whoops - and expensive lesson learned

[jonnyboy]

Out plugging from the yak with Lee last night - the spawny git had 3 to my none - on his third fish ( a better one of 2.5lb) i decided to go over and take a photo for him. I turned the boat and really dont know what happened next, i was in the water with the yak capsized. We were only 100yds from shore but the wind was strong and i was drifting. I was quite comfortable in the water, and thanking the lord i saw sense and stopped wearing waders in the yak. It would have been a different story otherwise (please, if you are still wearing waders in your yak - STOP.)

 

I couldnt get the boat up the right way and as we were drifting quickly, i grabbed the back of lee's boat and he towed me to shore, not very easy for him (cheers mate - not sure what i'd done if i was on my own). We made it ashore eventually and collapsesd exhausted on the beach - at wich point i realised i had forgotton to leash my rod and it was gone my beloved abu conolon tournement and 13 quids worth of minnow. Bugger. You cant get the rods anymore and it was the best spinning rod i have ever used.

 

Lessons learned

1. always leash your rod down ( scotty rod leash)

2. keep your mobile or vhf in a dry bag around your neck - its no good in a dry bag in the front hatch

3. dont leave your prized lure loose in the bottom of th eboat - when you capsize - they float off.

 

So it was always going to happen, just a matter of when, glad to be alive but **** off to hell that davy jones has about £100 worth of my beloved bass gear

[phooey]

Out plugging from the yak with Lee last night - the spawny git had 3 to my none - on his third fish ( a better one of 2.5lb) i decided to go over and take a photo for him. I turned the boat and really dont know what happened next, i was in the water with the yak capsized. We were only 100yds from shore but the wind was strong and i was drifting. I was quite comfortable in the water, and thanking the lord i saw sense and stopped wearing waders in the yak. It would have been a different story otherwise (please, if you are still wearing waders in your yak - STOP.)

 

I couldnt get the boat up the right way and as we were drifting quickly, i grabbed the back of lee's boat and he towed me to shore, not very easy for him (cheers mate - not sure what i'd done if i was on my own). We made it ashore eventually and collapsesd exhausted on the beach - at wich point i realised i had forgotton to leash my rod and it was gone my beloved abu conolon tournement and 13 quids worth of minnow. Bugger. You cant get the rods anymore and it was the best spinning rod i have ever used.

 

Lessons learned

1. always leash your rod down ( scotty rod leash)

2. keep your mobile or vhf in a dry bag around your neck - its no good in a dry bag in the front hatch

3. dont leave your prized lure loose in the bottom of th eboat - when you capsize - they float off.

 

So it was always going to happen, just a matter of when, glad to be alive but **** off to hell that davy jones has about £100 worth of my beloved bass gear

 

He's got my VHF as well

 

Lessons so far...

If you want to keep it - tie it to the boat.

Take rods out of holders and stow flat before returning through the surf.

[YakDiver]

Life's a bitch at times, glad your OK

[Mark Crame]

Glad you're okay. Could ahve been worse.

[richi]

Glad you are O.K. Johhnyboy

 

RIG TO FLIP

[Starvinmarvin]

How far does the tide go out, would the rod be uncovered at low tide, worth checking. Glad you managed to get back in safety.

 

Could you have used the wind to aid flipping the yak upright, worth trying if in that position again, glad your OK.

 

SM

[Simon Everett]

Also glad to hear it turned out OK in the end - have you worked out WHY it happened yet? If you go over the rewind video in your head you might be able to work out what it was that caused you to fall off.

 

Also a lesson learned that you really do need to practise getting back aboard - righting shouldn't be a problem at all. I was doing capsize drills for the lads in Sardinia and the wind was howling at around 45 knots - seriously. It is possible even in very extreme conditions - use the wind in your favour, not against you. Get to windward - but don't let go! The wind is then helping the kayak back over, and helping the kayak stay upright as you climb back aboard.

 

Another thought - it is warm water now, relatively. Imagine what state you would have been in if this happened in cold water - like in Feb or March........you would have been hypothermic within about 5 or 6 minutes of getting wet. Merely getting out of the water doesn't overcome the onset of hypothermia either, until you can get out of the wind and get your wet stuff off and into somewhere to warm up then the hypothermia continues to deepen. Worth looking into so you can dal with it should it happen either to you, or one of your mates.

 

Everyone should be aware of how to deal with a hypothermic casualty. Much of our safety kit is not carried for our own benefit, but for that of those around us. A serious trauma requires first aid - your first aid kit isn't so much for administering to yourself (you won't be in a fit state - or able to) it is for helping others either to help you, or for you to help them. Imagine a plug with one treble in one hand, and the other treble in the other hand.....you are handcuffed. How you going to deal with that then, even if you do have a first aid kit!

[snakey1]

I was doing capsize drills for the lads in Sardinia and the wind was howling at around 45 knots - seriously.

Bugger that for a game of soldiers i'd be comfortably tucked up in the pub with wind speeds like that about, force 9 on the beaufort scale thats some serious weather.I take my hat off to you, your a braver man than I going out in that.

Edited June 18, 2007 by snakey1

[jonnyboy]

Also glad to hear it turned out OK in the end - have you worked out WHY it happened yet? If you go over the rewind video in your head you might be able to work out what it was that caused you to fall off.

 

Also a lesson learned that you really do need to practise getting back aboard - righting shouldn't be a problem at all. I was doing capsize drills for the lads in Sardinia and the wind was howling at around 45 knots - seriously. It is possible even in very extreme conditions - use the wind in your favour, not against you. Get to windward - but don't let go! The wind is then helping the kayak back over, and helping the kayak stay upright as you climb back aboard.

 

Another thought - it is warm water now, relatively. Imagine what state you would have been in if this happened in cold water - like in Feb or March........you would have been hypothermic within about 5 or 6 minutes of getting wet. Merely getting out of the water doesn't overcome the onset of hypothermia either, until you can get out of the wind and get your wet stuff off and into somewhere to warm up then the hypothermia continues to deepen. Worth looking into so you can dal with it should it happen either to you, or one of your mates.

 

Everyone should be aware of how to deal with a hypothermic casualty. Much of our safety kit is not carried for our own benefit, but for that of those around us. A serious trauma requires first aid - your first aid kit isn't so much for administering to yourself (you won't be in a fit state - or able to) it is for helping others either to help you, or for you to help them. Imagine a plug with one treble in one hand, and the other treble in the other hand.....you are handcuffed. How you going to deal with that then, even if you do have a first aid kit!

 

The more i think about it the more i think i put the paddle in too deep whentrying to turn, this lifted the othe side of the boat up a bit and the wind did the rest as i was already over balanced. I know i went in feet first as my trusty tilley hat stayed dry!!!.

 

I know i could have righted the yak if i'd hung about and tried, it just didnt seem like the right thing to do in the heat of the moment. Really pleased with how my PFD worked though. I'm a big bloke 6'5 and 17st and i wasnt sure that a 50N PFD would be much use, but without it i would have been in trouble - dry suit definately the way forward, just need to be given one as i cant afford it!!!

 

I can see what you mean about hypothermia Simon, the water temp was comfortable when i was in it and swimming, as soon as i got out in the wind, i reaslised i was going to be in trouble. I could have walked back to the car from where we went ashore, but i thought that paddleing back would a) generate more heat and help my confidence (gotta get straight back on that horse etc)

 

2 new items in my kit bag now - heat blanket for hypothermia - and aquapac for phone and extra clothes and blankets in the car of course