I forgot about lights, I have a waterproof flashlight, my hat with built in lights and both a pole light and a bow light.
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You guys are right about the other boaters, I watch them like a hawk now. Found out my first time out in Hull, they don't seem to like kayaks. I stupidly put my self down current of working birds on the other side of the channel thinking I'll work the outside of the school of a bait away from the mass of boats. The next thing I know I'm in the middle of the chaos with the birds, bait and boats all around me. I got myself out of the traffic fast and back on the other side of the channel once I saw how they don't care your there. I can kind of understand their perspective though, they don't think kayaks should be in the same areas they are and since there are no laws about who has the right of way they treat you as if you have feet of freeboard not inches. They must be thinking they will teach me a lesson and speed past throwing a big wake and some even watch to see how I handle it.
Blondterror, the Elizabeth islands are on my list of places I want to kayak. Being my first year with the yak and previously fishing from 35'-55' sportfishing boats I am slowly learning areas previously unaccessible to me. I was looking at Naushon island photo's and came across this photo (Do an image search "Naushon" on yahoo and you'll find it)
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I also want to fish Chatam and Nauset but am holding off till I get a shark shield.
I do tend to push the envelope though. For instance in my younger days when my folks used to take our 35' Viking to Menemsha for a week of fishing I would take the 9' zodiac with a 9.9 mercury and fish inside and outside the harbor all the way out to devil's ridge where I sat/laid on the bottom of the boat when going through the rip and watched over the side and could see the bass below knowing that once I passed and my eels entered the area they would jump on my baits. It was a great time until the first boat came along and the guy got all pissed off that I was interfering with his fishing and shouldn't have been there in such a vessel. He started harassing me with his wake trying to get me to leave which eventually made me fish further in where I could maneuver over and around the boulders where he couldn't, but the fishing closer to painted rock (I think that was what it was called, my memory fails at times) wasn't as good as it was in the heart of the rip set up on the ridge.
Once I did have the motor fail midway in the Menemsha channel one night fighting the outgoing, but I didn't panic and grabbed the paddles and just rowed back to the beach and waited for the the engine to cool and the current to slow before going back in. The engine was overheating so I waited for it to cool then rowed to the end of the jetty and started it and ran it just long enough for me to clear the channel and enter the marina then returned to rowing so I wouldn't kill the motor.
Things happen when your on the water and if you panic you may very well end up dead. I try and prepare for whatever may come up and when something unexpected happens I try and keep my cool and figure what I can do to remain alive/safe.