ruge13
09-30-2004, 10:09 AM
This is a sad day for me. My fishing companion of 3 years past away this morning. My skinny little buddy has seen every fish out of the kakay I ever caught and sadly must be laid to rest. And its all my fault!!--124-3
In an unfortunate accident this morning I misjudged a wave set. Saw a group of 4-5 footers rolling in, set up and got pushed by the lead wave (always smaller). So I had to back paddle fast and cut hard to the right. I put a ton of pressure on one knee with a knee hang and popped my foot pedal loose. The result popped my knee up and the skirt loose, my foot goes through the bulkhead foam to the front hatch, so now I am taking on water paddling backwards in a set of good sized waves.
Most beaches with sand, your bow goes under on a wave moving forward and the hull skipps ont he sand. If you are steep in the wave, maybe a catch here and there that spins you sideways but nothing that you can't recover from. In Boston, we have Cobbles. So a bow goes deep and there is no skipping to speak of, just plain old dig in and you go arse over tea kettle when the wave picks up your back end and your bow is saying hello to the crabs.
So, I am paddling backwards, now half full of water which if flooding the bulkhead up front. I am bow heavy. Second wave in the set starts to build, and I am sitting right on the cobble reef where they are breaking. Didn't get back in time, I get picked up steep, bow sticks a rock. I wish I had this on video. I go head over bow and T bone my friend flat to the water (normally I turn the paddle parralel to the boat when I know I am going over to avoid this and go with the roll, did it a few times before and forgot). Since I use a feathered paddle the side with the flat blade had the most resistance it snapped instantly at the metal handle. The other side, blade sliced down to the rocks and splintered in my hands. Fortunately I was wearing gloves or I would have had my hands torn up. Took a rock to the head when I slid out the boat, shook it off and swam in pieces in hand.
Fortunately I had a spare in the car and I never lost the foot pedal, it was in the bow. Did lose my padle float though (keep it behind the seat just in case, usually take it out to surf since there is no way in hadies you are ever going to use it in the surf but forgot today)..:rolleyes: Back out and more waves...
Nice morning, a little smaller than I hoped for after all the hype, but what I expected at low tide. There were 3 footers with an ocaisional set of 4-5 footer over the larger rocks. They look small in the pics, but they are not as small when you are actually in them. The pics are from an elevated position. No surfers to dodge on the better breaks, just me. High tide at noon today will be the best time to go under the tower. Dead wind! Wave period is nice and long so great for a kayak. If you are thinking about trying it, today is the day to go. There is a good range of wave sizes and the water is nice and warm so you can build confidence and some practice on smaller stuff before taking a larger wave and gettijgn tossed. I wasn't wearing a wetsuit, just some paddle clothes that are not waterproof, really just a rash guard for the rocks and was sweating most of the time.
In an unfortunate accident this morning I misjudged a wave set. Saw a group of 4-5 footers rolling in, set up and got pushed by the lead wave (always smaller). So I had to back paddle fast and cut hard to the right. I put a ton of pressure on one knee with a knee hang and popped my foot pedal loose. The result popped my knee up and the skirt loose, my foot goes through the bulkhead foam to the front hatch, so now I am taking on water paddling backwards in a set of good sized waves.
Most beaches with sand, your bow goes under on a wave moving forward and the hull skipps ont he sand. If you are steep in the wave, maybe a catch here and there that spins you sideways but nothing that you can't recover from. In Boston, we have Cobbles. So a bow goes deep and there is no skipping to speak of, just plain old dig in and you go arse over tea kettle when the wave picks up your back end and your bow is saying hello to the crabs.
So, I am paddling backwards, now half full of water which if flooding the bulkhead up front. I am bow heavy. Second wave in the set starts to build, and I am sitting right on the cobble reef where they are breaking. Didn't get back in time, I get picked up steep, bow sticks a rock. I wish I had this on video. I go head over bow and T bone my friend flat to the water (normally I turn the paddle parralel to the boat when I know I am going over to avoid this and go with the roll, did it a few times before and forgot). Since I use a feathered paddle the side with the flat blade had the most resistance it snapped instantly at the metal handle. The other side, blade sliced down to the rocks and splintered in my hands. Fortunately I was wearing gloves or I would have had my hands torn up. Took a rock to the head when I slid out the boat, shook it off and swam in pieces in hand.
Fortunately I had a spare in the car and I never lost the foot pedal, it was in the bow. Did lose my padle float though (keep it behind the seat just in case, usually take it out to surf since there is no way in hadies you are ever going to use it in the surf but forgot today)..:rolleyes: Back out and more waves...
Nice morning, a little smaller than I hoped for after all the hype, but what I expected at low tide. There were 3 footers with an ocaisional set of 4-5 footer over the larger rocks. They look small in the pics, but they are not as small when you are actually in them. The pics are from an elevated position. No surfers to dodge on the better breaks, just me. High tide at noon today will be the best time to go under the tower. Dead wind! Wave period is nice and long so great for a kayak. If you are thinking about trying it, today is the day to go. There is a good range of wave sizes and the water is nice and warm so you can build confidence and some practice on smaller stuff before taking a larger wave and gettijgn tossed. I wasn't wearing a wetsuit, just some paddle clothes that are not waterproof, really just a rash guard for the rocks and was sweating most of the time.