CBKA Tournament -- A Worthy Cause and a Great Time for All

[Mark]

I'd like to thank the CBKA tournament organizers and sponsors for staging a top notch event today.

I'd also like to congratulate the participants who braved the pervasive Chesapeake winds that made fishing a real adventure. Yet all returned to Camp Wright in good spirits and it was easy to see why. The raffles and food awaiting them were fantastic and the camaraderie with fellow kayakers was outstanding. It was especially nice to meet many of the contributors on this forum.

So again, I say thank you to CBKA tournament officials and helpers. Your hard work supported a worthy cause in Make a Wish and you provided much enjoyment and lasting memories to many kayak anglers today.

[On the fly]

Yes, great time for all! Can't wait til next year when I am sure it will be even bigger! Thanks to all of CBKA members/ board for their tireless year long work for this tournament.

[sparky1423]

What an event! This was my first CBKA tournament and it was a blast. From learning new fishing techniques to contributing to a great cause...it was great spending time with fellow kayak anglers. Hats off to all the CBKA officers, your hard work is certainly appreciated!

[MetroMan]

Absolute blast. I have more fun at this tournament than I do at TKAA & JBay. More about the fun and camaraderie.

I am writing a blog post about my turtle at the bay bridge, for those who haven't yet heard the complete story.

[Bulldog]

I had a great time, and at least made it back in, tough paddle, good times with you all!......Jack

[AbuMasgouf]

This was also my first CBKA event and man I had a great time! Thank you to all of those who worked hard to put it together!

[MetroMan]

My (long) turtle story. Short vid included.

http://flyfisheat.tumblr.com/post/61...chesapeake-bay

[J.A. Veil]

Metro -

I'm glad you are safe and could recover your kayak and part of your gear. Fortunately the water was still warm and allowed a lengthy exposure time. I hope you are back on the water soon.

Given the conditions yesterday, I'm not sure you could have done much differently with a nearly filled hull. Here are a few thoughts -- as a paddle kayaker, my paddle is always close at hand. I use my paddle like a tightrope walkers balance pole or like an outrigger whenever I encounter a large boat wake. I turn the blades so they are parallel to the water and hold the shaft low across my lap, and lean forward and inline with the hull to lower my center of balance. That really helps to minimize the rolling motion. There was some discussion on this board over the past year about filling open hull space with pool noodles, empty sealed plastic bottles, or some other lightweight devices that take up space and reduce the amount of water that can enter your hull. After reading those posts, I purchased five noodles and placed them in my hull. I may add more of them now.

[MetroMan]

Thanks John. Talking to mytmouse and Foursteps about it, I told them how I could not believe my yak didn't sink with that much water. When I got to the beach at Hemmingways, with the stern slightly elevated, water was at the very rim of the hatch.

I've identified the source(s) of infiltration (surprisingly, it was NOT the hatch as I originally suspected), and will be repairing accordingly. I will also add some hull flotation on the interior as well. Cheap insurance.

[MetroMan]

Who won the kayaks in the raffle?

[Mark]

I won the Jackson Coosa. I went back and picked it up this morning.

I'm sorry to learn about your turtle!

[missedshed]

MetroMan glad you made it out ok. I made my first attempt to reach the BB out of Terrapin Beach around 730. I used the wind to help me head south, but I hugged the shoreline about 100 yards out and ended up in the shallow area on the North side where the road is built up with rocks right b/f the bridge. Wave after Wave were hitting me in the chest. At that point I turned back b/c it was way too much at that point. I have been out there in rough conditions but that was way to much. I had alot of gear with me also. When I got out I had about 5 gallons easily in my hull. I pulled out and headed to Romankoke to check it out, I ended up heading back north. I pulled into the Hemmingways parking lot and it looked like it calmed down a bit. How far out were you when you rolled? I saw a few kayaks way out, and one was floating pretty far south of the Bridge..I think it was yellow but without binoculars I wouldnt have been able to tell if you needed help... Prob around 9:30 I ended up making my second attempt out of Terrapin this time. Also check your drain plug to see if it actually is a tight seal. Your video like you said you started to sit low...I wonder if some water started to fill into your hull that way also. I'm picking up a small airhorn now to take with me now.

Instead of pool noodles you can might want to see if you can locate blow up bladders, I know they are used in whitewater kayaks. I'm not sure what the largest one is but they do displace a good amount of water. The ones I had in my whitewater kayak would stay inflated for a long time also.

[Strummerfan]

I won the Jackson Coosa. I went back and picked it up this morning.

I'm sorry to learn about your turtle!

Congrats!

[dhawk]

My nephew and I paddled out from camp left about 7 and it took 2 hours to reach the bridge seen all the hobies pass us they were peddling hard and metro passed a a little before we made it to the bridge we were whooped by the time we made it and I didnt have enough in the tank to stay around the pilons so we drifted back to camp and fished along the way it only took 1/2 hour to drift back with very little paddling. I took quite a few waves over the bow and was hit in the lap with many more but every thing seemed stable when we got back to camp i opened my hatch and had more than 5 gallons of water inside. Earlier in the year i read about malibu kayaks leaking throught the gator hatch so i stuffed 4 pool noodle in my hall on the sides and i have 2 dry bags that take up space I dont know that it help but I didnt feel unstable with that much water and i fished with my side to the wave on the way back to camp. We loaded up and headed to goodhands with not much luck there either but definatly a better paddle.

[J.A. Veil]

I have not heard any reports from anglers launching from Shipping Creek yesterday. Did anyone launch there? If so, how did you do.