# Inexperienced yakkers



## spooled1

When you get into a yak for the first time its a good idea to do a couple of preliminary things and make your mind up from there:

Wade into nipple deep water with your yak and try to board it while wearing a PFD and using your legs and feet to spring off the seabed. Once you've sucessfully boarded using this method, jump back in the water and take your feet off the bottom and try and reboard the yak with upper body strength and kicking your legs and feet only.

If you can't get back on the yak using upper body strength and kicking water alone, you should probably hire a personal trainer and let the yak gather dust for a while.

When you can reboard properly, learn how to co-ordinate paddle.

After that, bring a tiny amount of cheap and nasty fishing gear onboard, tie it down and roll the yak in a controllable environment. With all your stuff hanging upside down from the lanyards, try flipping the yak, clearing the loose gear and reboarding your yak as quickly and smoothly as possible.

If you can at least be capable of that, you might not need to call upon your buddies to rescue you.


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## DaveLittle

thanks for that mate


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## KingDan

spooled1 said:


> clearing the loose gear and reboarding your yak as quickly and smoothly as possible


Good advice, and from experiece, don't stop to look around worrying about how silly you may look.


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## ArWeTherYet

But the waters cold and I dont like getting my hair wet.


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## couta1

Tried the bit with all the gear hanging upside down from the landyards,but then how do i get the trebles out embedded in my body parts???


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## yankatthebay

one rod hanging from the lanyard on each side helps to keep the yak stable when getting back onto it, but only one on one side is of much less use.


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## pipnosis

Last week I paddled off Byron in 20 knot westerlies. Getting out wasnt too hard :? But there was no way I could paddle my scupper pro back into that wind. White caps everywhere. Fell off and rebordered 5 times in choppy seas a mile off Australias most easterly point. I was wearing boardshorts and a flano. No paddle leash. 

In the end a dive boat picked me up as I was heading of to NZ.

Very unpleasant and e m b b a r r a s s i n g. Today I ordered a PFD and bought a case of beer for the dive boat guy. (Sun Dive)

It was quite a "learning" experience! Check the weather reports and wear a PFD.


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## Zed

I think I've learned the most and had the most fun on days I just go out with my seat, paddle and pfd and play in the surf.
You get a good feel for changing direction with subtle changes in your center of gravity, plus you will be dumped and will need to swim for it, giving you ample chances to perfect the wet entry. If you can keep on the flat side all the way to the beach, it will benefit you later when you are outside in deep water on a downswell paddle. You don't want to broach in open water.

Overall the more time you spend bonding w/ your yak, the better.


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## ArWeTherYet

Lazybugger said:


> ArWeTherYet said:
> 
> 
> 
> But the waters cold and I dont like getting my hair wet.
> 
> 
> 
> Paul, you don't have any hair! :lol: :lol:
Click to expand...

I do!...just not on top of me ead. And I can vouch for Scotty, I've personally seen him do a self rescue :lol: :lol:

Pipnosis glad to read you survived your ordeal.......and learnt your lesson. Unfortunately these are the type of incidence that causes the powers that be to make restrictive laws that effect the rest of us.

Also pay to log in at the VMR before heading out especially if you do it alone.


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## couta1

pipnosis said:


> Last week I paddled off Byron in 20 knot westerlies. Getting out wasnt too hard :? But there was no way I could paddle my scupper pro back into that wind. White caps everywhere. Fell off and rebordered 5 times in choppy seas a mile off Australias most easterly point. I was wearing boardshorts and a flano. No paddle leash.
> 
> In the end a dive boat picked me up as I was heading of to NZ.
> 
> Very unpleasant and e m b b a r r a s s i n g. Today I ordered a PFD and bought a case of beer for the dive boat guy. (Sun Dive)
> 
> It was quite a "learning" experience! Check the weather reports and wear a PFD.


probably the worst place to paddle of that point...currents galore.....you are lucky...we could have been reading about you in the newspapers


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## spooled1

Pip: Glad you made it out alive. I know you're a good paddler from seeing you out on the Pittarak and Sequel and know just how quickly yaks can get caught out in these parts. Compared your slicker SIK rides the Scupper Pro would have felt like a barge in those conditions.

I try and avoid paddling during South Westerlies, especially on wet days because you never know when a rain squall will push through. It can be 15 knots one minute, then 30 and 5 minutes later it'll drop down to 10 as the front passes. If you start to panic when it whips up it can get nasty very quickly. Best to put your head down and just aim to keep moving forward.


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## keza

I went over in 30knt winds at SWR with 2 rods, a flag and a sail up. It took about 2 seconds to realise I couldn't roll the kayak over the normal way I would so I lay over the bottom and rolled it towards me.
I also had to grab the sail as it came up to keep it down, if i hadn't have done this the kayak would have sailed off.
I was still back on the kayak in a minute but at the time I was concerned about how the sail would affect my re entry.
On the good side the sail acts as a sea anchor when upside down and you don't drift off so fast.

If you have a sail have a think about what you will do if you go over and how you will stop the sail catching the wind when you turn it over.

ps. I was surprised to see that my rods stayed in the holders and anything else that was in a tube ( like my gaff and fish spike) also stayed in place. All I lost was a drink bottle and a hand towel.


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## eagle4031

pipnosis said:


> Last week I paddled off Byron in 20 knot westerlies. Getting out wasnt too hard :? But there was no way I could paddle my scupper pro back into that wind. White caps everywhere. Fell off and rebordered 5 times in choppy seas a mile off Australias most easterly point. I was wearing boardshorts and a flano. No paddle leash.
> 
> In the end a dive boat picked me up as I was heading of to NZ.
> 
> Very unpleasant and e m b b a r r a s s i n g. Today I ordered a PFD and bought a case of beer for the dive boat guy. (Sun Dive)
> 
> It was quite a "learning" experience! Check the weather reports and wear a PFD.


very good post and very honest ----- the good thing ---- no harm done


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## SnakeMan

Buy A Sit on top kayak not a Sit IN!!

I had a fun incident a few weeks back, i let someone else jump in my yak for a trial and well I thought i'll give their small little sit in a go and being oover 6 foot and 100kgs and obviously nothing to my floorless technique hehe i capsized it twice both times having to swim it back to shore to empty the thing


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## spooled1

SnakeMan said:


> Buy A Sit on top kayak not a Sit IN!!


I totally disagree. Use whatever you're comfortable with while also considering the specific challenges your main target species may present.

SIKS might not be the most practical platform to chase kings, cobes, tuna and mackeral from but they've served Alaskan salmon fishers for centuries and have also helped countless bass, bream and barra anglers in this country.

I think its more important to address kayaking skills rather than limit people to a particular platform. SOT's are fundamentally easier for noobs to master and present a wider selection of fishing options. Hence their massive popularity with fat arse yak fishers who are too impatient or lazy to develop the basic kayak skills.

In the ocean a SOT is probably safer to fish from and also to enter/exit the surf. Anywhere else, who cares as long as you put in the time to learn what you're doing.


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## SnakeMan

Well maybe its just my opinion then but Sots are safer and just as if not more verstile than Sit ins :twisted:


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## mrsnapperman

Some good advice here. I would also add that it pays to practice falling out and flipping the yak at the same time, easy with a hobie, just keep your feet in the pedals!
See how much water is going to get in, and give you the confidence if it happens o0ut of the blue.


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## avayak

Some great advice here. 
At this time of year it's worth thinking about how your clothing will perform when wet.
Early morning starts, Winter Westerlys and wet clothes leads to hypothermia or at least a miserable time. On my first ever yakfish in my sik I went for a swim and it seemed to take forever for the sun to rise and warm a little. Almost turned me off yakfishing permanently.


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## Eberbachl

SnakeMan said:


> Buy A Sit on top kayak not a Sit IN!!
> 
> I had a fun incident a few weeks back, i let someone else jump in my yak for a trial and well I thought i'll give their small little sit in a go and being oover 6 foot and 100kgs and obviously nothing to my floorless technique hehe i capsized it twice both times having to swim it back to shore to empty the thing


Or simply take a few moments to learn how to get back in a kayak if you capsize.

Self rescue is a skill that needs to be learned in a sit in kayak. It's not hard though - very easy in fact with a little practised technique.


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## Eberbachl

SnakeMan said:


> Well maybe its just my opinion then but Sots are safer and just as if not more verstile than Sit ins :twisted:


... you may prefer them, but they're not really any more versatile, and certainly no safer if you have some basic skills. In fact, when hull design, paddling efficiency and exposure to the elements are all taken into consideration, many good sit in kayaks are far safer than a number of the SOTs around the place. I certianly wouldn't cross Bass Strait in a SOT, but many sea kayakers do it regularly in good SIKs

There are great kayaks and dogs in both the SOT and SIK camps. Some people like to be able to bring the kitchen sink with them on a paddle and like the SOTs, compromising with a higher centre of gravity and paddling performance in many cases to get it. Some people like the stability (nice low centre of gravity - given a similar hull design you're more stable with a lower centre of gravity) and good hull performance of a nice sit in kayak.

In consideration of sea-worthiness, you should understand the difference between primary and secondary stability too. It might surprise you to learn that a kayak with so much primary stability that you can stand up on it is great on flat water, but downright dangerous in heavy seas.

Sit in kayaks range from small river fun boats to long and sleek sea-worthy craft designed for extended open water expeditions with everything in between. It's silly to generalise about whole genres when there is so much range within them. I've paddled both dogs and gems in the SOT and SIK world.


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## murd

SnakeMan said:


> Buy A Sit on top kayak not a Sit IN!!


Mr Snakeman, so are you going to paddle your SOT in the Gulf of Carpentaria?

Silly statement... :?


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## Shoota

This is a good post and I'm glad you made it back safe.

I work as a Health, Safety & Environment Manager and also do what I would call recreational activities which have some element of risk eg. Hunting ( rifle &'bow), SCUBA, Spearfishing, Motorbike riding etc. With each of these past times I carry out risk assessments to the same standard I would with any task I would do in the work place. Hazards, controls and bringing the risk down as low as possible. My diving interests I risk assess quite a bit, when I'm out on a remote property / farm doing rifle hunting my concern for firearms safety has me following a very strict procedure I developed for myself with hunting. Spearfishing well the issue of weather, sharks and shallow water blackout comes to mind.

I guess what I am trying to say is many of us or become part of a safety culture with processes and controls in our work environment , just because we clock off and go home for the weekend doesn't mean we can drop our safety standard, if anything the principles of risk assessment and control we learn to use in the work place is very much applicable to our interests of kayaking , eg change in technology/ resources, conditions, environment, peoples skill. The need to break our kayak activities down into steps , identify potential hazards, then forward plan for appropriate controls in the event of a worst case scenario. If safety culture is a condition of our work environment then why can't it become part of our kayak environment.

Cheers

Shoota


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## goanywhere

Good points Shoota. I agree, far too many noobie kayakers find themselves in trouble for want of a basic risk assessment. It's all to easy to let the want for adventure blind you to real risks. I think it would be a good idea to devote a place on this forum to safety and basic kayaking skills.


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## Breambo

goanywhere said:


> ..... I think it would be a good idea to devote a place on this forum to safety and basic kayaking skills.


If you look at the last section of general kayak topics its called "Safety".
http://www.akff.net/forum/viewforum.php?f=9


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## dru

murd said:


> SnakeMan said:
> 
> 
> 
> Buy A Sit on top kayak not a Sit IN!!
> 
> 
> 
> Mr Snakeman, so are you going to paddle your SOT in the Gulf of Carpentaria?
> 
> Silly statement... :?
Click to expand...

 :lol: :lol: I read a report about a Californian SIK paddler who got hit by a large GWS, jaws either side of the yak and the paddler's legs right in the middle of the shark's mouth, protected only by 'glass. Screamed a little (as you do) and had teeth punctures through top and bottom of the yak when he got back to the beach (a somewhat leakey paddle). Wouldn't want to try that on a ski! ;-)

On the whole I would suggest that safety issues around capsize and recover ARE more involved in a fishing SIK than on a fishing SOT, but like most risks can be reduced with adequate training. And for what it's worth, as long as you can roll adequately, I think safety risk is much _less_ in a non-fishing SIK than a non-fishing SOT. Horses for courses. I like, and fish from, both. I preffer my SIK, but I do have an eye on a Stealth Fisha!


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## Shoota

dru said:


> murd said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> SnakeMan said:
> 
> 
> 
> Buy A Sit on top kayak not a Sit IN!!
> 
> 
> 
> Mr Snakeman, so are you going to paddle your SOT in the Gulf of Carpentaria?
> 
> Silly statement... :?
> 
> Click to expand...
Click to expand...

 :lol: :lol: I read a report about a Californian SIK paddler who got hit by a large GWS, jaws either side of the yak and the paddler's legs right in the middle of the shark's mouth, protected only by 'glass. Screamed a little (as you do) and had teeth punctures through top and bottom of the yak when he got back to the beach (a somewhat leakey paddle). Wouldn't want to try that on a ski! ;-)

Safety Lesson

Don't do a wild custom paint job on your kayak which resembles that of a hard lure, sitting on the surface with 2 big painted beady eyes etc. If you have to at least put a huge hook it and some rope going back to the shore.

Great white sharks might love a yak painted to resemble a hard lure. Out of a population of 6 Billion on the planet, chances are some idiot has done it already, boy come to think of it, I bet it would be a great stunt for the guys from Jackass to do in GWS infested waters .

Cheers

Shoota

Cheers

Shoota


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