Well i decided to go out today to Malibu with a buddy. It was both of our first time ever kayak fishing (ocean or lake) and from what everyone says about how calm and pristine Malibu is, what better place to learn?
I started off the day on a bad note when my friend pointed out that a clip on the nose of my kraken which keeps the front hatch shut, had broke off. I thought it wasnt a big deal and that i'd contact Jackson to get a new one on Monday.
We get to Malibu, get our kayaks on the beach, and launch. Everything is smooth sailing as we pass the end of the pier. About 50 yards further out, i turn on my bait tank to show that it works and then proceed to set up my fishing rod to troll.
About 30 seconds later while setting up and my yak flips.
This is where the fun begins.. So i'm obviously a little worried but i flip the yak and try to hop back in only to have the yak tip AGAIN. Then i notice it's taking on water.
i yell to my friend that the yak is going down and that we need to head back (hopefully with my kayak).
So I grab on to the back of his yak and he starts paddling and doing his best to get us in while i'm in the water holding on to my yak to keep it from sinking. Then it sinks in that i forgot to attach my rod to the kayak and that it's gone. Practically brand new set up is bye bye
I then immediately open the submerged center hatch to grab my phone and keys out hoping my phone might be okay and hand it to my friend.
About 20-30 minutes later, we reach shore with the lifeguard who helped us flip it and empty all the water. Paddle is somewhere in the ocean, sandals are gone as well and i'm probably borderline hypothermia but we're back with my kayak. Thank god.
10 minutes later and the lifeguard points out my paddle and next to it are my sandals. woohoo... -_- still not my rod & reel and after asking my friend to see my phone i see that its totally fucked.
So my iPhone 6 ($275 to replace), i lost my rod & reel($450+ to replace), the center hatch for my kayak is somewhere in the water (no clue the cost to replace but i'm hoping its relatively cheap) and my bait tank battery is totally ruined ($80). To top it all off, since it was our first time out, if we told the women, they'd never let us go back out for safety reasons. So i told my gf that my yak tipped on its side on the way in and took a little water ruining my battery and phone. She's ecstatic.
Great first experience and look forward to many more!
I also forgot to mention that there were no waves at all and i had my seat set to the highest setting which i'm assuming assisted with me tipping? My friend thinks that because the bait tank was full and my seat was all the way back, that caused the flip.
What caused it to take water so quickly was the broken front hatch.
Now i know and next time i'll obviously make sure everything is right before i go. I just wanted to get a little practice in before the MBC which i likely will not be able to go to now.