Hi guys, so I have just returned from my kontiki's maiden voyage on the west coast.
Been home built, 46lb motor, electronic timer, electronic adjustable rudder (not GPS yet).
For the first time out it went well. Was water tight and had plenty of get up and go.
My brother and took her out to Ruapuke on the south end this morning. After 2 hours of trying to get her out we spent our battery life and patience.
Granted the it was rather rough, and set face was about 2m, we simply couldnt get it out past the breakers without a wave broadsiding and sending the konitki on a bee line parallel with the beach or straight back to us.
We tried applying drag to the line to pull the rear end around to straighten her up, tried sending her out at and angle to the beach to allow for some current drift, sent her out in some rips but simply couldnt get past the last set of breakers into calmer water.
As a newbie, was this simply to rough to send out? I thought about GPS guidance, but really the way it was getting chucked around out there, I really dont think it would have made a difference.
I've no doubt I could set her out on Waihi beach or Papamoa with relative ease (providing its not too rough), but as for the west coast, are there any tips and tricks?