So.....how about that kayak flotation?

[Disclaimer] I just wanna preface this by saying that I'm sharing the story so that others can add one more thing to their checklist before launching. I've practically grown up on the water and have logged countless hours on the ocean, bay, delta and lakes in boats canoes, prams, kayaks, surfboards, diving, swimming in conditions ranging from FAC to downright scary. During the ordeal I felt the situation had not yet escaped my control but very easily could have if I lost my head. I'd also like to add that I can take the ribbing if your gonna dish it out but piling on and on with safety lectures is just gonna prevent other people from posting similar experiences.....#$it can and will happen to anyone. [/Disclaimer]

Despite the crappy tides I hit OP, the conditions were windy, steady 10 knts outta the nw, no white caps, small chop but fishable.  Pt San Bruno offered some protection in its lee so I decided to make it a short day with a couple rounds of trolling in the area.  Minus tide at the launch meant I had to launch through the mud and rocks and I definitely felt my yak scraping over them in the skinny water.  The tide was incoming and working somewhat in relation to the wind so I planned to troll south, reel in my gear and fast tack back toward the launch and then troll south again. 

I finished my first run, reeled in my gear and started to turn my boat.  As I'm doing that I get hit broadside with a wind wave and it almost knocked me over.  After that my balance felt a little off and my boat was tippier than usual.  I instantly thought back to the swamping threads so I popped my center hatch removed the little pouch  and seen my hull almost half full of water.

At this point I figured a scrape from the rocks penetrated the hull or a scupper leak.  I attached my radio and gps to my life jacket then fished around inside the hull for my pump but couldn’t find it, crawling up to the bow to look into the big hatch was not an option cause the yak woulda rolled.  Took a split second for me to figure the best thing to do is hail a nearby boat before it got serious.  I got the attention of a boat that was roughly a quarter mile inside of me.  I paddled at him as he tacked back to me.  He pulled up and I told him what was goin down and he offered to tow me back to the harbor.  I hopped up on the boats gunwhale and transferred my gear to the boat.  After I got everything off I wanted to see how much water was in the hull, I reached my feet out to the boat and put some pressure on it and before I put all my weight on it the tankwell submerged.  I’m fairly certain the only thing keeping it afloat was the 2 noodles and the aired up drybag I had my jacket in.  It woulda held me up out of the water but would have been way too unstable to paddle.   

So we get back to the harbor and I pull the titanic up the launch ramp anxious to see what happened.  I pull the boat about halfway out, was way too damn heavy to get it any further and flip it upside down to look for a gash, nothing.  I popped the hatches and dumped most of the water and hauled it the rest of the way out and seen a stream of water coming out of the damned drain plug.  Of all things…..the drain plug was out.

Hindsight....

This yaks been on about a half dozen trips and I’ve yet to remove the drain plug cause I hadn’t had a  need to rinse the inside of the hull. In fact I really don’t like ever removing drain plugs since it took me 2 days to find the lost drain plug on my first ok prowler.  When I got home I checked it all out and it fits snugly, the little gasket is still good, I do not think it backed out.  I don’t recall unscrewing it after my last op trip cause I didn’t wash the yak off, I don’t know if the kids were screwing with it or the boogeyman got to it….but it was not in when I got back to the ramp that day. 

With my PB I always remove the drain plug and toss it in the bait tank at the washdown when flushing the engine and developed the habit of plugging it back in before removing the stern straps at the ramp on the next trip.  With my yak, actually with all my yaks, I’ve gotten in the habit of not taking it out so I never really check it to make sure its back in.  This was never really an issue with my OK or my Cobra but on the Tarpon it was my downfall cause it sits only about 2 inches above the waterline. 

I poached this pic from Pat R in the WS forum to illustrate the drain plug issue.....will remove upon request.



PS My pump now has a leash that’s tied off on my hatch string so its easily accessible and I’m giving serious consideration to installing a real bilge pump.

A
Thank you! great experience and great reminder that it can/will happen to even the best of watermen AND to do that ops check "walk around" prior to launch. So glad you didnt end up swimming or worse. Im also a believer in pool noodle tech and having safety equipment in standardized and secured positions in the hull.
The only pic I have is the inner hull of my old T160dh where I had my pump secured in my floatation. Thankfully I never had to use it.
thanks again and glad you made it back safely.

It certainly could have been worse.  You kept a level head and are here to write about--which you did very well.  Thanks for revealing the events.  We sometimes think it only happens to the other guy, but Murphy is always looking for a hook up.

Yowza, scary stuff man.  Glad you kept your wits about you and hailed the nearest boat.  I'll definitely add a couple things to the checklist prior to launch.

Thanks Art for taking the time to share.

Michael

Nice to see ppl come to help. This post made me go look at my ride. Looks like they moved the drain plug (or it just on a diff spot on the my ride) on the the T13 top of the bow. So its really easy to see if its missing. The location you show makes for easy draining but also can be simply overlooked.

Gald it didn't end worse!

Thanks Art, another reminder to get my hull stuffed with noodles, and a pump, which I confess I don't have.  And a reminder from another post today, I also haven't gotten my handheld flares and air horn.  But in my defense there is the wetsuit, PFD, and VHF.  Sorry defense I know.

Thanks again for the reminder, that it can happen to anyone any time.

Dale L

Glad to hear you came out of it unscathed.
Good job for posting this - it's a good reminder for everyone but especially for beginners & lesser-experienced paddlers (like myself) to pay attention & note how things can go wrong real fast on the water.

thanks art.  did you guys catch anything in the boat?

was glad to see your yak tied up nice and tidy in your truck when i came in. too bad i didnt get to see you out there.   how far out were you when you started taking water?  were you out towards the channel between sierra pt and oyster?

Safety lecture??
This is more like a tutorial on how to make the best of a bad situation.
Cool head, radio, the sense to use it, pool noodles inside for extra floatation, PFD, and knowing when to say when; you did good Art.
Glad thing worked out in your favor. Thanks for posting.
Guess today I will 'beef' up my hobie with noodles and invest in (or make) a pump.

Sorry we didn't get to meet that day. I was on the mango colored Hobie
Outback. Anyhow, we all decided to head back in because of the wind
situation. It wasn't too bad but still better safe than sorry on our end.
Thanks for sharing your experience out there. Definitely an eye opener
that anything can happen at any given time when you're on the water.


Jedmo

Thanks for posting this.

I hadn't really acknowledged the location of the drain plug as a liability on my T160. Our Casters actually have the plug on the top of the bow deck, but with it *below* the rudder mount that puts a whole new spin on things.


Ben

Art,

Thanks for posting this scary but happy ending story. Timing could'nt be better. My boss sent me home sick yesterday afternoon because everyone in the office is convinced I have the swine flu .

I decided to finally get my Hummingbird 535 installed in my P13 and as I was roughing up the bottom of the hull under my seat for the transponder, I started to think about putting in some noodles for floatation.

Now I'm not "thinking " about doing it, I'm doing it. I can easily get 4 noodles in there, and still have plenty of room for the extra paddle I carry, ff battery, and my dry bag..

Thanks again Art!!

Rich

you can put in two "super" noodles and it will be the same amount of floatation as the 4 smaller ones and take up less space.

i picked up two from hojoman who said he got them at bass pro shops in manteca

good call asking for help.  All hail pool noodles!

on a side note, if you happen to be a wide load like me, the plug on a tarpon goes under water on a regular basis with a swell, so be sure the plug is in tight.  Otherwise you can take on enough water to make balance an issue.

For some reason WS put the darn drain plug at the waterline way at the stern.When I had my WS Ride I was always afraid of leaving the plug out and even contemplated swimming to the stern to check the plug once.I like the position of the OK plug on the bow deck, but this is certainly a reminder to check it before launching every time.Sometimes the right thing to do is to call for help early, as you did. Glad you're OK.