Saturday was more brutal than I had anticipated. I watched other kayaks attempt to get out and fail, so when I got all the gear ready I made my way out with some butterflies in my stomach but confidence that the boat could get me there. The third bar had a breaking wave so tall that it completely swallowed me. Somehow I came out the other side "right side up" so I wasted no time moving on through. I really didn't expect trouble at the fourth bar. Surf almost never breaks there, and if it does it is scary stuff. Well as luck would have it, I was just approaching the bar when I saw the big swell approaching. It kept growing skyward and I knew this might be a really bad thing. I kept my balance and shoved forward as the foam impacted me up to my pfd, and just as quickly I was through and shooting over the top of the crest. After that I hustled on out to ensure there were no more crashing waves. I adjusted course against the wind to ensure I would arrive at the first rig and paddled into the constant whitecaps. It was not a day for new paddlers to be out there but I was within my comfort zone and willing to put up with the bumpy conditions. I found jacks at the big MP rig on the SW corner, and I made multiple passes there collecting a few of them. A spanish also came aboard from the same rig, and by 10am winds had calmed along with the big swells, so I made my way back. It was impressive to see how much the surf had dropped in a few hours. It was actually a nice looking day as I came back in. With the boat full of gear it paddles much heavier, but I caught some of the swells to reach 11mph here and there. I couldn't maintain it for long as I was tired at that point, but it was a lot of fun to hit some speed on the gulf rather than in the bay chop.
[youtube]http://youtu.be/XyxWcGWG6DY[/youtube]
https://youtu.be/XyxWcGWG6DY
Winds and Jacks
- Prof. Salt
- TKF 4000 Club
- Posts: 4871
- Joined: Mon Aug 08, 2011 9:23 pm
- Location: Corpus Christi - or paddling over the horizon
Re: Winds and Jacks
Thanks for sharing this, excellent video and you have serious skills!
Re: Winds and Jacks
Loved it man! Thanks
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