# Dunking your yak....Taboo subject?



## Sparkie (Jul 8, 2008)

Ok, I have finally bought a yak(Feel Free Nomad) and I took it out for a paddle at sandy hook on calm fresh water to try it out. Except for a 7 knot breeze it was nice and calm. Needless to say I was rather nervous going out by myself for the first time in an unfamiliar yak. 
It all went good and no mishaps along the way. 
The next day i felt more confident and it showed. As I went to jump into the yak I ended up sitting on the other side of it in a foot of water.... I don't know what happened as it was a big shock...I thought these things are supposed to be stable!
Needless to say my confidence was mowed,shredded and cast to the winds. 
I wasn't about to give up though. I looked at it from a few angles and figured I had better get back on before I got cold feet. 
I carefully boarded my craft and cautiously set off. I was starting to get used to it when the waves from a stinkboat caused me to ride out some tiny waves. I thought about a few horrible scenarios and decided that if I was to get used to taking a dunking out in the ocean or anywhere I need to learn how to get back on board if I should tip it.
I found a good spot where I could practice my re-entries. I didn't do it in deep water only water up to my waist/chest.
Of about 8 re-entries only 2 were successfully completed. The other 6 entries saw me taking a dunking off the other side of the yak.
FYI I did not wear a lifejacket. I won't go out in the river/ocean until I get one but sandy hook is a weir. I accept life jackets are a good thing but don't shoot me down in flames for not wearing one.....please!

Now my question I would like to ask this.
All those people kayaking who go out fishing in the ocean, how often and how easy is it to take a dunking? 
Please share with me(I promise I won't tell a soul :lol: ) your stories of your embarrassing dunkings you have taken in the pursuit of catching that fish.

Don't be shy folks, This is important information that I need to know....honestly!

Regards
Sparkie


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## L3GACY (Sep 2, 2007)

I only fish the ocean and haven't yet taken a dunking. In summer I regularly jump off the yak and go for a swim to keep my re-entry skills up to scratch. I would highly reccomend being able to get back on your yak in deep water before considering heading offshore. It is completely useless if you fall in a couple of kilometres out to sea and you can't get back in unassisted the first time every time. I'll save the lecture on the importance of a PFD but I do highly reccomend one. Inflatables are lightweight and non-restrictive if that is your concern. Anyway, good luck with it mate. The learning curve is half the fun!


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## rawprawn (Aug 31, 2005)

It's different for everybody but generally its practice. I never fall out but I played kayak polo for years and have confidence and good balance. Some (I won't mention any names) fall out more regularly. However I would say it is rare to find an experience yaker falling out in normal circumstances. So keep practicing and you will find you will stop falling out.


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## DougOut (Dec 31, 2006)

Sparkie said:


> how often and how easy is it to take a dunking?


easy answer :lol: 3451 members x an average of 2 dunks each = 6902 wet arses ;-) give or take a few 8)
I also concur with the above gentlemen's comments


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## theclick (Jun 25, 2007)

DougOut said:


> Sparkie said:
> 
> 
> > how often and how easy is it to take a dunking?
> ...


Excuse me, I have a wet arse from my swing without taking a dunk


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## Sparkie (Jul 8, 2008)

DougOut said:


> Sparkie said:
> 
> 
> > how often and how easy is it to take a dunking?
> ...


 That Sir, has to be the reply of the week.... I couldn't stop laughing.

Needless to say I will definitely practice my re-entry skills a bit more.
Now..... where are the embarrassing stories :twisted:


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## craig51063 (May 30, 2008)

i havnt taken a dunking yet . i have a viking tempo and they seem very stable and hard to fall out of [ i have tryed at narrabeen lake ] but im sure it will happen one day . i have often thought about attaching a short rope ladder or at least carrying one to attach to make it easyer to get back aboard the craft .


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## Sparkie (Jul 8, 2008)

craig51063 said:


> i havnt taken a dunking yet . i have a viking tempo and they seem very stable and hard to fall out of [ i have tryed at narrabeen lake ] but im sure it will happen one day . i have often thought about attaching a short rope ladder or at least carrying one to attach to make it easyer to get back aboard the craft .


 Actually I am thinking a short bit of rope with a loop in the end with a piece of conduit for a foot rest. It could have a clip on it for fastening to the yak.


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## Dodge (Oct 12, 2005)

Sparkie [and others] practice this method

viewtopic.php?f=9&t=3286


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## Shorty (May 11, 2008)

I could not tip my Malibu over if i tried but will be getting plenty of practise getting back on shortly when the weather warms up.

I think people like myself neglect to practise this skill if they buy a yak after summer or in the winter, the water does not look to inviting .


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## Sparkie (Jul 8, 2008)

Dodge said:


> Sparkie [and others] practice this method
> 
> viewtopic.php?f=9&t=3286


That's what I was doing at sandy hook yesterday. It is not as easy as it looks. Not when your yak is only 3m long and weighs only 20kg. I personally reckon if I can lick it on a Feel Free nomad I can do it on any yak. According to the brochure it gets 10/10 for stability. I must say under motion it feels stable enough. The problem starts when I try to sit side saddle to reach behind me. After I get out of my seated position in any way the wobblies start. than the nerves start and than anything can happen. I will hopefully get more practice soon. If I can get this down pat I will feel more comfortable out in the waves.
I guess everybody has to start on the first rung before they can climb the ladder.
Now I have embarrassed myself enough....time to share,people or are you all legends and I should grovel before you ;-)


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## Sparkie (Jul 8, 2008)

DaftWullie said:


> http://www.akff.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=17&t=15377&st=0&sk=t&sd=a&hilit=tryhards+terrifying+tumble#p166028
> 
> Nuff Said :shock:


 That is a ripper of a post Daftwullie/Tryhard. I feel for ya. 
Glad you had a sense of humour about the whole thing eace:


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## andybear (Jan 15, 2006)

Hmmm...

This subject causes me a great deal of embarrassment. I know I should have at least one practice....perhaps more....but hmmm, I have to confess, I have not tried to get into my yak from anything other than ankle deep water. Perhaps later in the year.

I guess this really puts me behind the eight ball in several respects. Swim?.....poorly. Go offshore more than a couple of Ks?.....Yes quite often. Fish alone?....yes almost always.

I reckon though, if I was in the water, and I heard the jaw slapping of a Mega macro King George whiting, oozing his shark detecting snot from his ampullae of Lorenzini whipping in to take my leg off, I would get in/on really quickly.

Gotta get some flares too! No not bell bottom trousers.....flares pyrotechnic emergency, for the use of....

Cheers all Andybear :lol: :shock:


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## fishydude (Dec 30, 2007)

Never fallen out of my Outback ;-) . I'm not sure it's possible to fall out of an Outback without help :shock: :shock: :shock: ....  oops maybe it is  . It's so easy to get in and out of I sometimes prefer to swim it out through the breakers for a deep water entry. (Great for cooling off) 8) . 
The Invaders are another kettle of fish altogether :? . My first in surf and neck deep water practice sesh for simulated deep water and big swells was an unmitigated disaster...lol. Had a full kit set up for the realism thing and it got ugly right off the bat :roll: . Grunt, Hoik, slide, twist, look terrified :shock: , try to grab anything, scream  , go under water, come up spluttering and pick up all my gear before repeating :roll: . Exactly the same result over and over again to the great amusement of the folks on the beach   . I think a few even got on the phone after a while to call friends down to have a look at the funny dude with the rolling log kayak thing....lol...Mongrels. :lol: :lol: :lol: I actually got a bit of a cheer when I first managed to get in :shock:  ;-) . In the end a quick thrust and plonk method worked much better than the slide up and roll over method. It was a fairly big day wave wise and it was the first time I'd ever been on the yak so I got flogged..lol. Coming back in after a quick fish didn't help my self esteem any either :? . I don't think you're supposed to flip yourself out of the yak and get run over by it :shock: ...lol. Did I mention that the waves were gargantuan :shock: :shock: :shock: :lol: . Next time out I went out through the Onk mouth and paddled through a wave with at least 2 feet of water over my head and survived...lol...good thing I learn fast. :lol: 
The next time I did something dense was at Normanville at night. I was trolling the backs of the waves just staying out of the break and the moon went behind a cloud just as a big wave came through. Yak goes up, up, up. Eyes get wide :shock: . Yak goes down and over as scream gets cut off by entrance into the water  ...lol :lol: :lol: . 
Then there's the jump out in deep water so as not to crash in front of chicks only to find the water is very, very deep...lol.
Then there's the "stupid anchor...come up". Grunt, heave, snap, aaarrrghggh! again cut off by the entrance of water into my open mouth...lol.
I hope the stories of my stupidity have entertained you all...lol.
Cheers
Mike


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## Big D (Apr 28, 2007)

"I hope the stories of my stupidity have entertained you all...lol.
Cheers
Mike"

Yep :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:


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## DGax65 (Jun 7, 2006)

Sparkie said:


> That's what I was doing at sandy hook yesterday. It is not as easy as it looks. Not when your yak is only 3m long and weighs only 20kg. I personally reckon if I can lick it on a Feel Free nomad I can do it on any yak. According to the brochure it gets 10/10 for stability. I must say under motion it feels stable enough. The problem starts when I try to sit side saddle to reach behind me. After I get out of my seated position in any way the wobblies start. than the nerves start and than anything can happen. I will hopefully get more practice soon. If I can get this down pat I will feel more comfortable out in the waves.
> I guess everybody has to start on the first rung before they can climb the ladder.
> Now I have embarrassed myself enough....time to share,people or are you all legends and I should grovel before you ;-)


You got that right. After mastering the Nomad, everything will feel like a barge. 
Start by sitting in the seat and leaning to one side. Find out exactly how far you can go before tipping. Get used to that feeling so you'll know when you need to pull it back upright. Move around on the yak and find its limits. You'll go swimming quite a few times, but that's a good thing. Every time you tip is another time to practice reentry. You'll be a reentry pro before you know it.

Another good video showing reentry technique.


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## Sparkie (Jul 8, 2008)

fishydude said:


> Never fallen out of my Outback ;-) . I'm not sure it's possible to fall out of an Outback without help :shock: :shock: :shock: ....  oops maybe it is  . It's so easy to get in and out of I sometimes prefer to swim it out through the breakers for a deep water entry. (Great for cooling off) 8) .
> Then there's the "stupid anchor...come up". Grunt, heave, snap, aaarrrghggh! again cut off by the entrance of water into my open mouth...lol.
> I hope the stories of my stupidity have entertained you all...lol.
> Cheers
> Mike


Yep, that made me laugh. Thanks for sharing. Glad you didn't make a fool out of yourself in front of those girls :lol: :lol: :lol:



DGax65 said:


> You got that right. After mastering the Nomad, everything will feel like a barge.
> Start by sitting in the seat and leaning to one side. Find out exactly how far you can go before tipping. Get used to that feeling so you'll know when you need to pull it back upright. Move around on the yak and find its limits. You'll go swimming quite a few times, but that's a good thing. Every time you tip is another time to practice reentry. You'll be a reentry pro before you know it.
> 
> Another good video showing reentry technique.


Looks like I will need to practice,practice and....hmmmm...oh yeah,practice.

That bloke in the video made it look so easy.Getting in his yak that is. I know for a fact that the Nomad is a lot harder. there is no way I could do what he was doing to get into a yak that easy.

looks like a good dunking session is in order.


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## Jimbo1 (Jul 29, 2008)

Hi Guy's,

I have recently purchased and pimped up a Viking Tempo from the guys at Chermside who did me a great deal. i took it out on my maiden voyage from Cotton Tree beache, Maroochydore and learnt a couple of valuable lessons on my first outing. the first one was when i decided to anchor up about 200 metres from the mouth. I did not realise that I was supposed to pull out the anchor legs then push doen the holding cup but instead just through it out expecting to be kept secure. The tide was going out and as I was putting on my soft plastic I started to feel the tempo rock before looking up an getting hit full side on by 3 - 4 waves before managing to get my paddle and turn the yak to face away. I think that because the Tempo is so stable I was very lucky not to have my very first outing become something of an embarrasment. I could also have lost my gera as it was not fastened in properly at the time. I also did not have a safety vest on (another silly but inexperienced mistake). The next valuable lesson that I learned later in the day on the incoming tide as I was stationary infront of the boatshed on the water was not having a paddle secure strap. I dropped the paddle and could not retrieve it and was left unaded as i watched my new paddle floating away with the incoming tide. I was quite a conversation piece for the diners at the boatshed and fortunately, one of the diners came out to assist as i threw him a rop to pull me in. I then chased up river to try and get my paddle and was lucky enough to have some guy who was paddling on his body board go after it for me. It had gone about 200 or so metres befor he managed to retrieve it and bring it back to me. I hope you all enjoy a laugh at my expense as I certainly did afterwards. Valuable lessons learned but I certainly learned how stable the Tempo Fisherman is.


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## Sparkie (Jul 8, 2008)

Jimbo1 said:


> Hi Guy's,
> 
> I have recently purchased and pimped up a Viking Tempo from the guys at Chermside who did me a great deal. i took it out on my maiden voyage from Cotton Tree beache, Maroochydore and learnt a couple of valuable lessons on my first outing. the first one was when i decided to anchor up about 200 metres from the mouth. I did not realise that I was supposed to pull out the anchor legs then push doen the holding cup but instead just through it out expecting to be kept secure. The tide was going out and as I was putting on my soft plastic I started to feel the tempo rock before looking up an getting hit full side on by 3 - 4 waves before managing to get my paddle and turn the yak to face away. I think that because the Tempo is so stable I was very lucky not to have my very first outing become something of an embarrasment. I could also have lost my gera as it was not fastened in properly at the time. I also did not have a safety vest on (another silly but inexperienced mistake). The next valuable lesson that I learned later in the day on the incoming tide as I was stationary infront of the boatshed on the water was not having a paddle secure strap. I dropped the paddle and could not retrieve it and was left unaded as i watched my new paddle floating away with the incoming tide. I was quite a conversation piece for the diners at the boatshed and fortunately, one of the diners came out to assist as i threw him a rop to pull me in. I then chased up river to try and get my paddle and was lucky enough to have some guy who was paddling on his body board go after it for me. It had gone about 200 or so metres befor he managed to retrieve it and bring it back to me. I hope you all enjoy a laugh at my expense as I certainly did afterwards. Valuable lessons learned but I certainly learned how stable the Tempo Fisherman is.


 And here I thought it was gonna be the dunk story of the century.
I guess luck was with you on that day. I had a look at the tempo online and they certainly look the part. 
I will definitely keep that yak in mind when I go looking for a bigger yak.


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## fishydude (Dec 30, 2007)

Just thought of another one...lol. 'Bout 20 years ago I was fishing out of my really cheap and carppy surf ski with a big hole in the front 8) . I was only young and it was the only way I could get out on the water  . When i used to come back in I would more often than not find the biggest wave I could and surf it in 8) . Of course during it's time in the water the ski had been filling up and the slope of the wave caused all the water to slosh down the pointy end causing it to disappear underwater and slam into the bottom :shock: , at which point the stirrups would rip out of the deck leaving me standing on the bottom :shock: as the ski, without my weight to hold it down would shoot up out of the water like rocket :shock: and I would cringe on the bottom waiting for the yaks to fall so to speak. ( Get it... The axe...The yaks... :lol: :lol: :lol: :shock: :shock:   :roll: sorry). Loved that 25 dollar ski...lol. ;-) 
Cheers
Mike


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## gurgler (Jun 30, 2008)

. . . last delivery of the day . . . out of the back of the freight truck . . . quickly . . . slip off that giant cotton stocking and the bubble wrap . . . straight onto the new mini trolley . . . no time to change into wet weather gear . . . anyway I'll not be going UNDER the water . . . I'll be sitting proudly on top of my brand new SOTY . . . quickly down to the nearest surf before it gets too dark . . . waves don't look that big . . . surely I can punch through those without too much trouble . . . as long as I keep the nose pointed directly into the breakers . . . big PUSH . . . jump on . . . @#*%!!! . . . actually, the first breaker turns me sideways before I can say "@#*%!!!" . . . and I'm headfirst into a very icy turmoil of sand, salt and surf . . . now I'm glad it's too late and too dark for any self-respecting-onlookers . . . wait a minute . . . wasn't I wearing my brand-new-horrendously-expensive-prescription-multifocals before I jumped onto my lovely new SOTY . . . well not any more . . . I learned plenty that evening . . . a very expensive lesson indeed . . .
Cheers
Robert


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## Sparkie (Jul 8, 2008)

Bwuhahahahahahaha,and the sand monster claims another item for its treasure hoard.......I shouldn't laugh as one time I went scuba diving out of a stinkboat and someone dropped their $5.00 bunnings straw hat over the side. Without a thought for my safety I dove in after it(the water was calm and warm) I return to the boat, go diving and when I get back to the boat ramp I could not find my Ultra expensive prescription sunnies anywhere.....Boy, you should have heard the filth that came out of my mouth that day.
thanks for the post.


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## fishydude (Dec 30, 2007)

G'day gurgler, welcome aboard mate. Always good to get the expensive spills out the way before you start to carry lots of expensive stuff to lose...lol. Good to see the little kid with a new toy thing got you too...LMAO.
Cheers
Mike


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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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