Landlord tried to collect the rent this morning in Cambria!
 

Leffingwell launch at 0700 12-24-13.
Myself and my brother in law paddle out, he is having a little trouble adjusting to sea kayaking with a little swell. He tells me they don't have any swell in Puget Sound. He showed off his reentry skills twice, he has it down. I tell him we'll hang close (50') until/if he gets comfortable.
We fish a little bit, nothing but gophers. He tells me he is good to go and we can move out.
We begin heading to deeper water and have passed through the paddies and are in 74' of water looking for some deeper kelp or structure.
I hear him ask me if I have a destination in mind. I am about 20' ahead of him so I turned around to answer him. When I looked back I hear a loud thump and see my kayak, my brother in law, and various items on the deck flying up into the air. All being pushed upward by about 3 1/2' of shark head. It was not a huge shark by any means, but when it launches a 6'4" guy 4-5' into the air with his kayak, its big enough.
The reentry lessons have paid off, because he was back on top of the kayak before I finished turning around. He is shaken up but otherwise fine. I told him numerous times that morning, if he wasn't comfortable, let me know and we'll head in. While I am doing an inventory on limbs, I see the holes that are now in the bottom of my buddy kayak. This is the point he tells me. I'm not comfortable anymore, I'd like to head back in. He wants me to gather up his tackle box and water bottle then rethinks his position (belly down on an upside down kayak in open water).
He transfers over onto my kayak, we flip the other over, pull up the tethered items and start for the beach. Fortunately we were more or less 1 mile out and just north of the landing. It was about a forty-five minute paddle back in. I was glad for once to be in the beast(a Fish and Dive). Quite a work out for sure, we had the beast maxxed out. Has any one ever tried to land an overloaded kayak in the surf with two big guys on board? It was low tide and the swell had dropped to 4' or less so the last reentry of the day was clean and except for the rubber legs and fatigue all went smooth. My kayak may be up for sale to cover my hospital bills since my sister in laws, three his sisters and one his wife may beat me violently about the head and face at dinner tonight. I was already looking for another kayak, now I have another reason. I don't have to look for another brother in law though so it is of course all good. I would trade a kayak, paddle, and some assorted tackle any day for a positive outcome to a scary situation like this. PS Ryan, you can take a dump on your kayak without making a mess of your kayak. Your shorts...another story indeed!
http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e4...32704884af.jpg
http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e4...c7c430da24.jpg

wow! glad everything turned out well. makes a helluva story

wow... don't know if I'd be so brave to get back in a kayak after that ordeal.

What kinda shark do you think it was?

I'm no expert but I think a Great White about 10-12' long

YES!!!!!!!
It is legal to take a poop in a kayak!!!!!! :0

Many consider Cambria to be the southern border of the red triangle.

Great white takes big bite out of kayak off Cambria | Local News ...

Crazy....

So glad it worked out ok.


I was a little puckered up just reading about this. I can't imagine actually being in the middle of it.



You got some celebrating to do with your brother in law.

Thats crazy.....

Thank you
 

For sharing your experience with us . Glad to here everyone is ok .

Holly Shit..Glad everyone is ok.:luxhello: The damage to the kayak looks extensive. Wow

If I let my wife read this, I'd have my boat in no time.
Glad you guys are ok.
Happy holidays to all.

Wow........glad you and ur bro in law made it out safely

damn it!
 

Every time I think of venturing out to open water I see something like this!:afraid::afraid:

Janine

Scarry! Stuff!:eek:


How clear was the water?


Do you think it would of been a different story, if one was out there by themselves?

Scott glad everyone made it out safe. Here are some county by county stats.

http://i1304.photobucket.com/albums/...psprifevo8.png

Wow :eek:

Glad to hear all ended well!

December is supposedly a lower risk time. Great white experts I've interviewed say encounters are most likely in the warmer months - likely coinciding with seal / sea lion pupping season.

Leffingwell now has the distinction of having both the earliest and the latest great white on kayak angler strikes, one in May 2012 and this one in December.

It is also the only other recurring location other than Bean Hollow.

Ryan, is the elephant seal rookery at San Simeon occupied year-round?

yep, I have not seen it empty in recent years, and expanding at that and heading south and starting to occupy the beach at San Simeon Pier in good numbers.

In the last two months they have deployed trackers off Piedras, and already starting marking them.

http://www.sanluisobispo.com/2013/11...eat-white.html


Surprised that LJ has not had an attack on a yak in recent years with all the dang seals on the beach.

holy shit bro glad all is well

^Harbor seals are snack size. Elephant seals are much closer in size to a kayak. I'm sticking with that.

Thank God you both are ok....thanks for the post and warning ...:paddleersmilie:

Thats awesome! Big white territory for sure. We have a lot of little 6-10fters down here in sd area. That shark definitly got more than he had hoped for.

The majority of our whites arent mature enough to be feeding on mamals. They typically start eating andre and flipper when they are 10ft+

Can anyone ID the yak make and model in this incident? Is it a Malibu?

I remember reading the original article and can recall that it was a stone colored malibu. porque?

Pal, Ill ask him over on CCKF pretty regular on there.

^Thanks Ryan.

Why? I'm compiling great white kayak strike info so we can take a better look at questions of 'yak color and propulsion type. Counting Ryan's recent experience, I'm aware of 20 since 1989, with the bulk of them since 2007.