Background:

I have made about 40 fishing and a few snorkeling trips from my kayak (Hobie Outback) for the past 2 years. My previous kayak was a homemade skin over frame type ( I think you could capsize it in world record time) I used it to explore the bays of Baja. After a year or so I did some Kayak surfing.

I have been a life long boater, who did a lot of water sports as a youth. In the navy I attended SCUBA diving school and served as the Ship’s Diver for seven years, or so.

Before I detail the chain of events, which lead to my capsizing, I would like to address how did the water get into my Yak? I don’t know. I have contacted Hobie, and I can assure you they also want to know. I will be delivering my hull for test and analysis later this week. I will post the results of their findings.

INCIDENT:
I capsized my Hobie Outback in Jamaica Bay during a kayak fishing tournament. I was approximately 2 ½ miles from the mainland launch site. (Floyd Bennett Field)

Some of the things I did wrong were:
· Waterproof VHF was not charged…
o If you don’t have one buy one that floats. (Icom makes one)
· Didn’t have my dry top on. (discussed later)
· Didn’t have a kayak bilge pump on board.
· Didn’t have battery ready for rollover.
· Didn’t have camera in a quality Waterproof bag.
· Don’t go out alone.
· Didn’t have a kayak pump (cups and sponger are of little use)
o Scotty & Beckson make them.

Some things I have read in this form that would have greatly helped me:
· Think about carrying a flare kit and fins

Some of the things that helped me during my self-rescue
· Practiced self rescue every year in my yak
o Train like you fight - Fight like you train.
· Stayed focused on what do to now
o Don’t dwell on how you got there – Its How are you going to get out that will save you.
· Don’t panic, draw on your life’s experiences and the resources on hand.
· If a step in your self-recovery doesn’t work out, focus on what you should do next.
· Do not reflect on your life or loved ones. Focus on the current step of your recovery.
· I frequent the gym to get a good cardio workout, especially during the off season.
· Knowing that I could do this… (Think Positive)

During this event I learned several things. I think one of the most important is anything I had stored inside my kayak would have been useless during this event, until I made land… Boy did that water taste good!

Note to readers: I have tried to not leave anything out of this. If you don’t have much time or don’t want the details this is as far as you need to read.

This is the chain of events that happened at Jamaica Bay.
For those of you that haven’t been there it is as wide as Fishers Island sound.
· Saturday weather was wind form the East at 15-20 knots, forecast to drop to 5-12 by mid morning.
· Sea conditions were relatively flat with small choppy waves.
· I launched at 6:20 am and headed out towards the spot in the bay I had selected (3 hour peddle).
· My partner had an equipment problem that delayed him; we agreed to meet up in the selected fishing grounds.
· DON’T GO OUT ALONE!
· After 1-½ hours I stopped and caught a small fish. I didn’t notice any thing different about the handling of the Outback. I resumed my course to the fishing grounds (Directly into the Wind and Waves)
· Had I been using bait VS. plastic, I would have opened my hatch and seen excessive water in the hull.
· ALL SAILORS SHOULD DO HOURLY CHECKS OF THE BILGE.
· I noticed waves splashing over my bow and around my FWD hatch, then draining into the wet well. Wave frequency was every 4 seconds, or so.
· I didn’t hear any unusual sounds, but the wind was blowing and my hood was up.
· I wasn’t worried because my Outback had seen much rougher seas and wind.
· I altered my course 15º to the left to head for the tip of an Island (p-call)
· Shortly after the course change I noticed that my Kayak wanted to tilt to the left twice
· This had never happened before.
· DON’T IGNORE CHANGES IN HOW YOUR YAK HANDLES
· I wasn’t sure why it did this but I decided to make a direct course to the closest part of the island (15º more to the left)
· Now 30 ºoff the seas, the first small wave that hit me capsizing my Kayak.
· I remember saying to my self, “This can’t be happening, my yak is 34” wide…
· When I got back to the surface (Thank you PFD) I said to myself “What is the next step?” I turned my yak over. This was the easiest part of this self-rescue.
· PRACTICE THIS EVERY YEAR IN DEEP WATER
· After righting my Kayak I went to clime back into the cockpit (I snorkel often from my YAK) and noticed the draft was low
· Looking into the cockpit I noticed the water level in the wet well was at the bottom of the upper decal (in-front of the drive). This is about an inch higher than when I am sitting in the YAK. (estimated 35-40 gallons of water.
· DON’T DISPARE WHEN THINGS DON’T WORK OUT, SELECT A NEW STEP IN THE PLAN.
· At this point I realized that I was not going to be able to de-water with the small sponge I had onboard.
· ALWAYS CARRY A KAYAK PUMP.
· (Dude has done this for a long time)
· At this point I started swimming (towing my outback) to the Island that I was heading for. (58º water temp). Current was flowing out carrying me to the left.
· SWIM WITH OR ACROSS THE CURRENT
· I remember that from Boy Scouts!
· As I swam I noticed that I was being set to the left, at one point I remember reminding my self to stay focused on my swimming as not to miss the island.
· STAY FOCUSED ON YOUR CURRENT STEP OF RECOVERY!
· As I approached the Island I saw a kayaker fishing along the shore of the Island. I tried to signal with my emergency whistle, then I remembered the small air horn in my PFD. NO SUCCESS…
· After a 45 Min swim I landed on the Abandoned Island of Canarsie Pol, cold tired and a Outback full of water.
· I quickly realized my next step was to empty my waiters.
· I was wearing breathable waiters, which were not a problem until I tried to get out of the water.
· WEAR A WADER BELT
· They combined with my sexy black silk tights kept my legs in good shape.
· I emptied the water out of each leg, while sitting on the bow of the yak. After each leg of the waders were drained my leg went right back in
· Getting fully dressed including PFD was the next step
· PRESERVE YOUR BODY HEAT
· I can’t tell you how much I love the ball cap and hood of my sweatshirt I was wearing…
Note: I chose not to wear my dry-top because I would have overheated. I should have had a wader belt and lighter weight dry top … I did have multiple layers, Silk T, long sleeve T, Hooded sweatshirt, and a wind/splash breaker. This with my hat and conventional PFD really helped me to preserve the body heat.
I found an excellent article on Cold Weather Kayak Wear http://kayakfishingstuff.com/articles_view...ayak_Articles=9
· This Island was so deserted I knew that my self-rescue was not over. It was a simple phone call away. I hadn’t been able to use my phone, as it was safely stored in the waterproof pouch in my waders.
· ALWAYS THINK OF HOW YOU WILL USE YOUR EMERGENCY EQUIPMENT WHILE IN THE WATER.
· (DON’T HAVE IT STORED IN YOUR YAK)
· If its important have it in a waterproof bag in your PFD pockets
· If your PFD doesn’t have pockets, YOU NEED A NEW ONE!
· I retrieved my phone from the waterproof pouch. The lied it was wet.
· FOCUS ON WHAT THE NEXT STEP SHOULD BE.
· I emptied the water from the yak by rolling it over in the water, pushing the bow to shore and raising stern.
· Before leaving the uninhabited Island I dried out the inside of the Yak and inspected for leaks. – None found.
· I re-hydrated with the bottles of water stored inside my yak. The water bottles I had on top were long gone.
· I then paddled 1 hr 20 min with the wind and seas astern to return to the launch.
· I then inspected the inside and found very little water (Normal condition)

I thought this would not happen to me… It can happen to anyone. I hope this will help you all to be safer kayakers.
PS: Nils I can’t wait to get back out there… with a buddy.
Thanks for all the well wishes
Tim

Tim, glad you are okay and thanks for posting the details. It really drives the safety issues home.

Tim,

thank you for that write up and I'm looking forward to go fishing with you this summer... I did a few edits to bring out some of the points, hope you don't mind. I'm also posting it on the home page so others may find it and learn from it.

I hope Hobie can figure out where the water came in and that they give us an honest evaluation and answer. I rather deal with a company that is up front with their problems and will work with us on finding the reason for the leak than a company that will attempt to hide any problem they may find.

Nils

Tim,

Thanks for the post. Very informative I'm sure that your experience will help us all.

Wow!

That was an eye opening read! thanks for posting.

Tim,

Glad you could share with us. Hearing your story again gave me shivers.
Although there were 200 other kayaks, at times I was all alone. That wind let up only momentarily and came back stronger. I ended up by Canarsie Pol and that was weird wind and current.
You made some great points.
I thought I would not need the bilge pump on the SOT.
My phone was in the seat and flares in the hatch.
And my fishing buddy was home.

Your positive attitude and training gave great strength and confidence.

Hope to fish with you this season.

This may be the most informative and important post I've ever read on this site. Thanks, Tim.

Thanks for posting! Its concerning that so much water can come in without a visable leak... Did the mirage drive come out when you flipped, did it make if more difficult to attempt reentry. ( Hobies seem to be the way everyone is going these days and just curious if the extra component in the middle of the yak is a problem during reentry).

Seems like physical and mental toughness we a big factor in the way this came out, if you were 50# overweight and out of shape do you think you may have drowned or just bobbed around for hours?

Train like you fight - fight like you train.. I like that!

Thank you Tim for sharing this with all. As Time said, everyone need to conduct a self rescue and practice it until you are comfortable with it...before it becomes necessary, for it is not if you go in, but rather when. We all have gone in and when it happens it is a complete surprise. Some very big things to come away from this:

First - we will be fishing with you again this year
Next - buy a good PDF, one that is comfortable, for if it is not, you will not wear it. Ct laws currently require you to wear a PFD from Oct - May and have one available at all other times. In you PDF you should at a minimum have a adio signaling device - whistle; a signaling mirror,; an escape knife; and a waterproof VHF Radio.
Paddle Leash - get one...don't want to be up the creek without a paddle.
Protective Clothing - Spring time is especially dangerous with warm air temperatures, but colder water temperatures...water temps below 58 degrees can suck the life out of you very quickly, as a matter of fact once your core body temps drops 2-4 degrees mild to strong shivering occurs. At this point one normally does not even have the dexterity of strength to conduct a self-rescue. Once your core temps drop 4-7 degress you begin to become confused and your lips become blue. Once your core temp drops 10 degrees shivering usually stops, you will have difficulty speaking, sluggish thinking, and amnesia starts to appear; inability to use hands and stumbling is also usually present. Cellular metabolic processes shut down, major organs start to fail and death occurs. I recommend neoprene waders, they not only cost less, but fit tight enough that wadding belts are not required to keep the water from flooding them and they are positively buoyant. Use a dry top in conjunction with the waders and pull the bottom seal way past the upper part of the waders. Then secure it all at the waist with a wadding belt to provide a good water seal between your upper and lower dry suit setup.
Last - Buddy Plan...don't go out allow!!!!!!!!!
Now - good dump yourself and learn to save your life. Like Tim said...you fight like your train, so you had better train like you want to fight. Fair winds, tight lines, and be safe.

To answer the question adout the drive, it's locked in and was un affected during this event, If anyhing it acted as a keel while towing.

Getting back into the Hobie is not normally a problem. I I have practiced self-rescue and swam off my yak several times never having a re-entry problem. (even with equipment on board)

Thanks for the post. This is the only way to learn form others

Tim

Tim,

I didn't hear about this incident and when I read your post my heart sank.

First and foremost, we are so glad you had the presence of mind to do the right thing(s). We are all grateful that today you can live to tell the story.

Second, thanks so much for sharing with the community. Nils was nice enough to mention (and link) your experience on the yakdawgs site...so I hope you don't mind that I copied the thread and posted it to make sure folks READ IT IN ITS ENTIRETY.

Again, I'm glad you are safe. The lessons learned from the experience and your story are priceless.

Take care bud, and hope to fish with you soon.

Rol

Glad to hear you made it through this experience safely!! Well done under difficult circumstances.

Roland, go ahead. this is important enough to spread...

To anyone who is quoting the post please give credit to Tim and post a back link to his post...

Nils

Roland,

Spreading the word will make SOT Kayak fishing much safer...

Thanks

Tim

Outstanding report, Salmontim. Glad you're OK.
Do you think an emergency strobe light might have made your position more noticeable in those conditions?

That's an excellent Idea,

Thanks

Tim

I finally got to read this and I am glad I did. I am all for practicing a self rescue once a year if not more. Complacency!....I am guilty of that too, along with everyone else. lol

I fish 99 percent of the time alone. If I didn't do that, I would not fish as much. I don't feel it's a risk and that's for me. At Jam Bay there were 100's. Upon thinking about going out in groups we usually spread out and fish. So it's still up to the individual in the long run. Even in a group there are times where I would not launch, If I am not comfortable launching because of conditions I will not do it. I am surprised the tournament was not canceled or put off till Sunday. Not everyone can paddle or peddle in conditions as mentioned above and not everyone wants a Hobie. Heck, even the Hobie had issues on that day. Personal safety is up to the individual. Any help after that is a bonus.

I don't think many here have practiced an assisted self rescue. I never practiced it either but had to do it for 2 kayakers off my beach that were in trouble. Had a paddler climb into my empty tankwell, clinging for dear life, cold and scared. Another time it was a kayak fisherman off Faun Bar in a SIK that got swamped, he had no pump. There were 2 of us that time and believe me, water weighs 8.33lbs per gallon, fill a SIK with water or a SOT in Tim's situation and that's a lot of weight to tow. Tim, you are one strong dude. It took all that we had to tow a SIK full of water that day for a mile.

Tim's post will help 100's maybe 1000's. Thanks for posting.

This post has been edited by The Riddler: May 13 2008, 03:59 PM