Malibu stealth 12 sunk at bay bridge

[Shady]

Wow, crazy story! Glad you made it!

[DOGFISH]

Glad to hear you are ok. One other safety measure one can take, is to wrap pool noodles in and around the scupper tubes inside the sit-on-top kayak. I used four large pool noodles inside of my OK Big Game when I had that kayak. I used large zip ties to hold then all together. At least that will give you something to hold onto should the kayak fill with water. A secondary use for the noodles is to keep things inside the kayak from sliding out or reach.

The hatch gaskets will let water in around those large hatch covers, particularly when the nose of a kayak dives into waves repeatedly. My Ocean Kayak would do the same. I took extra hatch type gasket material and lined the underside of the hatch lid, with stick on foam material. That way there was more pressure when I would cinch the straps down. For the most part that resolved my problem. A slight amount of water would still get in during rough water outings.

Again, glad to hear you are alright.

[Fishtank]

Glad it worked out for the best and thanks for making my bad day look pretty good.

Not preaching just passing along what I do. I have a Stealth 14. (my fourth). All the Stealth’s are notorious for leaking. (bow and side hatches) They improved the seals but I still don’t trust them. I have always used a large air bladder under the bow hatch that takes up the entire space. I stuff the middle and aft with jumbo pool noodles and cut them to fit in tight places. The advantage of the Stealth 14 over the 12 is that I can open the aft hatch and check to see if I’m taking on more water than I should which at times is often more than I should. If so, I just pump it out. I've made other modifications to the bow and side hatches. It doesn't matter if it’s a Stealth or other yak with opens spaces below deck, extra floatation doesn't hurt when going a distance where coming back with your kayak beats a long swim without it.

[Pinch]

Jesus Bro, Glad you are ok.

[moc]

Glad you are ok. I wonder why it sank? How did all of that water get in there. Do you have some failed seals?

[Bulldog]

Glad you handled an emergency so well, and are here to talk about it! I'm considering getting floatation bags ( not gear bags) for my Ocean Kayak, they have some that are long tubes that I thought would be good along the gunnels, stuff them in and inflate so that they fill the space and also lock themselves in. Not as heavy as pool noodles and they would giv eyou piece of mind, work on those hatch seals also........Jack

[J.A. Veil]

I'm glad you are OK. That was quite an ordeal. I hope your homeowner's insurance can help out with the losses. You could add some no-cost flotation by saving used milk jugs or juice bottles with screw-on tops and placing them inside the hull. I recently added 5 pool noodles to my bilge area.

[frettr00]

Glad you're ok. This is a good reason to stay in shape too. You never know when you'll have to swim a mile or two.

[coop1486]

Glad you made it back to shore safe .

[Grady-Black]

Jesus Bro, Glad you are ok.

+1

I stuff my hull with pool noodles for flotation..

GB

[Hemingway]

+1

I stuff my hull with pool noodles for flotation..

GB

Ditto, to that. As a newbie last year, it never occurred to me that my SOT did not provide any flotation in the event of a hull or hatch breach. Only after reading about a Va. angler that had a used Pro Angler sink last year down at the Bridge Tunnel (he was drifting in a PFD for almost two hours before he was spotted), did I stuff my Ride with about 8 full sized pool noodles.

[Goody]

Wow. What a story. Sorry about what happened. Goes to show you that you never know what might happened out there. I'm glad you are safe.

[Grilled]

I was out there Friday night and saw all the whole thing. Initially, I thought there was a jumper on the bridge. Glad your OK.

[mytmouse]

Glad you're alright man... as cliche' as it sounds, all that other stuff can be replaced!

[Shawn Kimbro]

Hi Chris -- I found your cooler and then your kayak above the Sewer Pipe. I called the NRP police and one of the guys came over and picked it up. (They were looking way too far south.) We tried to lift it into his boat but it was too heavy, so he just tied off and pulled it in. I was worried that it might have caused you to lose more gear. Somehow I ended up with your stainless loop stringer and I'm happy to return it. I mentioned it on Facebook and someone directed me here. Email me at shawnatmountainsoul.net. Glad you are okay and hope to see you at the bridge again soon.