# Yakker Safety - ESTUARIES



## grinner (May 15, 2008)

ant.

as a clumsy fool who is always hurting himself heres a rundown of some of the hazards

1 the grinner goes barefoot but there are many oysters and broken stubbies and mangrove roots in the estuary.
probably a good idea to wear foot wear.
other things you could stand on are stonefish and stingrays. shuffle your feet in stingray country but dont stubbie your toe on a stubbie.

2 midgees and mozzies are in plague proportions in qld anyway,
search akff for some great home brews to keep these off. rid, baby oil and dettol seem the go to chemicals.

3 the jetski is public enemy number 1 to the estuarine yak fisherman.
i have no solution here. check you have funeral insurance before leaving the ramp.

4 take care around very fast flowing bars which can sometimes (on big tides) flow as fast as you can paddle

5 the mangrove tree is the natural enemy of the rod tip.

6 probably not a good idea to anchor in channels if possible

7 if going very early or very late in the day in low light, remember the average tinny operator or crabber has cataracts and salt encrusted glasses. stay visible and have a light.

8 if pulling up an anchor that is stuck remember when it moves your momentum may toss you in the water.

9 if using a public ramp, watch out for guys reversing trailers who usually will try and reverse over your toes. also boat ramp car parks are usually littered with broken glass.

10 when putting you kayak on the roof in 30 knot winds ....um no solution here, be quick.

11 the submerged crab pot and the base of the beacon is the natural enemy of the lure.

will think of some more i'm sure.


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## sbd (Aug 18, 2006)

40 foot cruisers are invariably skippered (loosely speaking) by drunken fools & idiots. Be where they aren't. Boats in general have the attitude that watching where they're going is not all that important. Watch out for a Riviera called Platypus in particular ;-) .

Ferries are dangerous, even 1km away. Rivercats go much faster than you think. Tugboats are skippered by ******** who'll chase you down to save your life.

Oyster cuts are best avoided. Wear shoes.

Small tailor bite. Big tailor bite bad.


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## Barrabundy (Sep 29, 2008)

Keep your gear in a way that reduces the risk of you sitting on a lure or becoming attached to a fish with one. It's bad in a boat but worse in a kayak when you need all hands on deck to get back home (first aid kit...or pliers!)

One thing I do when going into estuaries is take some really basic overnight stuff like a lighter, plastic bags, tinned food in case I get stuck out overnight....depends on where you are and how far you travel for this I guess.

Factor the wind and tidal flow into you trip plan, don't travel 20ks with the current and then expect to be able to get back in the same amount of time and with the same effort.

Keep your eyes open for boaties, you'll hear them long before you see them but that doesn't mean they'll see you....and kayaks move slow!

Tell someone where you're going and when you expect to be back, there maybe places you don't get phone reception....there are plenty up here.


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## solatree (May 30, 2008)

Beware of the mangrove forest and the tidal rush - especially with a mirage drive.

Water flows through submerged trees and in some of the narrow tidal creeks in mangrove areas, fast flowing water can easily push an unwary kayaker in a very dangerous situation.

I mention the mirage drive because you can't pedal backwards - and have to move forward relative to the water to turn. So in fast flowing tidal creeks, avoiding obstacles requires moving towards the obstacle faster to be able to turn away from it - and it easy to misjudge how much time is needed to make the turn. Before you know it, you can be swept into the trees - maybe capsize - and maybe have a foot caught by the submerged part of the tree.


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## rocky (Oct 23, 2008)

Fools like in the pic are a hazard & this bloke is a pro, ?? Dunno what. :shock:









Cheers & Beers
Rocky


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## grinner (May 15, 2008)

ant,

just remembered another one.

DONT park your yak on a sand bank , get out and start pumping yabbies, on a rising tide.
this has resulted in a 100m swim for the grinner once as the current silently stole his hobie.

cheers


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## Sunnycoastyaker (Jul 27, 2010)

one i lernt the hard way is when your begining dont take to many rods and kayak next to others espcily when your drifting becuse you will tangel with others and no matter what dont let your ego take over when a boat comes near you are smaller and hardr to see so move out of there way evean if there in the wrong and dont let a big bow wave hit you side on or u could end up in the drink :shock:


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## RedPhoenix (Jun 13, 2006)

Unfortunately, due to the change in ownership of this web site and the lack of response by the owners to my requests to remove my email address from all administrative-level notifications and functionality, I have decided to remove my posts on AKFF. Thank you for the great times, the fantastic learning experiences and the many many fish. If you are desperate for the old content of this particular post, it is available below base64 encoded and bzip2 compressed.

Red.

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## dru (Dec 13, 2008)

Watch the swell from motorboats. Some can be unexpectedly large, especially if you are on the shallows immediately above a drop off (sound familiar when you are fishing?). An example is on Brissie river with the Tangalooma ferry or the Moreton car ferry - I've had breaking swell over the yak hitting me high on the chest.

Tides should be watched - where you paddle at high tide on the way out... may not work at low tide on the way back.

Current should be factored in - painful lesson see-ing how fast you are with it, until you try coming home. Worst case is drifting out of the estuary!

No your boating rules - you will be in traffic. Expect that no-one will give you teh same courtesy.

Wind is the enemy of the estuary yakker. Check out the Met and the forecast before you go.

Make sure you have yak basics - water, nibbles, sun cream.

An EPIRB is next to pointless here - do you have flares?

Mobile phone is a key safety tool in most estuaries - you need a waterproof bag. Put key contacts on predial. Update family if you are running late.


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## GMansfish (Sep 5, 2009)

Get out on the bank and stretch you legs occasionally, Its embarassing when you get back to shore and you go base over apex because you legs are dead, the onlookers will be smirking and some ramps are treacherous with jelly legs.

Add extra time to you day if you ride the tide, you could have a long paddle /peddle back waiting for tide in rivers you don't know well.

Have fun if it is not fun go home .


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## Barrabundy (Sep 29, 2008)

GMansfish said:


> you get back to shore and you go base over apex because you legs are dead


 :lol: :lol: and I thought it was me! Must be a Hobie thing!


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