First report with lessons learned

[fresh to salt]

Im pretty sure we have all made mistakes out there... I did the same thing you did, however. After making bait I put a nice greenie and was sending it back when a little roller came up and slapped over the bow of the yak and somehow pushed my paddle down into the water. It then proceeded to use my outbacks paddle holder as a fulcrum and kick up the back end of the paddle right into my rod/reel sitting in the rear rod holder... Im still amazed how it all happened but the worst part about it was I was at my local hobie dealer in Temecula 3 hours before looking to pick up rod holder extensions, rod leashes, and a new pfd but decided against the rod leashes because they seemed overpriced compared to oceanside dive and yak... Needless to say I will never worry about overpaying by 5 bucks on something like this and risk losing $300 worth of gear over being cheap... Like I said, been there, done that. Just make sure everything is tied down and connected to the yak and get back out there. Its all you can do.