Broken Kayak

Three Hour Tour Turns into an Epic Adventure

This past September we, along with our friend Jason, had the opportunity to explore some of the beautiful and dynamic Oregon coast. Oregonian, Don Beale, a builder of hand crafted Greenland Style paddles and a heck of a nice guy, offered to be our guide on this “three hour tour.”

Two weeks prior, someone had stolen Karen’s Romany LV kayak, while we were in the Grand Canyon. So this trip in Depoe Bay was to be the maiden ocean voyage of her new Epic 18 Endurance kayak. She was excited…little did she know how excited she and the rest of us would soon be.

It was a beautiful day; north winds less than 10 knots, 5 foot swells, warm temperatures, and blue skies…ahhhh…perfect paddling.

Karen (on the left) enjoying her new kayak.

Previously, we had paddled the Epic 18 Endurance on flat water and had liked how it handled; fast, maneuverable and lightweight. Karen found those same qualities present as she paddled in the 5 foot swells of Depoe Bay.

Our friend Jason, who was visiting us from New Hampshire, is a skillful whitewater canoeist and enjoys sea kayaking on the east coast. But it was his first time paddling out west…and let’s just say he wasn’t used to the size and rhythm of the swells from the Pacific Ocean and soon began to feel queasy and turn a pasty white.

Jason – thankful to be ashore at Fogarty Creek

To get Jason’s sea legs back and his stomach calm, we stopped at Fogarty Creek for some lunch, relaxation and a little hike. The things we get our friends into - sorry Jason J .

Our fearless leader Don (center) with Karen and Jason J.

After lunch we decided to do some equipment swapping. Bob hopped into Karen’s Epic 18 to give it a test drive, Jason took Bob’s Dagger Meridian and Karen paddled one of Don’s beautiful wooden sea kayaks.

Bob, never one to shy away from the white (water) stuff wanted to try the boat out in a little more conditions and went searching for some waves to play in.

Bob heads out to test the Epic in a little surf.

Bob found his playground and test lab in the name of 5 to 6 foot breaking waves.

He loved how the Epic road up and over waves, but did find it more of a challenge to surf than his Dagger Meridian.

Before lunch we had paddled near an area with 10 to 15 foot breaking waves.

That afternoon, as we headed back and paddled near the site again, it appeared (after muchobservation) that the incoming tide had lulled those waves to sleep. Don and Bob were discussing this transition, when the sleeping giant woke.

While Don examined his charts and notes on the tides, Bob looked out to sea…just in time to see the first wave heading their way. Bob knew he was going to ride over the swell OK, but Don, being several yards further in, was not going to be so lucky. Bob called out a warning just in time for Don to look up, gather his paddle and brace into the breaking wave. As the wave died away and Don turned around to go out, a second wave came roaring in. Luckily, Don was able to paddle off to the side and let the wave pass. The third wave, 10 feet and the largest of the set, had Bob’s name all over it. Just as it was about to break, Don called to him. Bob looked up at the large wave and thought “oh, sugar, (well not exactly those words) I am toast.” He rode up its face, braced at the top and then it dropped him down him about five feet.

We heard a distinct “thunk” as he landed. It didn't sound good. Bob yelled to us that his boat was broken and he needed help. Don, who was the closest to him, quickly came to offer assistance. Karen arrived soon after to lend a hand.

The site of the 10 foot crashing wave returns to calm.
Don gives Bob a tow. Notice the incredible shrinking (or sinking) stern.

Fortunately, the waves subsided, allowing us time to tow Bob away from the crash site. Those waves never did reappear for the remainder of the time (an hour or so) we were on the water and if Bob and Don had been to the right or left of it by 50-75 feet this would not had happened. Talk about a narrow window.

Although we filled the broken stern of the kayak with airbags, it would not support Bob’s weight. It was sinking underneath him and he had to get out. So he laid across the back deck of Don’s boat, as we towed the Epic and paddled over to meet Jason.

During this whole time, Jason had been bobbing up and down in the ocean swells, trying to stay close at hand to offer help if needed. By the time we reached him he wasn’t looking or feeling so good and wanted out of his boat. One little problem though….we were still about a mile from shore. So after a brief discussion we came up with a solution.

Bob ended up back in his Meridian, towing the Epic. Don and I rafted up together and had Jason lay on our back decks. It wasn’t long before we were all back at our lunch site - Fogarty Creek.

Bob surveys the damaged boat.

Once on shore we surveyed the damage. The deck seams had split apart from the forward bulkhead all the way to the stern. The forward compartment was the only thing that kept us from losing the boat.

That afternoon we tried to call Greg Barton at the Epic office in Charleston, South Carolina to inform him of our adventure. Unfortunately, due to the three hour time difference we were unable to reach him until the next morning. By then he had already heard and seen the pictures on the web. Word travels fast in the kayaking community.

Greg was extremely apologetic and concerned. Previously, Epic had had some problems with their resin and the installation of their seams, but thought they had since fixed the problem. Greg asked for the serial number of the boat. He needed to find if it was manufactured during that time period or if it was built afterwards and this was now a new problem. Come to find out our boat was an older model that had been made during that time period. Greg assured us that the problem had been dealt with and wanted to know how he could make it up to us.

We love paddling the Epic Endurance 18. It’s lightweight, fast, and maneuverable. It is also reasonably priced and comes with great customer service. While it might not be the best boat to take out surfing, we would not hesitate to get another one. So we are… getting another one. We should have it in a few weeks and look forward to getting back out on the water with it.

Despite it all we had a great time. We learned a lot. We laughed a lot.