First time kayak fishing was....an experience.

[Orca Winfrey]

What an adventure. Love your "never say die" attitude. Sorry that you lost your rod and killed your phone. At least no one was hurt and everyone is alive. On the plus side, you learned all your "what not to do" kayaking lessons during a single trip. Get that hatch situation fixed asap. You may have flipped because your yak took on too much water. Some water in a yak is ok, but too much makes things very unstable. That's why I hate leaky hatches.

[Mahigeer]

First of all sorry for the bad experience. Material items though costly can be replaced in time.

By sharing you are helping others to learn from your experience.

Thanks for posting.


If you decide to change to a Malibu Xfactor 33" wide, which is considered very stable, I have one for sale.

Check the other board for pictures and information.

[kirkdavis]

As long as you are the kind that learns from his mistakes, you took in a lot of hard lessons and survived. I have been going out for a year now and haven't dumped yet. Part of that is because I haven't surf launched my outback yet. I Soooo want to try LJ, but I am going to do Mission bay when it warms up, and practice getting back in my yak again. The one time I did it I was successful, but it took way too much work. I gotta figure out a better technique that doesn't wear me out.

[Iceman]

Ouch Matt, that is not the way you want the first trip to go. My first outing in the ocean was very similar about 20 years ago. Send me a pic of the broken attachment, I may have replacement part. Did you have the neoprene bow second seal in place? If just the battery, bring it by and I will swap it out, hopefully that will help get you to next weeks tourney Keys and phone, I use a dry bag or Pelican case. Rod leashes are a good idea when getting the hang of things. hand bilge is a good safety item. Glad you were not out alone and made it in OK.

[captnblood34]

Too many firsts there for comfort. I'm not sure where you launched in the Bu... but some spots are far from easy. Keep that in mind. There's also enough marinas out there with easy launches and channels full of bass and halibut to fish and learn your gear. I'm happy to hear you're safe and you learned a lot in one day. Crawl, walk, run.

Good luck out there!

Jay

[Iceman]

FYI I have never even tried putting the seat in the high position. Even calm seas have a rolling swell that can surprise your center of gravity when shifting around. Bow hatch is just lashing hooks and eyelets. I have replacements in stock, bring it by for an easy fix.

[Gr8fuldude]

Thanks for swallowing your pride and putting your story out there so that everyone can learn from your experience, including me. I'm not a rookie at this point, but I'm closer to being a rookie than an expert . By starting this thread you've helped raise everyone's safety awareness, and that is a very good thing

[Ddwineguy]

Originally Posted by Iceman

FYI I have never even tried putting the seat in the high position. Even calm seas have a rolling swell that can surprise your center of gravity when shifting around. Bow hatch is just lashing hooks and eyelets. I have replacements in stock, bring it by for an easy fix.

Props to Andy for all the help in offering to get this guy back on the water. Be sure and support OEX, they host this sight and are all around the most helpful dudes out there.

[Mr. NiceGuy]

As long as you come back safe, the rest sounds like a pretty valuable learning experience.

Welcome back!

[Denis_Ruso]

Wow man, glad you are ok and made it back to shore with your kayak. This is why we usually recommend the harbor so you can get your gear dialed in.

I recommended minimal gear for this exact reason. I wouldnt even bring your bait tank with you for your first few times out. Extra stuff to manage and loose if you flip.

Leave the bait tank at home next time, leash your rod, buy a small waterproof box from wallmart for 8$ for your keys and cellphone, fix the hatch and use and old boogie board leash for your paddle leash. That should cover all your basics.

Hope you stick with the sport, and keep at it. It can only get better from here!

[alanw]

Hard to imagine that much water getting past the neoprene seal that fast. Maybe it entered through the center hatch? I wouldn't think a dunking would kill the battery either.

[M4TT]

Originally Posted by Iceman

Ouch Matt, that is not the way you want the first trip to go. My first outing in the ocean was very similar about 20 years ago. Send me a pic of the broken attachment, I may have replacement part. Did you have the neoprene bow second seal in place? If just the battery, bring it by and I will swap it out, hopefully that will help get you to next weeks tourney Keys and phone, I use a dry bag or Pelican case. Rod leashes are a good idea when getting the hang of things. hand bilge is a good safety item. Glad you were not out alone and made it in OK.

Wow Andy thats awesome. thank you!! i just shot you a PM about the battery & hatch.

yes my neoprene bow seal was on but i feel like it doesn't do much if the front hatch isn't secured down by the bungie. i could be wrong..

i'll definitely look into a case for my phone...when i eventually get another one. lol

thanks again! OEX is the best!