Kayak Fishing Adventures on Big Water’s Edge

Thank you SabaSlayer for bringing this to my attention, as well as others!

I just signed the petition and included a rather passionate note on the website (why it is not showing up yet is a little concerning, but perhaps it will later). I also included a $10 payment to help "spread the word" of this petition b/c it means so much to me.

I moved here to South Redondo about 2 years ago. Shortly after arriving I was stricken with a neck/arm nerve injury that caused me to undergo having a spinal fusion operation done on my C6-7 vertebrae. This obviously kept me off the water and from using my fishing kayak for quite a long time... the recovery time on this operation was at least 6 months.

When my surgeon finally gave me the "green light" to "resume all activity" I discovered that the hoists at the marina were down, and were supposed to be repaired. Upon looking into this matter further, I made several visits to the offices at the marina over the last 9 months or so. Each time I was given a different story and a different date that the hoists would finally be repaired.

It's been over a year now since they have been inoperable, and I'm getting tired of hearing excuses. I just want to get out "in front" (meaning the Pacific right outside the harbor) and fish - especially with this epic El Nino season that is upon us.

At first the manager of the office told me that they expected the hoists to be finished being repaired around mid-June, then the next time I asked, he said late-July, then the last time I spoke to him, he told me that it "took awhile to get the funding from the City in place" and "now that we have the funding in place, the repairs should begin by next week" and they they expected the repairs would be done by this week (August 17-21).

Well guess what? Yesterday I ride my bike down to the marina and speak to one of the operators at the hoist booth. They guy tells me that they haven't even begun the repairs yet, and his boss told him that the repairs on the hoist won't even be completed until the end of September!!!

I'm fuming mad about this! I want to get out and fish and am dying to get to know the area right out in front of my house since moving here! (I'm lucky enough to live a few blocks from the beach off Avenue B)

I know some of you will call me a pussy or whatever and say "just launch at the small boat ramp by Paradise Cove" but I use a BassYaks motor on my Stealth 14, and with all the rigging I have, batteries and wiring, it's a heavy beast. Since my surgery, I have to be very careful about hurting my back again... I can launch okay from a boat ramp by myself as I just slide my yak right off my trailer, but to lift that thing in and out of the water off the boat dock by myself is probably just too much (there's like nearly a 2' gap between the waterline and the top of the dock). The boat hoist would be perfect for my situation, hence this issue hits very close to home for me.

I haven't met or developed enough kayak fishing buddies in my area that I could pair up with since moving here from the East Coast 2 years ago, so any launching I do at King Harbor will probably be by myself (for now anyway). Otherwise I could just buddy up with someone and get a hand lifting my yak out of the water and onto my kayak cart, (and obviously be there to help them if they needed it too). Hopefully, that will come in time... but for now... I would gladly pay the $15 fee to hoist my yak off my trailer and put it back on at the end of the day... it's worth it to save my back.

So, in closing let me say "thank you" once again for bringing this cause to my attention. I hope that this forum can drive up the supporters for this cause and help this hoist to get repaired very soon. I'd love a ramp in the harbor by the way, but I have this feeling I should not "hold my breath" waiting for it to materialize... and I believe this community needs the hoists operable regardless whether or not the ramp finally comes to fruition. I posted this petition on my Facebook wall as well, hoping it may help draw some additional signatures.

Tight lines!