I've only been out twice so far and that was on Corona Lake. Willy posted some good advice on the " Newbie help" thread that I plan on taking. I have an outback with outriggers. Any of you guys have the outriggers and if so, how much do they help out? It also looks like they might get in the way if I'm trying to get back on from deep water.

I've flipped other yaks.......but not my PA:D (knock on wood)

I'll put my limited experience out there. I've been doing the backwards thing since I got the Outfitter. I had limited luck getting in with my old Malibu. I saw a video of some guy coming in backwards through some serious waves and a dim bulb went off. Here is the only flip in reverse....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZvaB...6ndLRGmXXpx5CQ

Since then, I learned that you give a couple peddles/paddles through said waves and you are golden. You spend some time in the surf zone sometimes, but I think you have better control. This has worked flawlessly at LJ and San O.

Havent tried this one yet but i heard another way(gonna get wet tho)
is just outside of surf line(sorry wader guys) jump on in, grab onto rear
handle or strap and kick on in- a human rudder you might say. Just have
gear stowed. Oh ya, first time out at LJ, flipt at landing, one home made
sabiki rod donation that came unleashed somehow:confused:. Anyone heard of/tried this method before?
Tim

Oldie but goodie with a few serious lessons....

<iframe src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/0j2pD_TXFb8" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" width="420"></iframe>


The opposite of the above these guys have some serious skills....


<iframe src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/Zq6gLujwBHg" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" width="420"></iframe>

I've seen this used in a emergency situation when going out rather then coming in. If you judge things wrong and hit a bad set that's way bigger then anything you can paddle through at the last minute you can jump, grab the front handle and your weight in the water will pull the yak through a cresting wave. At the same time you will wash back towards shore. If there are more waves coming you just hold on and you will wash you right back to the beach where you can try again. I watched a guy do this in Malibu where in a mix of three footers he got hit with a six plus that broke right on him. He rolled off the yak at the last second grabbed the yak and pulled the nose down. It then pierced right through the wave and he was back up and paddling in less then a minute. Dude knew what he was doing.

Never seen it tried in reverse coming in but no doubt it would work. There was a day in Malibu up at County line where I seriously considered trying it, but then the waves broke just right and I paddled and surfed right up on the beach.


I watched your vid and and there are two things I'd suggest. Not giving you a hard time just constructive BS. One I'd say always wear your PFD when going in or out, and two never let the yak get between you and the incoming surf.

If you had been in bigger surf and a wave caught your yak when you were standing between the yak and the beach it would of driven the yak into you with force, and you could of lost a few ribs or your teeth. It's a mistake everyone makes once, I did and got nailed pretty good one day, but the bottom line is once you are in the water you want the yak between you and the beach, not the other way around.

Put the two together and you got real trouble. Say a wave caught your yak wrong that day and it hit you in the head hard enough to knock you out, with no PFD on you could of possibly drowned.

Personally I think the backwards thing will only work in small surf. Get anything big enough to make your kayak surf backwards and you are done. It's hard enough to keep a yak straight and your nose up when surfing forwards, much less backwards

Jim

Some day I will flip my kayak. That said, I have not yet flipped in flat water. I have gotten just detroyed on launches and landings though. I have come to expect this because I launch from less friendly places like South IB, Salt Creek, and Cape Hateras NC. I try to alway have things stowed and to take the surf as an indicator of what I should bring. I wanted to fish the kelp south of Dana years ago and due to high surf brought only 1 rod and a small bag of plastics. I got flipped over backwards and swam in after the yak 3 times befor I made it out. On the landing I just let the kayak wash in and I swam in. I don't worry about style points, getting in safely with all my gear is my goal. I've swam in, gotten off in deeper water and held the bow handle all the way in, backed in, and surfed in. And I practiced all these w/o gear first. I get the feel for each kayak I have and practice righting and remounting. These have worked for me; practice, know your kayak, stow your gear, know your comfort zone, and listen to the little voice in your head. Get experience and expand your abilities. I've seen guys flip thier yaks and have NO idea what to do. It's like they'd never even thought of that posiblity. Don't be "that guy". No surprise is the best surprise. Mike

Exactly why I put that video up. I did about everything wrong there and could have had my tush handed to me a lot worse. My PFD is usually on but I didn't think it was bad enough to pay attention to the waves or be prepared. Thank you Pacific for reminding me who is in charge at all times.

The idea of coming in backwards is so that you can paddle back out if a large swell approaches, not just that you are pointed in that direction. Your momentum paddling out is what will save your bacon. That being said, most fishing kayaks are stern heavy and would be hard to surf or slide backwards in the event of a large wave. Learn how to "slide" and you will not have a problem with surf less than 3 feet pretty quickly. Best time to practice is when you are already wet. My half cent anyway.