PACK goes BTB (uhhh....kind of)

Saturday May 17, 2008 Brad V and I hit our favorite new spot – you may recognize
it from the photos but this info will not be freely given away. We hit the water
about 7:30am. Winds were light (5-10) and out of the S or was it E – I can’t remember…
that was 3 days ago.  We were throwing everything plastic but an electric chicken
looking thing (pink and orange) under a popping cork was what was working. We didn’t
limit out or come even close but we got enough to feed our families. I brought in
a nice red that fought valiantly .. he turned me around twice and tried to wrap
around my rudder.  But I kept tension on the line and popped up my rudder with the
other hand. I wasn’t anchored or he would have tried for that too.   He tired out
after a couple of minutes and I brought him in- I was so proud I called Brad on
the radio to talk a little trash.  He was 24” after I put him on the fish stretcher.
I fished that area for a little while longer got a few nice pulls but nothing hooked.
I went back to Brad’s area to see what he drug in – sure enough!  2 nice trout!
One big enough to eat my red it seemed like.   We fished till 1pm, the wind died
down and then one of us got a stupid idea to fish in the surf. 

That’s right… Adrian and Brad go BTB!!  In a Hobie Revolution and Tarpon 160i –
not the best boats for the situation but we are and remain blissfully ignorant.
The wind had died down but the surf sure hadn’t but we had to ask ourselves “Are
we not men?”   The waves at the 3rd sand bar were coming in about 6 feet tall and
crashing down about every 6-8 seconds. We walked out up to our necks without kayaks
to see how tough it was… “It wasn’t that bad” – we lied to ourselves.   Then came
back in to assess the situation. Solution - those waves look pretty tough to go
through - so we’ll pull our kayaks with us and do a deep water re-entry in the surf
(easier said than done).  We got out there kayaks in tow and Brad immediately gets
his yak flipped over – everything was tied down (…kind of) – so he only lost a few
lures and bait. Rod was tangled in the net along with his Hobie fins thank God.
Do you have to be in the kayak to officially get turtled?   Anyway – we gathered
up his stuff and tried to get back in.  A bystander who we met at the beach (nickname
Boog and a cousin to our own Bruce Behrens) swam out and said “Here’s your sign”
but then helped us stabilize the kayaks to get back in.  FYI – deep water re-entry
is difficult when you have a lot of stuff in front of you whether it be PFD or belly,
something is going to get hooked on the edge of the kayak.

Well – we made it out there and fished a little while with cut bait and some live
bait we caught earlier.  Line was cut a few time – skip jacks I think but fishing
was slow.  Brad landed two gaff top but released them and their slim back into the
deep.  We bounced up and down in the huge swells for about 1 ½ hours then looked
back toward the shore.  The waves looked even more imposing than before.  We could
seem them rise and then crash loudly into the surf and imagined ourselves being
tossed about.  There was another kayaker would came and he made it look easy. So
we thought we’d emulate him and just paddle through it and head right up to the
shore.   We got a little smarter this time around and stowed all of our gear in
the cargo holds. Brad went first and fell victim to the first wave at the 3rd bar
– I saw he was ok – then I left him for the sharks. I saw the key was to not let
the wave catch you from behind and lift your rear end and plow down your front end.
In a 16‘ kayak that is not an easy thing to do.   I time it almost perfectly – I
hit between swells and stayed in front of the waves as it passed the 3rd bar, then
2nd and here comes the 1st.  I felt myself speed up and elevate then I went over
the side in a flash – but only in 2 feet of water.  What a rush!!!!  I came up spiting
water but laughing and whooping the whole way!  We have pictures too.  Not for the
faint hearted only for the stupid.   Brad was determined to ride the hobie in so
he remounted somewhere near the 3rd bar and proceeded to barrel roll again right
out of the kayak somewhere near the 2nd bar.  I had the perfect view of his manuver
and gave the dismount a 10.  We laughed as we drug our kayaks thru the breakers
on the first bar and decided that was enough.

I did a few smart things that day
1. I told the guys on shore what we were doing (and to take pictures)
2. I strapped or stowed all my gear
3 I wore my good PFD (not the inflatable)
4 I went with a buddy as dumb as I was

A great time that I’ll be ready for next time!