maiden Voyage 9-2-10

[tunaseeker]

Well it was real foggy out there 9-2-10 and traffic was a bear getting there. Did not launch until 830. First time through the waves was not too bad until one came out of no where and slammed me in the chest, got through that though. Made some bait (Macs) out by the yellow buoy. That seemed to go well, got about 6 in less than 20 min. Pinned on a mac to fly line it and headed out toward the sport boats. Started to troll the mac south along the edge of the kelp. Wind started to pick up and white cap the swells. Started to toss me around a bit, 2-3' swells . I was looking at shore and got hit by a big choppy swell and it knocked me out of the kayak. Was able to get back on quickly but a lot of water seemed to get into the yak. I opened up the center hatch and !#@#@#! it was half full of water! Quickly hunted for my pump (Thank god I had one!). It was stuck at the bow, as I got toward the bow more water came in as the yak was getting lower in the water. AHHHHGGGGG. Finally got it out and pumped the hull. Ok, back to trolling the mac. Got a quick zing on the pole, gave it a 5-10 count and started to reel in. Seal stole the bait. That happened 2X, lost one to the kelp. I notice my yack getting lower to the water aging. Hummmm. @#@#!!##!@ Half full of water again and I can hear water trickling in this time, great.... Drifted the kelp for smoother surface and pump out the yak. Pull the pedals and row though the kelp get to shore and thankfully no flipage. What a maiden voyage…I get the yak home and discover that the wheel scupper has a crack in it allowing water to get into the hull. Must have cracked it at Mammoth trying to get up a steep bank when my wheel hit a rock. Didn't plan on catching fish on my first outing but didn't plan on almost sinking 2 miles away from shore either! The second outing has to be better that this one! Met some real nice yakers out there, thanks for the tips!
Todd

[cajunman]

glad you made it back safely, good that you had a pump. One of the "must have" items on a Yak

[tptrench]

That sounds terrifying! I'll bet you got the bad juju off your boat the first time out! You'll probably slay em the next time out. Is the hole repairable? Good luck!

[dsafety]

You were indeed lucky. It could have been much worse. In case you missed this epic story from earlier this year, check out this link.

http://www.bigwatersedge.com/bwevb/s...ght=lost+kayak

Bigbarrels, if you are reading this, how about a post telling us how everything turned out with regard to repairing or replacing your kayak.

Bob

[tunaseeker]

It is a littler biggler than a hair line crack about 1/2" long. OEX said they should be able to repair it at 20 bucks an hour and should take less than an hour?

OEX did recommend getting away from scupper mounted wheels for the Hobie. They said this happens all of the time some be careful with the wheels when pulling your yak!

Thanks
Todd

[deepdvr]

Originally Posted by tunaseeker

OEX did recommend getting away from scupper mounted wheels for the Hobie. They said this happens all of the time some be careful with the wheels when pulling your yak!

Thanks
Todd

Good job on figuring it out before it was too late. Yours is the 3rd Hobie scupper failure I've heard of in the past 2 weeks.

[THE DARKHORSE]

I'm amazed at how many guys don't think to carry one. $15 can save you thousands of dollars and quite possibly, your' life! A few years ago, my neighbor's kayak sank off La Jolla while he went for a paddle. He was stuck in that current we fisherman love, trying to swim to shore---all night long! He was trying to swim to shore while the current sucked him South.

He barely had the energy to climb up and pass out on the rocks and almost met his maker due to Hypothermia. He was very fortunate to be spotted by lifeguards when he made it to shore---off Sunset Cliffs in Point Loma!

Pedal from La Jolla to Point Loma, no problem. Swim from La Jolla to Point Loma, no thanks!

[zinkysd]

You should contact your local Hobie dealer 1st and see if they can get a hull replacement for you. Hobie has some of the best customer service around. Even if your kayak is out of warranty Hobie might still replace it for a couple bucks, if it's under warranty even better. I had a crack in my 2005 Adventure, which was out of warranty. I took it to Dana Point Jet Ski And Kayak Center, they contacted Hobie and got me a
replacement 2010 hull for $300.00. I got a new hull and warranty and I was the second owner of that 05 Adventure. You can't beat that.

Ken

[dgax65]

Scuppers are the most vulnerable points on a kayak. Why you would design/sell wheels that mount through the scuppers is beyond me. I've heard of too many people whose wheels have damaged their scuppers and they wind up bailing out or swimming. Get a cart that spreads the weight out over a large area of the hull. There is much less chance of damage. I'm glad you were prepared and didn't have to swim.

[bmercury]

they really are a weak point. Have read about a lot of failures from carts or stake out poles going through the scuppers.

[bigbarrels]

Glad to see you are OK and were carrying a sump pump and actually able to locate it and use it. To not carry a sump pump out there is playing with some serious fire. I was screwed because I couldn't reach my sump pump. If you read through the link posted by Jim there was some really cool ways that people attach their sump pumps to their kayaks. Better luck on the fishing the next time OTW!

Bob, as far as my gear, I was extremely lucky and got a complete replacement of all gear for around $325.00. Andy (Iceman) at OEX was able to work a deal out for me with Malibu for a Malibu X-13 (no sit inside bait tank)for around $325.00. I believe it was you and one other person on BWE mentioned that I should check my home owners/renters insurance. My renters insurance covered everything that was on or attached to the kayak, just not the kayak. So after I was done with my list of everything I lost I was cut a check for around $3700.00 (would of been $4200.00 but there was a $500.00 deductible). The XFActor was repaired by Andy at OEX and he did an amazing repair job! However after hearing my wife complain about three kayaks in my single car garage I ended up scrappping the XFActor after stripping all the gear and accessories off it.

Thankfully no swim to Point Loma X2. People need to carry and make sure that can access all their safety gear OTW and do frequent checks on their kayaks to avoid a swim......when the stuff is hitting the fan OTW it happens extremely quick......just my .02