Just a reminder on how dangerous the kayak fishing can be.
 

This individual obviously did not practice self rescue. Also, a cheap Ascend Kayak should not have an added motor. I also believe he packed the kayak over the weight limit.

https://youtu.be/Bx_VB6jboEE

Yup
 

There's a lot of reminders in that video. That knife was extremely dull, no radio, the swimmer almost capsized his buddy, he didn't even try to flip back over and get back in. His buddy stayed pretty calm during the whole show. Panic can be a killer. In addition to having proper equipment and practicing self rescue, it's good to frequently remind yourself of what could go wrong, and do mental exercises of what you would do if things go south. It will reduce the cahnce of panic. Thanks for sharing.

So much wrong with this...

Couldn't even finish watching the video because the stupid mistakes they kept doing were just endless. Totally unprepared. You can't fix stupid! It's like the stories that pop up all the time of people falling off the edge of a cliff while taking a selfie.

The least they could have done is explained what happened so that maybe someone could learn from their mistakes. Kayak did not look overloaded to me, but who knows? Why didn't they flip the kayak right side up and paddle it in? Poorly prepared.

Holy crap. I’m not going to pile on........but this is priceless :D

This comment got a chuckle out of me too :cheers1:

Are they trying to cut line with a clam knife. That thing won’t even cut line. Always practice flipping and reentry. Get off your phone and get your buddy back in! Phones are for when all else fails. No pump, no vhf radio I don’t even see a paddle. Idiots. Best idiot line ever from the homie on the yak “I called the coast guard cuz it’s like kinda what you do” LMFAO NO gps, hey I’m in the ocean!

He says in the comments that the hull was cracked. I'm not sure how much self rescue and having a hand bilge would have helped him at this point.

I think I saw this kayak on sale with the motor combined for $1999. So I think this is their top of the line setup.

There are several steps of a self rescue plan. All steps are not used each time, but they help in certain situations. I have seen several of these videos and know specific individuals who after flipping kayak back over and using a bilge pump, allowed them to get back to shore. He put himself in a situation that he did not plan for. The old saying is "Fail to plan, plan to fail".

I'm sure the parts of the video where he recognized the kayak was going down would reveal a whole lot more.

I would not go out without a bilge pump and periodic checks inside the hull.

Why not mention it in the video, or at least in the explanation of the video? A bad video does not merit the time to read his replies to other's comments. It has been my experience that cracks start out small and grow with time. I used a cracked outback for 3 months, and the crack grew maybe an inch during that time. What caused the crack? Where was the crack? So much lacking information, that otherwise might have made this video informative. In a bind, a piece of plastic bag can be jammed into a crack to arrest the leakage so the yak can be pumped out. If one carries flex tape, there is a good chance one can patch the crack, pump the water out of the kayak, and not have to burden rescue authorities. As long as the kayak is floating, there was a chance of self-rescue, especially with his buddy standing by. I guess neither had a means of bailing water -- Shame.

Are they not wearing PFDs? Am I seeing right?

Hey, saw a lot of traffic on my video from here so I decided to follow up. There was no way to self rescue as the hull spontaneously cracked, making reentry impossible. This Ascend kayak is actually built and designed for a motor, specifically. The kayak was also around 100lbs under max capacity at launch.

The hull cracked and was compromised in a water channel that pushes water to a scupper, so it took water very fast. The kayak wasn't overloaded, it just spontaneously cracked. This made it impossible to reenter and paddle. Thanks!

I actually wasn't filming when the kayak initially cracked, and did not turn on my camera until after the boat capsizing as I was busy trying to remedy the problem. I had no bilge pump, which is something I should probably own, and in that sense it was a mistake. But due to the crack in a scupper channel it would not have helped. Thanks 👍

Hey, I'm the guy that flipped! I completely agree after reading some comments like yours that I should have done a better job explaining the situation. I was in the water for over an hour, and after putting that video together I didn't wanna make it any longer. I'll do a video soon explaining mistakes for sure. I'm not sure what caused the crack, it was pretty spontaneous and was right at the dump of a water channel to a scupper. Which meant waves over the bow were entering the hull, instead of the scupper. A plastic bag or tape is a great idea! It'll be in the bag next time, I just wasn't prepared for a crack like that to happen. The kayak hull was filled and then capsized, with 0 chance of reentry. Thank you for the feedback!

Spontaneously cracked?

What size motor is it designed for?

You don't check hull integrity when on the water shortly after launch and before you make it 3 miles offshore? Lot's of kayakers, myself included check often.

Good comments.

Standard routine before launching -- Make one or two walks around the kayak to inspect the hull integrity, make sure the drain scuppers are tightly secure and the rudder deployed properly and is functioning. Double-check that all gear is sufficiently secured for surf transit.

Your welcome. Sorry for your loss. You can post your explanation video on this thread for clarity of what happened. When a kayak hull gets partially filled with water, it creates an unstable situation known as the free surface effect. Often, this can make it impossible to re-enter the kayak without causing it to capsize again. A solution would be to secure the leak and pump the water out while alongside the kayak in the water. Once the water is pumped out of the hull, the kayak will be stable enough to board.