Catalina Kayak Fish Odyssey 100 - Now Accepting Applications

[Apex Predator]

Two years ago this October I Kayaked Solo from San Pedro to Catalina at Parsons Landing to fish, spearfish and go lobster diving with friends. It was the trip of a lifetime and there is barely a day that goes by where I don’t think of It. But as soon as I got back I started to think of the possibilities of circumnavigating Catalina while fishing and Camping along the way at the many beach campsites in Catalina. I posted a write up about my adventure http://www.bigwatersedge.com/bwevb/s...ad.php?t=27520 and after received many messages from the BWE community asking me, that if I ever did it again, they were in, ….well gentlemen now is the time.
I would like to invite 1-5 VERY STRONG kayakers and seasoned fishermen only to:

The Catalina Kayak Fish Odyssey 100 aka: Cata-Yak 100

Date: October 11-16th
or if weather is poor the back-up Dates are: October 26-31st

Distance: nearly 100 NMiles – nearly 20 nautical mile average per day with
only one rest day.
Day 1: 23 NMiles San Pedro Boat Ramp to Parsons Landing
Catalina
Day 2: 16 NMiles Parsons Landing to Little Harbor (with a Lunch
break at Catalina Harbor)
Day 3: 18 NMiles Little Harbor to Avalon
Day 4: 14 NMiles Avalon to Two Harbors (with a Lunch break
possibly at Long Point)
Day 5 0 NMiles Rest, Fish and Relax at Two Harbors in
preparation for Day 6 crossing
Day 6 21 NMiles Two Harbors to San Pedro Boat Ramp

Cost: FREE just share the cost of the Campsites, firewood ect…. Total Expenses for the entire group: about $250.00

Fitness Requirements: I am a Personal Trainer and Mountain Bike Endurance Racer and I think of this as the “Tour De France” of Kayak Fishing. I am looking for people with equal parts of Fitness and Fishing ability. You will need to keep a 3.75 NMile/Hour average loaded with fishing and camping gear to make the crossing in 6.5 hours. This is a Marathon equivalent mutli-stage event and needs to be completed before the afternoon winds increase. You will need to keep it up as we will be averaging almost 20 NMiles / Day while fishing for much of our food along the way.

Gear: We will discuss this in detail in the future but a Mirage Drive Kayak with a Sail is a good start....but paddles welcome too!

Personal Message Me or Email me mike@pushpt.com and we will set-up a couple training days prior to the date to get our sea legs under us and go over Gear.

[Mahigeer]

Wish I was younger.

It will be an adventure for sure.

All the best for the group.

[Iceman]

Very cool! Bold and brave.............like it. Ken Hovie did it solo a couple years back on a Kraken 15.

[goldenglory18]

This. Is. Amazing.

I'm going to make the broad assumption that this will be a huge success and will become an annual thing. Today, I start preparing for October 2019.

God Speed to everyone evolved. I'll be watching with great interest....

[Denis_Ruso]

Oh man. A little too short notice to whip myself into that kind of shape and I have 7 days in baja right around this time. But this is something I would be willing to train for.

I've been looking for someone crazy enough to do the paddle to Catalina with me. However, I am probably in shape enough to do the trip there and back not the whole way around.

I also need to upgrade my Revo to an outback for a trip like this, so I can pack gear and have more stability.

2019 if it happens again is my time to do it.

[Apex Predator]

Originally Posted by Denis_Ruso

Denis,
I also need to upgrade my Revo to an outback for a trip like this, so I can pack gear and have more stability.

2019 if it happens again is my time to do it.

The only other time I've done the crossing was in a Revo 13 and that is what I most likely will use again. It definitely cuts down on your gear but you can get by with/out a bait tank and only two Rods(1 for bait, 1 for Jigs) , the Revo is Fast and slices through the chop and remember I am having water and firewood delivered to the campsites.
Mike

[Apex Predator]

Originally Posted by Iceman

Very cool! Bold and brave.............like it. Ken Hovie did it solo a couple years back on a Kraken 15.

hey Paddles welcome too for all those super beasts out there!!!

[goldenglory18]

Originally Posted by Apex Predator

hey Paddles welcome too for all those super beasts out there!!!

That will probably be the way I do it.

.....or by pedal 90% of the time and by paddle to let my legs rest. LOL

[Biggameaddict]

Might just be the day I open my new otw mirage drive repair business .....

[Polychrest]

I really like the idea and I’m considering it. The first 4 days do look brutal though. Looks like there may not be much time for daylight fishing.

Some back of a napkin calculations leaves about 3 to 5 hours left to fish.
11 and a half hours of daylight
About 4 to 5 hours of paddling per day
Hour each day to setup and break down camp plus landing and launching
Half hour for breakfast and lunch
Hour for dinner

You could probably squeeze a couple more hours out of that if you do most of your cooking when the sun is down but I think you’ll want to focus on staying warm and recovery durning that time. I think you would need to be an ultra athlete to keep that pace up for 4 days straight and still enjoy yourself.

Would you consider adding a zero day between day 2 and 3 or and additional stop to spread things out a bit?

[crashcrow]

This sounds like a fun trip. I would be interested in taking my solo skiff, I know its cheating but it would still be a lot of fun.

[goldenglory18]

Originally Posted by crashcrow

This sounds like a fun trip. I would be interested in taking my solo skiff, I know its cheating but it would still be a lot of fun.

We have a support boat/skiff now!

[Apex Predator]

Originally Posted by goldenglory18

We have a support boat/skiff now!

Yes it sounds as though we may!

That would be a real asset!

[Apex Predator]

Wow, I am getting a lot of interest from you all. So as the day approaches we will need to make sure we are prepared individually and as a Team. So with that said I have just 3 requirements that I need you to ALL meet, in order to come along:

1. participate in a couple of Offshore fishing days, with the other members of the expedition, to the 9 mile bank where we will be traveling about 30 miles over the course of the 10-12 hour day on the ocean. These will occur, 1 in early and 1 in late September, (date to be determined.) The purpose of these is not only to train our bodies, but to also get all of us working as a unit and in addition fine tuning our gear and supplies to length of our journey. Even if you have ruled out doing it this year, get an early start on your 2019 readiness by coming along!

2. a Nautical Radio with ship to ship and distress calling ability.

3. a Nautical GPS navigation system of some kind.

In Addition to that I will be heading out fishing offshore NEXT Sunday morning (8/19 @ 4am in LJ, radio channel 69) and many more times in La Jolla and offshore leading up to the October Trip if you would like to come along or meet me out on the water.

Let the Journey Begin,

Mike Maio

[barongan]

Following this!

[Denis_Ruso]

Keep us posted on these offshore expeditions. I would love to drive down to SD and do some long paddles looking for dorado at the 9 mile bank.

[Apex Predator]

Originally Posted by crashcrow

This sounds like a fun trip. I would be interested in taking my solo skiff, I know its cheating but it would still be a lot of fun.

That would be fine with me, depending on the range of your solo, when loaded with camping gear and supplies. How many gallons /hour do you consume with your OB motor? I suppose you could motor ahead of us and stop at Two Harbors after the crossing to refuel before meeting us as Parson's Landing?,.. then it would be only be about 40 miles until your next refueling opportunity in Avalon.

[crashcrow]

Originally Posted by Apex Predator

That would be fine with me, depending on the range of your solo, when loaded with camping gear and supplies. How many gallons /hour do you consume with your OB motor? I suppose you could motor ahead of us and stop at Two Harbors after the crossing to refuel before meeting us as Parson's Landing?,.. then it would be only be about 40 miles until your next refueling opportunity in Avalon.

I will do a few more trips and figure an average... I carry 4 gallons and usually use about 1-1.5 gallons on a 20 mile day around La Jolla/ Point loma... I have a few more buddies with solos that may be interested. I'll keep a close eye on fuel mileage and let you know what I come up with.

[jbl_91762]

Nice post and glad your getting serious interest. I know my cousin joined the forums a couple years ago and tried to get this same trip going but never got enough to go. Slim chance I can make it but how about guys with Hobie's Outback and PA's rigged with sails?? how would that fare out there?

[Apex Predator]

Originally Posted by Polychrest

I really like the idea and I’m considering it. The first 4 days do look brutal though. Looks like there may not be much time for daylight fishing.

Some back of a napkin calculations leaves about 3 to 5 hours left to fish.
11 and a half hours of daylight
About 4 to 5 hours of paddling per day
Hour each day to setup and break down camp plus landing and launching
Half hour for breakfast and lunch
Hour for dinner

You could probably squeeze a couple more hours out of that if you do most of your cooking when the sun is down but I think you’ll want to focus on staying warm and recovery durning that time. I think you would need to be an ultra athlete to keep that pace up for 4 days straight and still enjoy yourself.

Would you consider adding a zero day between day 2 and 3 or and additional stop to spread things out a bit?

I had some limitations on the days at certain campsites along the way, It is important that we obtained the campsites on the beach. That is one reason for the only 1 rest day and another is just trying to keep the total days of the trip down to a minimum. If this year proves that more rest is needed for future trips, I won’t hesitate to order the campsites earlier next year so that we can do it.

In regards to the hours of fishing / day, we will be fishing all day. In the morning we will catch enough bait for our fly line and dropper loop and we will be trolling the entire way, with the occasional stop for, bait, lunch, hook-ups, re-groups,marks, boils and kelp patties. We just need to make it to our nightly destination an hour or two before sunset.

I hope you can make it!!!