So lack of wind has once again left me scrambling for other ways to get a salt fix. Apologies for the whingey tone of this post!
I find my current kayak too big and heavy to load and launch by myself, so am keen to get something smaller and lighter. With work, I find it really hard to find the time to telephone shops for advice during business hours. I've emailed a number of shops over the last few months seeking advice on a new kayak. I reckon I've had about a 10% reply rate. I do the same with windsurfing shops and find the reply rate is slightly better at around 50%. PLEASE - if you don't want to provide customer service by email, DON'T HAVE AN EMAIL ADDRESS 
With not much luck from paddling shops, thought I would check out sea kayak forums for advice. I think I've seen Laurie say before that there is no Paddling Forum on SB because there's already plenty elsewhere. Bit of googling and I came up with http://www.seakayakforum.com. Seems to be some good posts on there. Tried to register. Form reports errors telling me two fields are incomplete when they are definitely not incomplete. Cannot for the life of me see what I am doing wrong. Try to contact the site for help. Cannot find anywhere on the site that allows me to make contact with anyone including admin until I am registered. ARGH!!!!
I'm not sure if there are any paddlers on SB anymore, but can anyone pretty please recommend a good sea kayak forum for advice?? Or any other good sources of advice for sea kayaking?
My teeny exposure to another forum was a big reminder of just how awesome and user-friendly SB is. Thank you!! 
what yak do you have that you find too heavy to load..?
I have a hobie PA12, that thing is HEAVY when it comes to loading it on the truck and even dragging it to the waters edge...
saying that though, wouldn't want to be on any other sit on yak when being stalked by a sizable tiger fish, or a grumpy terratorial lizard
Thanks Doc . I have a Dagger Apostle. It's 17' and 32-ish kg. I find I don't get out as much as I should cos of all the hassle loading and launching. You're right about the size having its advantages though. I guess that's what I'm curious about - can I go lighter and smaller without losing much capability? I still dream of doing some 2-3 day trips and would like to stick with something that can handle a bit of sea.
Here is a (NSW) review of your SK - from 17 years ago nswskc.wordpress.com/1997/01/24/the-dagger-apostle-29/
Longer and, moreso - narrower, is the current trend in sea kayaks. Your kayak is a very heavy kayak compared to a (delicate) composite Mirage or Valley, though you are getting out there already.
Some resources here;
www.paddlensw.org.au/club
www.canoe.org.au/default.asp?Page=1586&MenuID=Disciplines/97/0
NSW Sea Kayak Club annual festival; Rock n Roll is on at Batemans Bay in March 2014. Your Dagger Apostle will be most welcome, too.
www.nswseakayaker.asn.au/homepage/trips/691-rock-n-roll-2014
~~~~
For those in WA, there is a multi-day SK symposium in late February. To be held in Albany;
wa.canoe.org.au/site/canoeing/wa/downloads/2013-2014/flyer%20second.pdf
Thanks so much Wollemi. I have been thinking about a Mirage. How delicate are the kevlar kayaks? Could they potentially be damaged just from routine loading, launching and paddling in ocean waters? Or as long as you're a bit careful should they be okay?
This is my stealth. It's a South African glass kayak. I used to have a 4.5m scupper pro ocean kayak (plastic) and thought it was great until I purchased this. It's 4.9m by 70cm with a large hatch between my legs that I can hold 4 rods and gear, and all my fish. I can paddle 3 times the distance on glass, that I can on a plastic. I've landed big fish on this, and catch and release sharks. Last year I hooked some massive tuna, but couldn't land them. They were the biggest fish I've ever had on a line, with huge girths. Bring on mackerel season! 
I lost a dozen lures and totally spooled two rods a few weeks before christmas trying to land some long tail tuna from my kayak, the school hung around for three or so hours. they hit hard and then just run run run,
I've caught GT's, mackerel and barra all close to the metre mark from my kayak, but none of those compared to how hard or fast these tuna were striking.
y' know when you see a school of bait fish all break the surface at once...
that's what these tuna were doing, dozens at a time and somewhere around 40kg each
Select to expand quotetheDoctor said..
I lost a dozen lures and totally spooled two rods a few weeks before christmas trying to land some long tail tuna from my kayak, the school hung around for three or so hours. they hit hard and then just run run run,
I've caught GT's, mackerel and barra all close to the metre mark from my kayak, but none of those compared to how hard or fast these tuna were striking.
y' know when you see a school of bait fish all break the surface at once...
that's what these tuna were doing, dozens at a time and somewhere around 40kg each
I thought you lived in NSW doctor...
the only state theDoctor lives in is general disarray
and maybe total confusion
and possibly denial (though I've never been to egypt)
Select to expand quotetheDoctor said..
I lost a dozen lures and totally spooled two rods a few weeks before christmas trying to land some long tail tuna from my kayak, the school hung around for three or so hours. they hit hard and then just run run run,
I've caught GT's, mackerel and barra all close to the metre mark from my kayak, but none of those compared to how hard or fast these tuna were striking.
y' know when you see a school of bait fish all break the surface at once...
that's what these tuna were doing, dozens at a time and somewhere around 40kg each
I've never had anything go as hard as the tuna either. Not sure of weight, but they were 5-6' long. Was trolling using either large slimeys or bonito rigged to look live? I kept getting my leader snapped by their tails. They were jumping like mad after they realised they were hooked, sometimes half a dozen times. It's the most spectacular fishing I've ever done, even though I couldn't land one. I don't know what I would have done even when I had them beside the kayak, it was too big to get onboard. Would have had to somehow secure it by its tail and drag it back in. Bummer I rigged up the go pro next day and all I caught on film was bronze whalers.
I have strong arm kayak loader to load kayak on roof. It won the ABC inventors show invention of the year. Coupled with those wheeleez kayak trolley I can launch solo. My kayak is 23kg. Their is a stealth pro fish carbon fibre version, but not as stable and big $.
The Stealth and the Hobie both look awesome. Fishing kayaks have sure come a long way since my days of bream spinning in a little plastic Perception with zero features. I Googled the Doc's Hobie and think I just need to man up!! In a womanly kind of way. They make tug boats that are lighter than that thing! 
the PA is like 50 kilos, and you can't really paddle them, it's all mirage drive
but they are awesome for inshore, up creeks, under wharves..
if I was to buy another fishing yak, I'd probably lean towards the hobie outback, just because totty can paddle it as well as use the mirage drive and it is still very stable
I also have the hobie adventure island, when using it as a kayak alone it is super fast and sleek through the water, but I'd hate to try and turn it around in a mangrove creek with a big tide running, or hook up a decent size shark.. they like to act like a massive dead
weight bag of wheat until you get them close, then they have an epileptic fit...
plus it doesn't have all the storage which comes in handy when fishing
Select to expand quotetheDoctor said...
this is my kayak rack with room for one more
Very nice. So you also apply the 'you can't play 18 holes of golf with one club' principle that I apply to the number of boards I own?
Select to expand quotetheDoctor said...
this is my kayak rack with room for one more
And here I was thinking your only recreational pursuit was being a stalker.
