On my way out to the 3 mile spot on the Windward side, I was porpoising through choppy water when the kayak stopped tracking. I turned around and was shocked to see my rudder-mounted Bixpy motor on the side of the kayak. It was still connected to the power cable, and since I was alone that day, I didn’t want to risk getting into the water to put it in the kayak. So I paddled the 2 miles back to shore in following seas with no rudder, as the yak pulled to one side. Good thing the wind blows onshore on that side of the island.

Back home, I found out the plastic Bixpy rudder broke off from constantly lifting out of the water in chop, and the power cable was damaged. Even though the rudder mount was out of warranty, Bixpy sent me a new one and I ordered replacement power cables.

The SmartTrack rudder that was originally on my Trident Ultra 4.3 is spring loaded to return to position after being lifted up by hand or by swell, and is more robust than the Bixpy rudder but not meant to hold a motor. I attached the motor to it and stress tested it in adverse conditions. The rudder mounted motor stayed in place in the 20 mph headwind and choppy, swelly condtions, and performed better than the Bixpy rudder because the SmartTrack rudder kept the motor pointing in the proper plane. I even climbed out and circumnavigated the kayak and climbed back in twice. I got winded climbing in the second time but it was good to know I could if I needed to.

My Samsung Galaxy S8 Active phone (3 yrs old) is supposed to be waterproof and was in my PFD jacket pocket went I went underwater twice, so I dunked it in fresh water just in case, to rinse off. About 30 mins later the screen went black and the phone started buzzing intermittently. I couldn’t shut it off and ended up taking it apart to prevent further short circuits, then drying it in a ziplock back with those moisture absorbers you find in food packages. Subsequent research showed that the S8 phones are prone to water damage if submerged, especially in salt water – ugh.

Since my cell is my lifeline as yours probably is, I got a $70 Walmart smart phone (AT&T Maestro Plus) that night and am really surprised how capable it is. It can do everything my S8 Active could do. They had to save money somewhere, so the case and buttons are plasticy, the display isn’t as crisp as my old phone, and the call quality is a notch lower. But all in all, it’s pretty darn good for being 1/10 the replacement price of my S8 Active. I guess the previous years’ cutting edge cell phone technology eventually trickles down to the budget phones.

These equipment breakdowns caused me to miss two light wind days but it could have been much worse. It was a wake up call that bad things can happen when you’re offshore on a kayak, and you should be as prepared as possible.

Well, my S8 Active was still broken after I reassembled it, so I may eventually purchase a middle-of-the road Samsung Galaxy and use the Walmart phone as the kayak and backup phone. On the kayak I’ll be putting the phone in a waterproof case, and using the Rogue Fishing Company tether to keep it from sinking to the bottom. Lessons learned.