Mother Nature has no master.

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cheaterparts
Needs a life (forum tragic)
Posts: 5758
Joined: 29 Mar 2010, 07:04
kayak: Stealth Profisha 525 ---
Real Name: Stephen-The Mud King
Location: Cranbourne

Re: Mother Nature has no master.

Post by cheaterparts »

Dognut wrote:Don't sound like fun at all. Think it might be time for a new boat to go along with that plb
You need your plan b sorted. But with an aqua yak your plan a is already compromised.
I tend to agree apart from the weather turning bad on you having a 3 meter long yak would have made paddling into a stiff wind that much harder
a 4 meter long yak would track better and be faster giving you a much better chance of getting to the beach even into a heavy wind

of cause thats easy to say I wasn't out there with you
My kayak PBs
Gummy shark 128 Cm -- Elephant fish 85 Cm -- Snapper 91 Cm -- KG Whiting 49 Cm -- Flathead 55 Cm -- Garfish 47 Cm --Long tail Tuna 86 cm -- Silver Trevally 40 Cm -- Cobia 117 Cm -- snook 53 Cm -- Couta 71 Cm -- Squid 44 hood length


cheater
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Somewhere 'Offshore'
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Joined: 22 Nov 2012, 13:46
kayak: 2015 Adventure Island
Real Name: Jay
Location: The Marsh

Re: Mother Nature has no master.

Post by Somewhere 'Offshore' »

I can't argue with that Stephen.
The tug is the drug~

Somewhere 'Offshore' - the only place I don't hear the voices
bj fisherman
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kayak: Hobie sport
Real Name: jim
Location: beaumaris

Re: Mother Nature has no master.

Post by bj fisherman »

Thanks for posting your misadventure for all of us to learn.
Pb: snapper 67cm, garfish 44cm, calamari hood 25cm
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laneends
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kayak: Quests 11 13 Adventure 16 Revo 16 ORSki epic k1
Real Name: Keith
Location: Melbourne, Bundoora

Re: Mother Nature has no master.

Post by laneends »

cheaterparts wrote:
Dognut wrote:Don't sound like fun at all. Think it might be time for a new boat to go along with that plb
You need your plan b sorted. But with an aqua yak your plan a is already compromised.
I tend to agree apart from the weather turning bad on you having a 3 meter long yak would have made paddling into a stiff wind that much harder
a 4 meter long yak would track better and be faster giving you a much better chance of getting to the beach even into a heavy wind

of cause thats easy to say I wasn't out there with you
Certainly increases the margin, But everything has a failure point when pitted against nature. There are times when I have been on full rudder and had to turn away from the wind. Loss of forward motion through the water means tracking ability of keel and/or rudder looses effect. So zig zag tacking at an angle to wind is necessary to maintain water speed and hence steerage. If you are being blown out to see and struggling to stay upright that's not always a luxury you can afford.

Worse scenario is into strong off centre head wind with strong following tide can leave you pivoting with the wind (due to rear half of yak including your body catching more wind than front) and incapable of correcting it.
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Deefa
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kayak: Hobie TI & 3.6m paddle yak
Real Name: Damian
Location: Glen Iris or thereabouts

Re: Mother Nature has no master.

Post by Deefa »

Very glad you made it out alive.

While not a primary safety/emergency communication device, smartphones are a good piece of safety equipment:
1. Smartphones can be used to view the standard BOM radar web pages with 'observations' box ticked will display the wind speed and direction for certain weather stations in the radar range you have selected. If you are playing roulette with a wind change or storms, this can give crucial information on what the wind is doing at the weather stations near you (you can see the wind direction/speed difference between weather stations). If you watch it over a few hours when a front comes through Victoria you can get a feel for this visualization technique.
2. View shipping movements - good for Yarra / docklands, marks along shipping channels, the rip
3. Checking in with family etc.

My waterproof cased samsung S3 has the S-voice voice recognition system - two presses of the physical home button (can even be pressed underwater) and shouted 'call help' can be programmed to call 000. I have tried this in a few conditions - you need to play with the word you want to use to dial emergency and maybe add an extra number as I don't believe it likes calling 000.

I have also thought about what to do in similar situations. My theory is:
Activate epirb/PLB/distress call on VHF
Get your lines in / gear stashed or ditched.
Tether yourself to yak, turn on light(s), then up anchor so you are connected if/when you go over.
Flares/water dye (i.e. http://safetycentral.com/grfldyemapa.html) after capsize/before you pass out or when you hear rescue vehicles.

Be prepared.
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