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First off thanks to Harry (OnTheFly) and another paddler in a sea kayak for coming to my aid. It was bound to happen sometime and I'm glad if it was going to happen it happened where there were paddling buddies and others within eye-shot and a short paddle to assist. Anyhow, I found myself having a grand time with the beautiful weather and a nice pleasant morning to be on the water. The last time I heard my GPS on my phone call out the distance traveled I was at a bit over 3.5 miles. As I started to get more comfortable and just hanging out, I started to get restless as I do and started digging into my gear to first spray on some sunblock, then to check my GPS again. Then since no fish were biting the lures I was trolling with, I decided to dig into my tackle boxes and change out my rigs on both rods again. I changed out the rig on my medium rod and had just finished tying the knot on the lightweight rod's lure and set both the rods into their respective rocket launcher tubes until I could get both of my plastic tackle trays closed and secured back behind my seat. While trying to secure the first tackle box I was having some difficulty get the box back into its resting place, I could not find the securing bungee cord that goes over the tackle box and made a sudden turn to look for it. Unaware that I had drifted side ways to the waves and wind; just as I turned to look for the bungee I took a rolling wave on my right side, and that fast, I was upside down. My initial thoughts were that I was going over but not the boat, but I think that as I went over, just the weight of my body on the gunwale was all it took to roll it over the rest of the way.
Thank goodness the water was like warm like a bath!! I enjoyed the swim but not with an upside down boat next to me!! Some bad things and some good things happened next. Bad thing is that I could not reach across the beam of my hull and get a grip on the gunwale or handle on the other side to right it. I tried everything from trying to push it up from the side I was swimming to trying to grip through one of the scuppers. Still could NOT right this boat by myself. I didn't want to totally exhaust myself so I rested a few minutes and took a couple deep breaths, readjusted and tightened my life jacket and took out my whistle!!! I knew Harry was in the vicinity but I had not seen him for while and didn't know for sure his direction. I did know that there was another paddler in a sea kayak within a few hundred yards, but still far enough away he might not have seen or heard my whistle. Well as luck would have it both Harry and the other guy heard my signals and were both paddling my way. The sea kayaker arrived first and with some simple assistance helped me right the kayak. Amazing that just a little help with lifting that far gunwale the boat easily popped right back up.
Ok.. boat was back up but I still needed to get back in. Another FAIL here. With fishfinder and rod holders and a tall seat, it made it impossible for me to get back in without the needed practice that should have been done. I do have an inflatable self rescue paddle float but by this time I was pretty exhausted and the guys opted just tow me and the boat to shore which was a couple hundred yards away. Once I was on shore I could assess my condition and get back in the boat and paddle back to Jonas Green.
I lost the two rods that I had just rigged before going over. One I had owned for over 25 years, a Fenway graphite medium weight rod that I really liked, but it had a crappy reel on it. The other rod was my favorite light action no-name rod and a Fleuger knock-off, lightweight reel. Only about a $65 combo but I really liked it. The tackle boxes floated, my water bottle floated, my hat floated and crate stayed attached thanks to Harry showing me how he secures his just before we launched. The only other loss for the afternoon was my cell phone which was in a dry bag earlier but I had taken it out to play with the GPS and put it back in the top pocket of my Vest. Verizon is replacing that tonight.
Some some quick things I have thought about:
1) How important that life vest was and glad that I watched the video on how to adjust and make it snug, to not ride up!!! I have no idea how anyone could possibly think they would be able to get a life jacket on during an emergency dunking like today.
2) The Damn whistle!!! Was the best darn thing I had attached to my vest. I didn't have a radio because my crapped out last season and I returned it to West Marine and had not replaced it yet. That is on my list now.
3) I will be attaching a piece of black 1 inch webbing to one of the handles on the midsection gunwale. I will use this as a grab-on to assist pulling the yak back over once it is upside down, and a good idea that Harry suggested was even putting a loop in the free end to insert your foot to help in getting back on board.
I have watched tons of self rescue videos, I own an inflatable paddle pillow and thought a self rescue through before; however, nothing readies you for the real event unless you have actually practiced. I'd like to get a couple people together sometime to do some drills in a protected environment with others around to assist.
Anyhow, that was the action today! No fish either
Thank goodness the water was like warm like a bath!! I enjoyed the swim but not with an upside down boat next to me!! Some bad things and some good things happened next. Bad thing is that I could not reach across the beam of my hull and get a grip on the gunwale or handle on the other side to right it. I tried everything from trying to push it up from the side I was swimming to trying to grip through one of the scuppers. Still could NOT right this boat by myself. I didn't want to totally exhaust myself so I rested a few minutes and took a couple deep breaths, readjusted and tightened my life jacket and took out my whistle!!! I knew Harry was in the vicinity but I had not seen him for while and didn't know for sure his direction. I did know that there was another paddler in a sea kayak within a few hundred yards, but still far enough away he might not have seen or heard my whistle. Well as luck would have it both Harry and the other guy heard my signals and were both paddling my way. The sea kayaker arrived first and with some simple assistance helped me right the kayak. Amazing that just a little help with lifting that far gunwale the boat easily popped right back up.
Ok.. boat was back up but I still needed to get back in. Another FAIL here. With fishfinder and rod holders and a tall seat, it made it impossible for me to get back in without the needed practice that should have been done. I do have an inflatable self rescue paddle float but by this time I was pretty exhausted and the guys opted just tow me and the boat to shore which was a couple hundred yards away. Once I was on shore I could assess my condition and get back in the boat and paddle back to Jonas Green.
I lost the two rods that I had just rigged before going over. One I had owned for over 25 years, a Fenway graphite medium weight rod that I really liked, but it had a crappy reel on it. The other rod was my favorite light action no-name rod and a Fleuger knock-off, lightweight reel. Only about a $65 combo but I really liked it. The tackle boxes floated, my water bottle floated, my hat floated and crate stayed attached thanks to Harry showing me how he secures his just before we launched. The only other loss for the afternoon was my cell phone which was in a dry bag earlier but I had taken it out to play with the GPS and put it back in the top pocket of my Vest. Verizon is replacing that tonight.
Some some quick things I have thought about:
1) How important that life vest was and glad that I watched the video on how to adjust and make it snug, to not ride up!!! I have no idea how anyone could possibly think they would be able to get a life jacket on during an emergency dunking like today.
2) The Damn whistle!!! Was the best darn thing I had attached to my vest. I didn't have a radio because my crapped out last season and I returned it to West Marine and had not replaced it yet. That is on my list now.
3) I will be attaching a piece of black 1 inch webbing to one of the handles on the midsection gunwale. I will use this as a grab-on to assist pulling the yak back over once it is upside down, and a good idea that Harry suggested was even putting a loop in the free end to insert your foot to help in getting back on board.
I have watched tons of self rescue videos, I own an inflatable paddle pillow and thought a self rescue through before; however, nothing readies you for the real event unless you have actually practiced. I'd like to get a couple people together sometime to do some drills in a protected environment with others around to assist.
Anyhow, that was the action today! No fish either
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