years of living on Bruny I have learnt to launch in most adverse conditions by finding the right launching position. I went to a beach I thought I would be OK on and after sitting on the sand for 20 minutes or so thought I could sneak out alongside the sheltered headland where a nice strong rip would give me a quick run through the break. I threw a rod in the front hatch, strapped the esky into the rear tankwell, the shark shield to my lag and off I went.
I got out without to much issue and got my rod from the front hatch while still relatively sheltered from the wind. When I rounded the point and headed for open water I was welcomed by 35 knots of wind and 2.5m of swell with the tops breaking nicely. I punched through it for an hour or so and by this stage was still only in around 30 metres of water.
I attached my new large drogue or sea anchor I had recently made as I wanted to see if it would offer too much resistance when a large wave hit me beam on and tip me. It is close to twice the size of my existing one so I didn't quite know what to expect. I tied it off to the handle at the centre of the yak and adjusted my rudder so that the oncoming waves would hit me from the stern at an angle of around 45 degrees to my beam.
It was better than I expected with the low rounded profile of the P15 allowing me to be pushed sideways but not trying to tip me too badly. I dropped shotted for a while only getting a few small flathead before deciding to head in as the since had changed from a north westerly to due north.
At length I got back to the beach to see that my safe entry point wasn't going to offer me an easy run back to shore. I attached my rod to the yak with the paddle retainer as it was too rough to open the front hatch. After sitting and paddling to hold position for around 20 minutes behind the break watching and trying to plan my best route in I decided to go for it. I was around 1/2 way in when a big wave threw me sidewards despite my back paddling and I was wiped out in the most spectacular manner.
Luckily I wasn't in the stretch of the beach where the rip was and both me and the kayak were washed up onto the beach. The only casualty for the day was the lid off the esky which is at the moment floating towards Antarctica. I provided quite a bit of amusement for a campervan parked along the road beside the beach. The guy in it came down to see if I was Ok and when he saw me laughing he stopped his fake concern act and had a good laugh at my expense.
Catch ya Scott
