# Rescued Kayakers



## NLytle (May 13, 2014)

People are stupid! Anyone have an additional information about the kayakers off of Navarre Beach?


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## boomyak (Mar 21, 2014)

They went out today? I can only assume spring breakers and hope any locals would have the good sense to know better.


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## cody&ryand (Oct 3, 2007)

Heard the full pull helped them out


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## JD7.62 (Feb 13, 2008)

How many kayakers are going to get killed locally this year? This crap is getting out of hand with inexperienced guys trying to go offshore who have not the first clue of the gulf.


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## speckhunter944 (Jun 13, 2008)

I hate it but there are some people who have no idea how dangerous the gulf can be. They think it can't happen to me attitude but it can and will, you have to use common sense or you'll end front page news. I hope everyone is ok.


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## NLytle (May 13, 2014)

There are so many people who try and prevent these situations from happening. It's sad that people choose not to listen. 

People have zero respect for Mother Nature and as unfortunate as it is, it's going to take a large number of deaths before people realize it's dangerous out there!

I watch guys struggle to launch all of the time with kayaks loaded to the brim with brand new gear. There's no fish worth your life and there's a huge learning curve that people refuse to give time. 






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## John B. (Oct 2, 2007)

The full pull caught and released them....


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## Yakavelli (Mar 17, 2010)

If too many of these stupid asses keep screwing up, we're going to have to deal with new laws that impede the freedoms of not-so-stupid yakkers...

Today was a horrible day to be yakking...anywhere that isn't prorected. Sometimes I wish we would just let natural selection do it's part with our species and let nature weed out the idiots.


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## JD7.62 (Feb 13, 2008)

No kidding man. You get all these guys that look at reports, pics, videos, etc of seasoned anglers who not only have been kayaking for awhile but have been around the gulf their entire lives in one way or another. 

They think, despite moving here from Ohio and never done any fishing all they need is a kayak and a couple reels and they can conquer big water. Sorry but it doesn't work that way. 

It's funny, for three years straight I spent 150+ days a year on the gulf in my yak and not once did I ever come close to being in a hairy situation other than out running a couple of summer time pop up storms. Even then, I hit the beach before things got nasty. It honestly sickens me the way I've seen offshore kayak fishing has been lately.

It's not just the stupid decisions either, it's how they fish too. I recently saw a video on YouTube with THIRTEEN yakers fishing one FAD. Freaking stupid, imagine what happens when they find a coop?!


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## BigRed38 (May 5, 2009)

Shit.... We've had two members that we've had to advise otherwise over the past week about taking risks this weekend.


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## bdyboarder86 (Apr 25, 2013)

No one knows if these were locals?
Surely it had to be people from out of town


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## NLytle (May 13, 2014)

bdyboarder86 said:


> No one knows if these were locals?
> Surely it had to be people from out of town


There's a decent chance they were locals. People see that the water is flat and seem to forget about the wind. The waters not so flat a few hundred yards out!

I thought for sure it was you and one of your buddies lol


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## bdyboarder86 (Apr 25, 2013)

Haha hell no I watch the weather


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## calveryc (Dec 6, 2015)

Can you guys five newbies what to look for out of the weather reports? Obviously wind is big, but what else should they look for? What are good apps to use?


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## Yakavelli (Mar 17, 2010)

I use AccuWeather.com combined with the National mosaic radar loop. I'll look at the hourly forecast on AccuWeather to get a feel for what the wind is going to be doing throughout the day and plan accordingly. If there's a chance of storms later on, I'll pull up the national mosaic throughout the day to get a real-time view of storm's paths. If ever I'm planning to go offshore, I have my inshore gear in the truck and am fully prepared to make a game time decision once I actually SEE the gulf. I've opted for plan B more often than I've actually made it out into the gulf. I ONLY go the gulf route if conditions are pristine...and still get caught in hairy situations now and then. Weather reports are seldom spot on. 

Basically, I NEVER make a 100% decision to go in the gulf before I'm standing on the beach and looking at it. I'm ALWAYS prepared to disappoint myself by giving up on plan A. I never let pride get in the way of my intelligence. I have some big balls...but my brain is bigger. It comes with age I s'pose. In my younger days my balls were definitely bigger than my brains. These days I'm not too proud to call myself a pussy. Nature tells me what's a good decision, NOT vice versa.


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## Jason (Oct 2, 2007)

Yeah, the surf wasn't bad but w/ a 20 mph wind coming from the north....no way!!! Still bad today but its FLAT. Nice fer a motorized sled!


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## sealark (Sep 27, 2007)

The water temperature is the big factor. Winter time in the water less than an hour without wet suit. Your body will shut down. Even in summer times hypothermia can kill you overnight. Add wind chill and its worse. Those guys were lucky a commercial boat helped them.


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## BY Ryan (Apr 28, 2013)

There are plenty of dumb locals too folks lol


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## Justroge8 (Mar 15, 2016)

Some one decided to brave it off Pensacola this am as well.


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## Stressless (Oct 2, 2007)

JD - LoL, Hey, I'm from Ohio ... But been around the salt water most of my life.

Can not wait to get back and get out, been gone again since Feb.... But as Yak stated, My brain is bigger than my balls - I've come back and put the ice back in the freezer many times. 

Cheers,
Stressless


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## bdyboarder86 (Apr 25, 2013)

Stressless said:


> JD - LoL, Hey, I'm from Ohio ... But been around the salt water most of my life.
> 
> Can not wait to get back and get out, been gone again since Feb.... But as Yak stated, My brain is bigger than my balls - I've come back and put the ice back in the freezer many times.
> 
> ...


Was that you out there?


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## calveryc (Dec 6, 2015)

What direction wind is the most dangerous? Is it obviously outbound? Also what wind speed would you consider unsafe on the average day?


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## Pilotdad (Feb 24, 2015)

I would say wind speed is a personal limitation...up until the point of common sense where no one should be out on the water. Aside from the obvious wave action which comes from increased wind speed you have the push affect from the wind. If you have a decked out kayak which becomes in effect a sail on the water a north wind pushes you out to sea rather quickly. If you are a strong paddler with lots of stamina you will be able to over come the wind with greater ease than someone with less physical abilities. And it's not just a north wind pushing you out to sea. And east or west wind can push you far away from your launch site making it very difficult to get back. 

Bottom line is know your personal abilities and form your own limitations. And the limitations of your kayak. I'm a relatively young healthy guy who is in shape. But I know my ascend kayak sits lower in the water than most and even 1 ft chop can come over the bow while 2-3ft rollers are no issue. So wind vs current that can stack the waves factors in my decision. Plus I don't like the process of coming in with breakers, even relatively small ones so that comes into play. 

If you are unsure pick your days very careful to only pristine days at first and gauge your comfort level. My first few times in the gulf were on windless days where the gulf was like a swimming pool.


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## Quackjn (Mar 10, 2014)

Pilotdad said:


> I would say wind speed is a personal limitation...up until the point of common sense where no one should be out on the water. Aside from the obvious wave action which comes from increased wind speed you have the push affect from the wind. If you have a decked out kayak which becomes in effect a sail on the water a north wind pushes you out to sea rather quickly. If you are a strong paddler with lots of stamina you will be able to over come the wind with greater ease than someone with less physical abilities. And it's not just a north wind pushing you out to sea. And east or west wind can push you far away from your launch site making it very difficult to get back.
> 
> Bottom line is know your personal abilities and form your own limitations. And the limitations of your kayak. I'm a relatively young healthy guy who is in shape. But I know my ascend kayak sits lower in the water than most and even 1 ft chop can come over the bow while 2-3ft rollers are no issue. So wind vs current that can stack the waves factors in my decision. Plus I don't like the process of coming in with breakers, even relatively small ones so that comes into play.
> 
> If you are unsure pick your days very careful to only pristine days at first and gauge your comfort level. My first few times in the gulf were on windless days where the gulf was like a swimming pool.


For me, I stick to inshore if winds are over 10mph. Normally I will only go the gulf route if the wind is at or under 7mph, 10 mph if it's S-N. Can I go out in stronger, sure... it's just not worth the chance of things changing for the worse. Don't forget that the surf will always look beautiful when there are winds from the north. 

On to the surf re-entry. If there's breakers and you don't feel comfortable, get to the point where the waves are about to start breaking and then do a 180 so you are facing south and let the waves push you in. So much easier to keep yourself upright facing in to the waves.


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## wallace1 (Dec 8, 2010)

Quackjn said:


> For me, I stick to inshore if winds are over 10mph. Normally I will only go the gulf route if the wind is at or under 7mph, 10 mph if it's S-N. Can I go out in stronger, sure... it's just not worth the chance of things changing for the worse. Don't forget that the surf will always look beautiful when there are winds from the north.
> 
> On to the surf re-entry. If there's breakers and you don't feel comfortable, get to the point where the waves are about to start breaking and then do a 180 so you are facing south and let the waves push you in. So much easier to keep yourself upright facing in to the waves.


Good point on the surf re-entry. Not as practical now but once it warms up I tend to bail out when I get close to the breakers and hold on to the back and swim the kayak in. Never flipped doing it this way.


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## Simonj31 (Mar 6, 2014)

I appreciate this knowledge guys. I've always been an inshore wader, surf and pier guy. I bought starter kayak this winter(field and stream talon 12'). I intend to fish hard inshore all spring and summer to get somemore experience and hopefully get out this early fall on one of those "pool like days" to start with. I really want to catch some mahi/blackfin out of my kayak. Anyway, outside of a smart phone in a dry bag and life vest(sunscreen, water etc), any suggestions for some must haves on the gulf


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## Salt Lines (Apr 4, 2013)

Leashes so you can tie everything down, floats on things that aren't leashed (I use wine corks for floats attached to things like scissors)
A handheld vhf radio is a comforting thing to have once you start heading offshore. 
A whistle (its good practice to attach it to your life vest)
A visual signaling device (I keep a neon safety vest and a light with me, I'll get flares one day I suppose)
I freeze water in old bottles for ice so I generally have plenty of drinkable water.


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## Jgatorman (Jun 8, 2013)

Good info, The gulf is is very temperamental and summer storms and winds can occur almost out of nowhere I check the beach before I make any decisions. No mater what the weather reports. Check surf, check winds, check cloud coverage, then I check radar on phone as well as consistently throughout the day. I also think every single kayaker should carry a 6 or 7 watt handheld VHF. Remember it is handheld so range will be short(no 8 ft boat antenna for range). Not only will this provide some additional safety it makes fishing with a partner a million times better than trying to use a cell phone! Do not go out ever with a strong North wind blowing south. Cuba is a long way away!


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## Yakavelli (Mar 17, 2010)

wallace1 said:


> Good point on the surf re-entry. Not as practical now but once it warms up I tend to bail out when I get close to the breakers and hold on to the back and swim the kayak in. Never flipped doing it this way.


And it's super fun!


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## northportcjm (Jun 9, 2009)

Never ever go into the gulf alone. Ask my brother in law who used to live and kayak fish in PCB. He took his hobie revo out to some live bottom 2-3 miles out and broke a chain on his drive. Wind picked up from north and he had to paddle that boat for several hours into the wind and beached it over a half mile away from his put in point. He is highly experienced and grew up like me on the gulf coast, but was scared pretty good after that experience he always has a partner fishing in the gulf or he hits the bay 


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## calveryc (Dec 6, 2015)

northportcjm said:


> Never ever go into the gulf alone. Ask my brother in law who used to live and kayak fish in PCB. He took his hobie revo out to some live bottom 2-3 miles out and broke a chain on his drive. Wind picked up from north and he had to paddle that boat for several hours into the wind and beached it over a half mile away from his put in point. He is highly experienced and grew up like me on the gulf coast, but was scared pretty good after that experience he always has a partner fishing in the gulf or he hits the bay
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


Good thing he was in a Revo not a PA14. I always carry a mirage drive repair kit. Comes with extra chain, mast, sprocket and fin just in case something terrible happens.


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