LJ 4/17

[jorluivil]

Originally Posted by dsafety

I went out last Friday, launching to some medium size waves that were ridiculously close together. It was the wettest successful launch I have ever experienced.

I will not bother with a fish report. Suffice it to say that the skunk is still in the building.

On the way in, I became a little concerned about landing with sets coming in at 5-7 second intervals so I decided that I would give the back-in method a try. The tide was low and the surf had really calmed down so it was not really necessary. On the other hand it is probably better to try out something new under mild conditions rather than having to learn under the gun.

Since I ride a Hobie, there are a couple things that have to be taken care of which guys on paddle yaks don't have to worry about. I locked the peddles in the up position against the hull and pulled up the rudder. With the bow pointed into the swells, I started to paddle backwards. Whenever a swell came through, I paddled forward a bit just to keep the bow pointed in the right direction.

It worked great. Every wave pushed me closer to shore. When I reached knee-deep water, I hopped out. It could not have been easier.

Of course when I got to the beach, my buddy TMan came over and started ragging on me for my unmanly method of landing. Unmanly or not, I will keep that method in mind the next time I face difficult landing conditions.

Thanks for the suggestion Jorluivil.

Bob

Glad to see someone else had a successful backwards paddle. The last two times that I was paddling in backwards I made it in without getting tossed while two other yakkers that were landing at the same time got tossed. About the only disadvantage to coming in backwards is the fact that you do take on a little bit of water but by the time you're ready to land you're probably already wet so its no big deal.

[1Flatfish]

Question my manhood if you will, but I too, have taken to backing in. Hey, my masculinity is usually questioned if I dump coming in forward too. I have never flipped while launching. So I might as well come in facing out. Just watch out behind me!

Originally Posted by jorluivil

Glad to see someone else had a successful backwards paddle. The last two times that I was paddling in backwards I made it in without getting tossed while two other yakkers that were landing at the same time got tossed. About the only disadvantage to coming in backwards is the fact that you do take on a little bit of water but by the time you're ready to land you're probably already wet so its no big deal.

[MuddyMike]

After I landed Friday, I had a pretty entertaining show watching a couple kayak classes come in. It almost hurt to watch the tandems wipe out.

I'm very glad I watched videos posted here about looking over your shoulder. I had a big set sneaking up when I was coming in. I ended up catching a small wave, but that whole leaning into the white wash when I got sideways worked nicely.