Missing canoist Trinidad

Missing paddler.  Sad.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/california-college-student-21-goes-182956661.html

Hm, think my sister and cousin might know this guy

Floatation, pfd etc

I paddled a canoe on a choppy day up at Almanor and it was a b-word

Several folks in the local kayak fishing community have been out searching for the last week. I haven't - my kayaks are temporarily in storage while I move house.  Hunter is known to some of us. It's still very raw, but there are some elements of this story that need to be debriefed and discussed.  Now is not the time though, I'll follow up when it's appropriate.

Floatation, pfd etc

I paddled a canoe on a choppy day up at Almanor and it was a b-word

paddling an open canoe on Admiralty Island is what got me into kayaking. One day wind came up as we were crossing a big bay, and it was a white knuckle paddle for us. Landed and we were instantly greeted by a couple gals who had their fiberglass closed deck yaks at the water's edge in case they had to come rescue us. I've never been in a canoe since that trip.

If you swamp or tip over a sit-inside kayak or a canoe, and you don't know how to roll it upright, it is difficult to get back in it and and get the water out of it unless you have help from a couple of experienced paddlers or a motorboat.  Sit-on-top kayaks are much safer, because You can't swamp one, and if you tip one over, with practice it's easy to turn it up-right and climb back on it, and you can expect to get virtually no water inside it during the process.

Missing paddler.  Sad.

What a bummer.

I wonder what he miscalculated.

He must have been aware of the possibility of capsizing, and he must have planned to swim out in that case (or else he would have a PFD).
Either he got injured as a result of capsizing and was unable to swim, or he wasn’t injured but was unable to overcome the current.

There’s also a possibility that he had a medical event that lead to capsizing, but that’s less likely.

One detail that stood out to me is that he left at 8:30am but only in the evening they started searching.

My takeaway is to always SMS your spouse : where exactly you’re going, which direction, with whom (including phone numbers) and when to expect to hear from you. I always text my wife when I land to let her know I’m back.

I’m not familiar with that area, but Windy MSW says almost 9ft swell. Doesn’t sound good. A big wave over by that reef could easily smash a person underwater and into the rocks.

I’m not familiar with that area, but Windy says almost 9ft swell. Doesn’t sound good. A big wave over by that reef could easily smash a person underwater and into the rocks.

I had looked from the top and decided to hit a lagoon instead of the ocean that day, wish i made it down to the beach maybe i could have seen this kid.. whats really sad is the following couple days were beautiful and his friends would have had a lot of fun doing his treasure hunt, super sad. They are asking for divers and sonar equipment at this stage.

incredibly sad... he sounds like great guy

Hunter's father has called off active searches.  We have elevated seas and beach hazard statements in effect now.

So what nobody is really talking about:

Hunter went into 9' seas in a canoe, alone, apparently with no immersion or flotation gear whatever, leaving his cell phone on shore, and without telling anyone where he was going - with the intention of paddling to flatiron rock, an offshore island maybe 50 feet high and an acre in size.  Once there, he intended to climb onto the rock and hide a wooden bucket about the size of a 5 gallon bucket with a prize in it.  With the idea being that others would solve clues that he left, venture to the rock, climb onto the rock, and claim the prize.

This was a smart local kid from a great family with a bright future ahead of him.  How it is that he thought that any of this was a good idea completely escapes me. 

A very sad story.  I feel for his family.
When I was around that age I did all kinds of crazy shit that somehow I survived from.  Probably most of us did.  At 21 you are adventurous and largely unhindered by the consequences.

Hunter went into 9' seas in a canoe, alone, apparently with no immersion or flotation gear whatever, leaving his cell phone on shore, and without telling anyone where he was going - with the intention of paddling to flatiron rock, an offshore island maybe 50 feet high and an acre in size.  Once there, he intended to climb onto the rock and hide a wooden bucket about the size of a 5 gallon bucket with a prize in it.  With the idea being that others would solve clues that he left, venture to the rock, climb onto the rock, and claim the prize.

Man, that's rough. Sometimes that sense of adventure outweighs common sense unfortunately.

A very sad story.  I feel for his family.
When I was around that age I did all kinds of crazy shit that somehow I survived from.  Probably most of us did.  At 21 you are adventurous and largely unhindered by the consequences.

Really sad..
I had a 21 year old friend who went hiking in a desert canyon, in the middle of nowhere, all by himself.
He fell from pretty high and lost conscious. If this was the ocean, he would have been RIP.
Luckily, two hikers that visited the canyon that day found him. He was rescued by helicopter and survived.
There’s a very thin line between adventure and tragedy.