I had to purchase a few supplies, so I spent about $100.00 on a life vest, whistle, small bungees, a waterproof pouch for my phone and a pair of rubber/neoprene boots that will double as my hunting boots next season. Having procured my supplies and cleaned out the back of my truck, I loaded the kayak, paddle, crate, rods and reels, along with a cooler for some water and sandwiches. With all the excitement of a kid going fishing for the first time, I headed to Boerne Lake with my hopes high and smile on my face.
To start with, I should probably set the scene. It was a beautiful day outside, the temperature was probably in the mid 70's (don't let this fool you though, the water temperature was probably in the 50's). The wind was blowing out of the southeast at about 10-15 mph which resulted in a 6-8" chop on the water.
I think the first thing I learned, is that it's not as easy as one might think to strap all that stuff to your kayak. Bungee cords leave something to be desired. Although they were tight, things still slid around. I will have to work on this. I guess it's all the years of building things and hauling materials around, but I like things to be solid; no movement. Also, because the kayak doesn't lay flat, it was a little difficult getting things situated. Between the slope of the boat ramp and the kayak rolling over, things didn't want to stay where I put them; so I was left to leash, lash, strap, and otherwise tie down with one hand while I held and steadied with the other. I know I need to get better at this and more efficient. A boat ramp on Friday around noon is not a very busy place in the middle of February, but I would have had some folks pretty angry folks around if it were June.
Fortunately, there are no pictures or video (that I know of) of the events that transpired over the next 2 minutes. I faced the lake and headed out with the nose of the kayak in hand. When I got out to the point where I would have filled my boots with water had I taken another step, I stopped and eased the kayak into the water floating it between my legs to the point where the seat ended up right below me. Everything was great so far. I sat on the kayak and immediately realized that I wasn't far enough out and the rear of the kayak was still on land. In case you are wondering, this makes the boat flop violently right and left with every movement. This is also the point at which I realized my plan was inadequate.
I began lunging forward to try to get the boat fully into the water. I tried, unsuccessfully I might add, to put my feet in the boat... one at a time, then both at the same time. Every time I picked up my feet, I had to slam them back down into the water to regain my stability. By now, I had about a gallon of water in each boot. This might be a good time to point out that although I got them on clearance, I made a $50 investment in a pair of boots to keep my feet dry. So, I put my paddle on the surface of the boat ramp and leaned toward it, swung both feet in the boat and pushed off at the same time. I was finally actually on the kayak, in the water. It was about this point in time that I realized that all the water that was previously in my boots, was now soaking its way through the small foam stadium seat that I used as a seat cushion. It's also worth mentioning that there are two scupper holes in this boat to drain water , and neither of them are under the seat.
I gave a few paddle strokes to get away from land. Then I began to try to get a feel for the stability by moving around a bit. It still felt a bit unstable and therefore made me a bit uneasy. Before I knew it, the wind caught the nose of the boat and pushed me broad side back to the concrete ramp and beached me. I pushed off again only to get pushed back again.
At this point, I decided that my maiden kayak voyage, as short as it was, was over. Already soaking wet, from my rear to my feet and from mid forearm to fingers on both hands, I figured that this kayak thing needed a new plan. So, I bailed out and drug the kayak back on shore.
I went back to the truck and drove down to load it up. While finishing up getting all my things off of the kayak, I noticed a guy getting into his truck. I think he had been walking across the dam or in the park on his lunch break because he seemed to be changing his shoes while watching me load up all the rods and crate etc. He drove up next to the boat ramp and asked if I needed any help. Loading the kayak is really pretty easy, so I refused. He smiled and waved as he took off making me wonder if he had seen the whole ordeal.
All in all, it took me 40 minutes to drive there, about 15 minutes to unload the boat, get all my gear situated, put on my boots and PFD, 2 minutes in the water, and 10 minutes to load up and another 40 minutes to drive home. Travel/prep time to water time ratio was 107:2. I must admit failure on this one. However I can pick out three positives this trip left me with.
1. The guy that stopped to ask if he could help had a Hobie sticker on his truck. A fellow kayaker maybe? It's good to know that if I needed help, he was willing.
2. I feel pretty good about my crate set up, although I need to figure out a better way to tie that down. It took some violent weight shifts and jostling without losing anything.
3. After this ordeal, I wasn't 5 minutes from the lake before I was on the phone with Diablo Paddlesports in an attempt to get a WIDE, STABLE, kayak for Twisted Oak. I had a dealer pack by the end of the day!
In no way am I giving up here. I will be back on a kayak soon. Hopefully a Diablo. When the water warms up a little more, I will even give this kayak a shot again... when I don't mind getting wet!
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