Yakfinn's Good Friday, 29Mar13

TR by Yakfinn with additional contributions below from Soren and panno
Wind: Offshore less around 5 knots
Swell: 1m SE
Current: Gentle
Launch point: Middle Groyne

Participants: Yakfinn, Jaro, JamieD, Soren, Emil, WhaleRider, Panno, DocDog and Turtleboy

With a bit of patience and lucky timing I was able to make it out reasonably unscathed this morning despite some reasonable sized dumpers causing havoc at the end of the groyne.

My plan was to head to A-Bay, Sunshine area and try and find the pelagics, however the closer I got to A-Bay reef the more convinced I became that there was not that much happening out there. After arriving at ABay reef and doing a few quick troll laps around the area I had seen no signs of life and decide to follow the endless flurry of birds to the north and then bay into the bay.

I trolled all the way back to Jew Shoal without a touch and without seeing any surface action. Once at Jew Shoal I rendezvoused with Jaro who had just had a fair stoush with a pretty decent sized shark before it broke free of his line. We decided to try our luck at Halls reef, Jaro choosing to troll a whole gar, whilst I was still trolling my Rapala xrap hard body lure. We figured between the two of us, hopefully we would entice a strike. Probably half way between Jew Shoal and Halls reef we encountered a reasonable sized patch of bait, with several birds dive bombing for an easy meal. There were no signs of any predatory activity though, however it was looking the most encouraging it had all morning. Another few minutes paddling past the bait school and my trolled line went off. I was stoked to get a hit, my first strike this year. I started to play the fish and it initially felt like it was only something very small, I was expecting a bonito or a small mak tuna. As i got it close to the yak I saw that it looked more like a Mackerel and as soon as it saw the yak it took of for a short but speedy run. It only had one more short run in it and i had it by the side of the yak. A decent sized spotty Mak. I'm always nervous getting a fish on board, basically because I've felt the heartbreak of losing a decent sized pelagic getting it on board before, but this one was no trouble.

With the fish secured, Jaro took a photo and we were on our way again.


Photo by Jaro

I departed for middle groin shortly after, as Jess was meeting me there with her Kayak at 0930 so we could go for a paddle around the bays.

I did the slow paddle back to MG with a smile on my face the whole way home. A long paddle, having departed MG for A-Bay, then heading back to Jew Shoal, onto Halls and back to MG, but a very enjoyable morning on the water, and well worth it.


Photo by TurtleBoy

Good to see a good turn out of guys today. Hope everyone had a good day.

Cheers, Sean (Yakfinn)


Additional Contribution from Soren

Emil and I went to Sunshine reef about 2 km out from Abay. I caught a grassy sweetlip 38cm. Emil also caught one 42cm plus a spotty mackerel 73cm. He caught a small cod which we threw back.We had a nice morning and spotted a few turtles and a sea snake. The return to MG was more successful than the departure where I got dunked !

Photo below of Emil and his catch, courtesy of Soren

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Contribution by panno, 05Apr13
Well guys, following some gentle persuasion (Possibly from fellow victims wishing to spread the shame perhaps?), I am pleased to be able to re-tell the sorry tale of my sand-monster-demise of Friday past, and the Stealth repair that followed. Please read on if this is of interest… [Editor: If you’re a Noosa Yakker, it’s of great interest, IMHO.]

As described by Yakfinn in the original trip report, the wind was light, however there were “reasonable size dumpers causing havoc” out in front of the groyne. Oh how true those words were!

At very first light, Jaro and a few others began their cautious paddle into the gutter towards the end of the groyne, where they cleverly held position as they assessed conditions and waited for a window to sneak out unscathed. I held up Redwood’s departure by asking him to do a quick radio check with me (my radio is sadly misbehaving at present), but once this was done (radio still no good except if on zero squelch setting), we too headed out into the gutter. I had stowed my rods and tackle, but had left a PVC holder-extension tube (to be used to elevate my reels above splash/spray) in the left hand rod holder, as I figured it was cheap to replace if things went pear-shaped… I had also fitted my Lowrance sounder onto its bracket. [Editor: Whoaah, how did the sounder cope, or haven’t you found it yet?]

Ignoring the bad omen of the radio malfunction, and believing myself to be some kind of hero surf club ski paddler, I stupidly gave the surf only a cursory glance as I paddled straight past Jaro and into what quickly became the sand monster and his family. I managed to brace through the first three waves as they smashed me backwards, but I was still upright. I can still do this, I thought, but then, as I paddled flatstrap towards the horizon and safety, the big daddy monster reared up out of nowhere and I was caught in the absolutely-worst place possible, wearing the monster’s full fury across my chest.

Things then get a bit foggy for me – I vaguely recall having to right my upturned Stealth twice, so I must have worn a second wave on the head, but then there was a lull so I jumped on board and paddled like a bastard and got out the back, wet, but in one piece (or so I thought).

Due to embarrassment I consciously avoided the other yakkers who appeared dry and were setting up their equipment to begin trolling. I did similar, but when I reached back to place my trolling rod in the holder I was shocked to see a gaping jagged hole where the holder used to be. With hindsight, the PVC tube proved my undoing as it must have jammed into the sandbar when I was rolled, ripping out the tube and the Stealth holder in the process.

So what to do? Unsure as to how much water I had taken on, the obvious choice was to head straight back in. Couple of problems with that though – the sand monster was still likely to be hungry for at least a few hours until the tide rose, and surely there would be merciless teasing and reproach from those still on shore. So what’s a guy (an embarrassed, wet guy with a broken yak) to do? Head out to sea of course, to try and redeem himself, keeping clear of all other lifeforms until I caught a fish!

After 5-10 minutes of paddling I was confident I wasn’t carrying too much water, as the boat wasn’t overly pitching forwards/backwards with the runners as would happen if I was swamped. Out went my mullet imitation lure and, long story short, about 600m west of nthn Sunshine Reef I got a strong hit by what turned out to be a nice little yellowfin – see photo hereabouts. Redwood, Soren and Emil came over and witnessed the landing, and it was then back home for me to begin preparations for eating the fish (sashimi and nummus at First Point for dinner), and repairing my yak.

With regards the repair, it was a bit tricky in so far as the self tap screw holes were all ripped open and the original (round) hole in the hull was now jagged, incorporating the rips out to the screw holes. I’m not sure if this is just an issue with my Evo, but the deck material thickness is really poor in this region, almost cardboard like, so no wonder the holder ripped out so easily. Anyway, I cut back the jagged hole all the way around using a Stanley knife (Yes, that’s how thin the deck is in that particular spot!), so that I had a smooth and clean hole to work with. I then applied fibreglass resin mix all around the hole and laid fibreglass matting all the way around (using 4 separate thin strips). The matting therefore covered not just the edge of the hole but also went over the top and past where the screw holes were. I then flooded the matting with more resin and left it all to set. Once hard, I cut the hole back to an appropriate diameter so as to accommodate the new rod holder. It was then just a simple re-insertion and drilling of new holes for the new screws, and then siliconing the whole thing to ensure it was watertight. The end product looks great and I figure it will be more robust than the original – see photo (unfortunately I didn’t take a “before” photo to provide perspective).

So that’s it – paddler humbled, fish eaten and boat repaired – it’s been an interesting week! Lessons learnt? – be more cautious when observing the conditions, remember my paddle speed is much less than a racing ski and the target area for a wave to hit is also much wider in the Stealth, always stow all gear underneath, regardless of conditions, and never give up!

Happy paddling

Panno