I you have numbers (as if... like you're gonna write this down as you're bailing out) - If you can get me in the general area or someone with a FF can get me there, and its shallower than about 140 feet, I can surely dive onto the new reef, grab and send up on a lift bag whatever I can.

-Ken

Low cost solution:

http://www.bigwatersedge.com/bwegall...k_Mods_007.jpg

Thanks for the reminder that we all need from time to time. I usually go to LJ alone and can use all the tips I can get. I do tie my water pump to my yak as it does slide freely inside my x-factorvyak from front to back if you don't.

Glad to hear you made it back safely and thanks for sharing your story for the good of all.

More thoughts on this..
Sounds like you weren't in any major danger other than hypothermia and getting run over by a boat. A whistle can signal someone who's fishing nearby but won't be heard over the sound of a motor coming at you. I have SOLAS reflective tape on the back of my paddle blades and have been spoted 1.5 miles away. Expensive, but found it on ebay cheap, been on my blades with little to no wear 6-7years now.
If you're in the water and a boat is heading towards you and your in a PFD, you're only gonna have a few seconds to get it off and dive down.
I've heard it happen to a scuba guy who couldn't get his inflated BC off in time.

WOW
 

ED- How are those pad eyes attached inside your hull? I need to do that to keep things in place.

TO OP: First off- very glad you are safe (and that you still managed to get some fishin in after- crazy!) :you_rock:

This is a great reminder for those of us (myself included) to make sure safety is #1. It hasn't been my priority in recent outings.

I used to bring a little pump out with me until I lost it. They are only $6 at harbor freight.. Time to go shopping
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...emnumber=66418

Thanks for posting

Wow - that is an epic story. Glad you shared your experience to show the importance of being prepared.

I just read that putting reflective tape on the back of the paddles helps.

I have a couple dozen pool noodles in my X-Factor. It won't sink.

Glad you made it.

I was gonna say, I'd be willing to help look up to 100ft. I am sure you are a competent SCUBA diver, but be careful not getting NARC'd down there... Either way, I think it might be a HEAVY load trying to pull a kayak up full of water, from a boat, or otherwise.

Go Play a Lottery Ticket Today - you might still have some of that lucky Karma attached to You.

I'm glad to hear you survived the ordeal and would like to offer a suggestion to our kayak fishing community. Your calm head played an important part in your survival.

- As a former search and rescue firefighter, and motorcycle instructor I have survival mindset and carry this along to my kayak fishing, and many other things in my life.

On the bikes I used to teach students to Dress For the Crash.
This also applies to kayak fishing.
You have to assume you will be quickly parting from your vessel and in a fight for your life - on your own - in open water.

There are several things I don't leave home without:
PFD with Attached Water Whistle, Tethered Floating Icom VHF, Cell Phone in a small dry bag with SD Lifeguard Number on Speed Dial, Attached Knife, Water Proof Laser Flashlight (Its very bright even in daylight)
-A fresh charge on all your batteries.
-------------------------------------------

Its no joke out there, look out for your fellow kayak fisherman. By this time you should have a trained eye to spot the signs of a distressed kayak fisherman.
ie. Paddle waving in the air, whistle blowing, unusual noise (its usually quiet as a church out there), a person signaling with a flashlight.
-------------------------------------------

I caught one of my best fishing buddies while kayak fishing off La Jolla a few years ago using the perception I described above.

-He is Still the largest catch I have landed there to this day.
A 220 lb. Pilipino.:)

Wow, thanks for sharing. I've learned from this and I'm sure others will too.

I'm thinking about stuffing some empty 2 liter soda bottles in the empty areas of the yak.

Holy crap!:eek: Glad you made it!

Thanks buddy
 

I blend my own gas, and would bring very large lift bags specifically designed for the task, along with surface support and a like-minded buddy.

Some things you don't cowboy up, and one of them are recovery dives in water like this.

Thanks for looking out, but 'sall good.

Offer stills stands. I'm in SD 5/1 through 5/3 for some wreck diving (Hogan, Yukon, P38, etc.) so I'll have everything I need if you get me numbahs.


-Ken

Sorry this had to happen to you to make many of us start to think about this stuff more seriously.
-I am definitely getting a whistle to carry.
-I like the reflective tape on the paddle idea as well, gonna look into that.
-I am going to at least put a deck plate on my yak and carry a hand bilge pump.
-I am going to actually fix the leak in my stern this year:D

A couple questions-

Do the pool noodles really work in side the yak?
I have heard that deck bots can be used as a floatation device in a pinch. could you do the same waders?

Mike

A couple of guys on the Australian Kayak Fishing Forum did some tests on swamped kayaks to see how effective pool noodles are. See the thread for the full info. http://www.akff.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=5953

Basically, 6-8 pool noodles will keep a kayak from sinking completely, but it will not be stable enough to support you. Somebody else did some tests and found that you almost have to fill the hull with noodles to displace enough water to make the yak stable enough to paddle. The take-away is that the pool noodles will keep the yak near/on the surface so you can recover your gear, but you are still going for a swim.

Glad you're safe and sound. Last year before I bought my Yak I was invited out on some friends boats, 3 different boats. All 3 boats took on water and the owners just assumed that everything was O.K. and never bothered to test their pumps prior to heading out. It was then I started packing a pump with me in the event that happens again, at least I know I have a pump that works. No boats ever sunk, but it was not fun taking on water like that. Talk about kicking it into high gear and running back to the launch.

It takes 10 minutes to do a quick safety check on you boat or yak, and it's worth every minute. Glad you're O.K.

Looks like a sump pump in the hull may be the only way to save your butt if the pool noodles don't amount to cr@p.

Just like most any other boat that fills with water, it's going to turtle and be non-functional. The question is will it sink like a rock or float and be at least a little positive.

I say the pool noodles are NOT utterly useless.

When a shark bites your boat and water cannot be prevented from filling your hull you will be glad to have the noodles keep the boat from sinking.

I'm not looking for paddling performance when a shark is circling - I just want to be able to stay on my boat.

Time for my own experiment...

I'll have it on youtube.

hee hee...
 

Gallons, please. Not liters.

Just sayin - measure the amount of water you pour into the hull in Gallons.

:wink:


-K

Clean hull and padeyes with alcohol, lightly sand and use a generous amount of Goop (no rivets). Stronger than it looks. I'm on my second season with no failure.

could've been saved by a piece of velcro attched to the hand pump staionary so u always knoe where it is but glad u are o.k.

Wow! Thanks for sharing this. Glad you're OK and you made it home safely to fish another day. Great example to beginners like me of what can go wrong and how quickly a boat can sink.

Thanks to everyone for the various suggestions of items to carry on a PFD. I for one will be making some adjustments to wear my gear is.

wow
glad ure oks
late to read this
but very glad i did

guess i always kinda thought
that even it my yak fills with water
it would still kinda stay at the surface
maybe not float but not sink
but maybe not
i do bring alot of tackle to
so prob not

gonna get some noodles now for sure
at least enough to float my lead and irons

i recommend waterproof cell phone
i have the g-zone for a few years now
keep it clipped next to my vhf on my pdf
cell in a baggy
aint gonna be much help in choppy water
with u in the water too

paul

Damn Tom - I'm glad you are ok!

Let me jump on the bandwagon and express my sympathy for your loss while applauding your ability to not become a causality yourself. Survival when things go bad on the water takes the right mix of experience, common sense and good luck. It looks like you had all three.

Always the innovator, I started thinking about what kind of an accessory might have made this event less costly. I bet a simple device could be constructed that consists of an inflatable bladder that could be filled with air or CO2 by pulling a pin or pressing a button. This bladder, (probably two of them), could be installed in the unused spaces inside the yak in the bow and stern. Just like the air bags in cars, they would go unused for the life of most kayaks but when that emergency occurred, they could be inflated to keep the yak from visiting Davey Jones.

Another idea would be to fill these same unused areas in the bow and stern with lightweight foam making the kayak as unsinkable as a Boston Whaler.

If anyone decides to run with either of these ideas, please let me know and I tell you where to send the royalty checks.

Bob

i just got an idea

how bout a yak design
that incorps a 1 or 2" layer of floation
thruout the yaks hull
uniformly
so it would have 2 layers of hull
with the floatation inside it

a few bulkheads with flotation
might be a handy project too

Putting a cell phone in a baggy and stowing it on your PFD is a great idea but... If you have a touch screen cell phone, ie; iphone or droid it may not work if your hands are wet and baggies get holes. I bought a cheap little dry pouch for around $4 and will keep my droid in that. I tested it tonight in the sink to see if I could dial the touch screen through the pouch while it was wet and it worked perfectly. This will be a permanent item for my PFD.

Just finished installing my new bungee hold down for my drift chute and hand pump. Thought of a couple of things on the install. Wanted one side of the bungee to be fool proof release, so just a simple plastic hook to wrap the padeye (don't want to be fiddling with a locking terminal). And didn't want to have to leave the center (seat) of my yak to fish it out, so put it in my center hatch. I don't know if my front hatch would stay above water if I had to crawl up there with my yak half filled.

I like the CO2 air bag idea! If you can come up with a small storage device, and a non-electric triggering device that would be easily accessible, and not easily accidentally triggered.

Pool noodles do provide some buoyancy, the relative flotation provided depends on the amount of stuff you have on your yak that is heavier than water. Unfortunately, they also take up some valuable space like the air bladders you can put in the ends of the hull.

WOW!
sh*t happens really fast!
thanks for sharing your story..
I must now attach my pump somehow...
never thought about the floating pump floating out of reach...
kinda makes me feel stupid!!
No...REALLY makes me feel stupid...
I have had a leaky Hobie on more than one occasion...
and my tackle tray was floating, my sponge was floating,
but my pump was in the bow and had not floated...yet....
F*ck I feel so retarded...
never even thought about the pump floating out of reach...
just goes to show...even when prepared...things can still go wrong...

I really dig that you fished the the rescuers!!!! way cool!!!!

hey greg...
can you take a picture...
I like the sound of your idea...

Cool. I would like to do this myself as well. We have a cr@p load of noodles for our pool.

I used to live up in Humboldt. Surf, Fish, Free-dive for Ab's. It's a whole different deal in the water up there. Deadly.....

[QUOTE=yakrider;55599]WOW!
sh*t happens really fast!

I agree 100 %:) Be Prepared and have a plan. Between luck, comfort in the water, good physical fitness (I mtn bike regularly and have been swimming laps recently to prepare for my Mentawaii Islands surf trip next month) knowing the waters I was swimming in (ie. currents, fishing grounds, landmarks, etc), remaining calm (I work in emergency medicine and thus trained to stay calm when the stuff is hitting the fan), and staying focused on the task at hand (but had brief thoughts of my wife and cats (no kids yet) and AquaHunter's picture holding his half eaten WSB with the Condo in the background.....but very brief). Thankfully, it all worked outI was able to get out of a gnarly situation. Went to IHOP for the first time on the way home and ate breakfast (a few bites anyways) and at home laid in a pool of sweat with a high fever (probably a stress reaction) that night and was called into work the next day due to a colleagues family emergency....I was a little tore up but Life is Good ! Hypothermia was my main concern out there! My feet were feeling cold forsure and I think along with Churchill fins I will pack one of my wetsuits in my emergency bag. Again, I appreciate all information that everyone is sharing to help everyone stay safe out there.:you_rock:

[QUOTE=Billy V;55544]Go Play a Lottery Ticket Today - you might still have some of that lucky Karma attached to You.

I did that twice this week:)

Wow
 

Hell of a story. I am sorry for your loss. That is obviously all of our collective nightmares. Although I gotta say, I am glad it happened to a guy who could handle himself.

And to keep fishing......awesome.

I too, will throw in my name as a guy willing to loan you gear considering I am often away on travel.

I will be gone (ie my gear is available) May 3-7th and again June 4-18th. Pm me if you need to borrow it.

holly crap!!! reminds me of the time i sunk a malibu2 in scorpion bay!!! long swim, gill nets, hammerheads....crazy!!!

When the yak sunk did you have a hatch open? I'm guessing you did if it sunk as fast as you said.....

does your (old) bait tank sit inside a hatch with the cover removed?? if so I would have a hard time calling any kayak with that type of tank "seaworthy"

like any other ocean going vessel an open/insecured hatch is just a disaster waiting to happen....even in mild conditions.


OHH yeh and like the others have said....ur a BAMF for finishing the day with a pole in your hands!!!

2 liter bottles will only keep your kayak from sinking to the bottom, that's it. They only provide flotation when the water level pushes then against the hull. It is better to wedge pool noodles in the hull for positive flotation. I have 10+ stuffed in the stern of my Trident 15, some large size, some the skinny Walmart ones. The large ones are under the seat, and I put the rod butts in the holes to keep my reels off the bottom. But I am going to tether my pump today, and I have a spare bilge pump for my other boat in the garage, I'm going to wire it up and install it this weekend.


Glad your ok Big Barrel. I'm also glad it was your "teachable moment" and not mine. I would have been waving :paddleersmilie: as I sunk to the bottom.

[QUOTE=-scallywag-;55633]holly crap!!! reminds me of the time i sunk a malibu2 in scorpion bay!!! long swim, gill nets, hammerheads....crazy!!!

Sounds sketchy! glad you made it! How did you go down?

Q: When the yak sunk did you have a hatch open? I'm guessing you did if it sunk as fast as you said.....

A: All hatches were closed when on the water and as I was sinking I openened and closed the front hatch in search of the sump pump and then opened and closed the center hatch in search of the sump pump.....so I 'm thinking the entire system failure was the rear hatch where the bait tank was sitting in.....I'm glad it actually sank fast because I would have probably hung on tho the kayak or sat on it and then with the southward current ended up who knows where.....I was therefore able to stay in the fishing grounds during my swim and have a better chance of a pick up by a private boat or fellow kayaker

Q: does your (old) bait tank sit inside a hatch with the cover removed?? if so I would have a hard time calling any kayak with that type of tank "seaworthy"

A: Yes, that was the setup. I was skeptical of the setup sometime after buying it......but never had any issues with it......but then I always ran it on the timer.....I will always have a bait tank that sits on top now and does not communicate with the inside of the kayak...

Soooo glad you are Ok that is one story with a truly happy ending. About what to use to dry out your cell phone;try those little bags of silica absorbant you see in shoe boxes,electronic gear etc. fill a plastic container(like an empty peanut butter jar) with this stuff,than put your cell phone in it, it will wick the moisture away from it.......H:cool:

Thanks herbo!

I just googled for "silicone moisture absorbent" and found this link http://www.silicagelpackets.com/irec...rying-kit.html
Thay have a bag that you just place your phone or camera into and seal it for 72 hours to pull the moisture out.