It was a sad day: Newport
 

It all started about a month ago. I was having nothing to do and was surfing on BD then found the kayak sub-forum, which led me to this forum. Then a week later, a friend who has 2 kayaks asked me to join him for a kayak and fishing session in Long Beach bay. It was fun, my friend caught a lot of croakers with mussels, I was throwing swimbait and picked up quite a few spotted bay bass, couple legals, and some short halis. I was hooked and spent a lot of my free time here on BWE reading and researching. One week later, with the limitted buget, I bought my first kayak, an Ocean Scramber, used, but good enough to be rigged up for fishing the bay I guess. I was happy and excited. Spent 2 weeks gathering stuffs spent all the time I had during those 2 weeks rigged it up with 2 flush mount rod holders, added a egg crate with a custom "bucket" bait tank with all the needed plumbings and 4 rod holders, running all the wires and added a hummingbird 595ci FF. Waited day by day until Sunday for the grand opening of my kayak. Saturday night, I put everything on the kayak to get used setting it up so I would have to spent less time at the beach and more time to fishing. Everything is completed. I arranged stuffs in different bags so I have an easier time locating them.

Sunday, arrived to Newport kid beach @ 5am, set up my kayak and realized I must had left the bag with all the leashes in the backyard. Figured it couldn't be that bad with out the leashes in the bay, so I proceeded and launched around 6am. It was windy with offshore winds but it was a nice day with full of expectations on my new little toy.

And the most depressing day of my fishing life began.

While paddling out to the bait barge, as we were about a hundred ft away I switched on the pump to fill the baiit tank with water. Mettered a lot of fish on a spot that we just passed through so I turned to the left to talk to my friend of coming back here later to fish. It was right then I got hit by a sideway wave from an open-party charter boat and flipped over.:mad:. My first instint was to grab my gears but everything went by so fast, and I could only grab my tackle box. By the time I flipped my yak back and got back on it. I wanted to cry, all my rods were gone, galf, landing net, battery, anchor, everything, just gone. There was something extremely uncomfortable stuck at my chest, my heart sank looking at my empty kayak with I spent weeks hoping, dreaming and rigging. The gears which I spent countless time researching and saving to get, all were my favorites which I selected to accompany me to my first kayak trip. GONE. Only my sabiki rod is left

I can't quite imagine why I would flip too easily in the bay, not on open water. I had been on rental kayak and my friends kayak many time and had never flipped so easily. Maybe it was the way my yak was built? I have no knowledge in yak design, but the only thing I noticed was my Ocean Scrambler's width is significant smaller than my friends' no-brand yak and others that I saw at the launch that day. Was it the smaller width with the added bait tank half full with water, or was it me? I mean I don't have experience with yak in open water, but I've been on one many time in the bays. I don't know and kept asking myself why did I flipped so easily. I said easily because 30 mins later of my initial I was sitting next to my friend fishing with my sabiki rod, I got flipped again.

After that, I just got discourage and didn't feel like fishing anymore, plus the cold was kicking in with the wind and all the wet clothes so I went back to the landing beach. While at the beach, I met and chatted with a nice guy who also a member here on BWE. His name is Wes, and he was on a red hobie (forgot a model), who offered condolence and asked for my phone number and said he'll give me a call in case he snag any of my gear while trolling for halis. Thanks Wes, no matter if you run into my gear or not.

Total lost was around a grand of long time savings and collecting.

New Landing net, bait net: $40
New Galf: $30
Carrot Stick spinning w/ Abu reel: $150
Carrot Stick Gold 7'10 & Shimano 201 TE: $500
Abu Garcia Volatile & Daiwa Lexa 300: $300
Battery & Box: $90
Anchor & Rope: $25
Pliers: $10
Sandals: found 1 :luxhello:, the other drifted away :mad:
Filet Knife
Sunglasses


It was a sad and depressing day indeed. I spent over an hr try to snag my gears with a trebble hook and sinker but didn't run into them. Maybe the current drifted it somewhere else in the bay. Maybe someone with a food down imaging FF might be able to locate them and have some use of them.

I'm sorry, I was lurking and reading on this forum for the last couple weeks, and was really looking forward to post my first report here with a nice catch but not, something caught me :(.

Yes it is depressing. Now take that empty yak, put on your life preserver and learn all you can. Play with it empty, fill the bait tank, play with it full. See what it takes to flip it. LEARN the boats limits and yours, learn how to take a wake. Get to know your machine. Then go to your local OEX dealer and ask questions and demo. Find the boat that is right for you. Look used, look for demo deals. You know this will only make you a better yaker. Good luck, you are still safe! And remember this lesson, tye things down, it was an expensive lesson. My lesson was in the surf, I thank god survived it.

A sad day indeed, I feel for ya bro.....Just remember the ass is the center of gravity 100% of the time!!!

[QUOTE=makobob;161092]Yes it is depressing. Now take that empty yak, put on your life preserver and learn all you can. Play with it empty, fill the bait tank, play with it full. See what it takes to flip it.


He just went through all that!!!:doh:

sorry to hear you lost all your gear...well live and learn, when you fill your bait tank/bucket that can really screw with your stability. When that swell hit you and if your bait tank was filled too high, it could possibly pull you over. Get back on your kayak and try again. Your not the only one that has lost gear.....

someone once asked me, "why do you have so many f-en leashes on your yak"

I flipped on my first trip out too and lost about $800 in gear. I flipped after turning back reaching for my game clip 30 yards from bait barge. I was surprised how easy the cobra flipped. my center shifted and in I went; it was that easy.

Dylan,

It was nice meeting you even though you had just gone through the ringer.

I didn't manage to find any of your gear after several drifts through the area you mentioned.

Keep your chin up, and take this expensive lesson for what it is worth. Much better to lose some replaceable gear then to get hurt or end up dead. I second the recomendation to take out the yak and get more comfortable with it before heading out with a bunch of gear again.

It was pretty choppy out there by the barge, and the cattle boats don't ever seem to follow the 10 MPH rule and kick up huge wakes, especially out near the entrance to the harbor. There were a couple of times when I was turned around getting a bait yesterday that I felt that balance shift happeneing but I was able to correct in time.

Keep at it and don't give up! This is just a speed bump on the way to killer fishing for you!

Welcome to the community, sorry it happened on your maiden voyage. Don't beat yourself up, I hope to see lots of successful reports from ya!

The second time I flipped was when the bait tank and kayak was empty :(

Thanks all for words of encouragement.
Thanks you Wes for the attempt to recover my lost gear.

Insurance
 

Check your insurance if you have homeowners. A few years ago I got flipped by a whale and lost all of my gear. Usaa covered the entire thing......minus deductible.

It was worth the phone call.

dude, that sucks! i did my first surf launch in samo and took a beating, broke a rod and almost lost another. my leash even broke on it.

definitely invest in leashes! i'm terrible about this but I just got new material to make all new leashes.

Scrambler owner here. It is a slim hull, fairly stable... but not stand-on-it stable. That's why I leash everything down and am prepared to flip at any time. Learn to keep your head above the yak at all times. The second you lean over to see what's in the water is the second you fall over. Also with wakes try and hit them perpendicular. A good wake if hit dead on sideways will rock you no matter what yak you are on.

A sad story, but as was stated before, At least you are here to fish another day. Gear is expensive but your life is priceless.
If you need some gear PM me and I will help you out.
:reel: Fish on brother!

Man that suks I was pissed losing my lil tackle box of owner hooks last time I went out lj. I thought it be safe in the little net pocket of my hobie. To my dismay I lost it while lauching. So I only could imagine how you feel

yakattack, what is your weight if you don't mind me asking, and what type of kayak did you buy?


It sounds like

A) you might be too heavy withall your gear for your kayak.
The Ocean Scrambler 11 only holds about 300 to 350lbs so this plus a bucket full of water can make you top heavy, if your a heavyset person.


b) you might of just lost your balance because you were not paying attention to the swells and water, also make sure you don't have a leak.


Everyone on this website has lost alot of items during their first few months, but some of us have to learn the hard way.Some people don't learn their lesson and still lose things.

Yes, it terrible that you made such a mistake, but its good to look back and get up and not give up because that is the only true failure in life.




I learned this the hard way:



http://answers.yahoo.com/question/in...4215850AAAUT8W
Who should sit at the front of the Kayak?
I own a tandem cobra kayak, holds 600lbs. I am a 260lbs 6ft tall male. My friend is 6.9ft and 220 lbs. I read that the heavier person should sit in the stern section of the kayak, but we found it easier for the taller person to sit it the back. Whenever my 6.9 ft friend sat on the bow we would capsize, i assume because he couldn't keep his balance.

We also had trouble keeping out balance when a huge wake of a boat hit us.

3 years ago

Additional Details
Now please keep in mind, that the only equipment we carry is the paddles and life vest. This is a sit on top kayak and we did not capsize once when the male 6ft tall 260lbs person sat in the front.

3 years ago
Now usually when i go out, i put my seat in the middle of the kayak and take my 30lb daughter with me. I have never capsized this way and we always stay inside of the marinas.

3 years ago
Would it be easier to just make the cobra tandem a one seater by adjusting the seat near the middle and renting a second kayak like a cobra fish and dive for the other person?

3 years ago
Capt. John Capt. John
A Top Contributor is someone who is knowledgeable in a particular category.
Best Answer - Chosen by Voters
There are Kayaks for "Tall & Large" just as there are speciality men's shops.

I agree, the tallest should sit in the rear... but that is not the problem here.

Your problem is not who is sitting in the front... it is simply that your kayak is too small. Legally, Kayak manufacturers do not have to rate their vessels on any type of "stability" factors - only capacity weight. So "technically" you could fill the inside of your kayak with 600lbs of lead (all down in the hull) and all would be fine. But add half that weight to the top of the kayak (rather then the inside) and it will capsize every time.

Your problem is you guys are both too tall & too large for that kayak. I realize the boat manuel or capacity plate may say it will hold 600lbs but that (alone) is not a good representation of the vessel's stability. At almost 500 lbs the two of you plus equipment & gear, etc. are pushing the very limit.

If you weigh all your gear, equipment, beverage & beverage cooler, etc. you will probably find you are within 10% of the maximum load limit. If you are both broad in the shoulders, your weight is high, and the boat is low in the water. This of course makes it extremely unstable.

Loaded to within 10% of capacity, a lot of vessels (not just kayaks) would capsize if a few people more then half walked over to starboard. In fact, a houseboat with the exact number of people stated on it's mfg's capacity plate recently capsized because too many of them were on the upper deck.

I suggest you get a kayak made for "Tall & Large" kayakers...

x2
I don't have a bunch of extras, but I do have a couple of extras I'd be happy to part with.

Let me know where all this is I will scuba drive and recover for a small fee...

If it's not tied down, there's a good chance you'll loose it. . .

Sorry to hear about your bad day.

As a newbie to kayak fishing I too am concerned about tipping. I plan to do empty run as suggested in a shallow area.

I do have many leashes though that I have made. Not sure if I will ever get a live bait tank.


Wanted to use the floating net bait containers, but I have read less than favorable views about them.