My Outback Sunk

I've had the noodles in my hull - both encased in plastic and loose ones - for several years and only ever taken them out once to check on moisture and dirtiness issues.  There weren't any moisture or dirtiness issues.

The fact that flotation bags can be punctured by either a shark's bite or, more likely, from stuff in your hull or even just from wear and tear over years of having them in there means that you may end up with something that's not effective a few years down the line when you may need it.

Also, not having to ever bother with inflation, deflation or positioning of air bags is a plus for me.

Aren't the sit on top yaks designed that way so that they can get in and out the waves without accumulating water in the vessel and can be flipped back to the upright position easily ?

Even though it's not a common occurence, the idea is that you DO have the potential to have your hull filled with water, so you will either be unable to get back on your sinking/submerged vessel OR you'll have a tried and true, reliable method of maintaining a position ABOVE the waterline.

I'm going to re-swamp soon, so we'll have more data on this.  Everyone should swamp, and if you've never even flipped and re-boarded your yak then please do that ASAP.

Thanks for the info.  I believe those airbags need to be replaced every 2 or 3 years for sure.  I guess my life is doomed for sure, If the landlord has ever bitten through the hall and punctured the bag (only the front one - the possibility is low for the two rare ones) in the ocean with no one around.  Perhaps I can store a couple of old deflated bags inside the yak as spares .

I flipped my Carolina 12 sit inside yak several times in the ocean and got back inside without too much problem.  Although it is hard to flip the Raptor but you never know when though, so yes, I'll flip it and see.

It is nice to see the traffic on this topic. Eric your video is great. I will be putting a lot more noodles in my yak for sure. Agreed it is not likely to swamp, but you never can tell.
Next for me is to have gear on board and then roll it again. Want to try it in foul weather in a controlled environment. I may be the most cautious yakker out there. Want to get on the salt soon with folks that have experience. Will be posting on "how do you roll thread". Just got J bars for my Toyota Echo. Too funny!

Great report!
The more new faces I see at hookups, I wonder how many people actually practice...

Thank you for posting!

Naoaki

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If I'm going to a lake w/mussel inspections, I remove the pool noodles because they get moist & soggy. That's the only drawback for me. And I used to be an anti-noodlite back in like 07 haha.
I think kayak anglers are attracted to pool noodles because of their versatility. You can do a lot of things with those goofy foam noodles...from transducer mounts to rod floats to beer coozies!

Hey Eric, great video on vac-sealing those noodles. I would have never thought of that! 

OK, another question....for those ho have a sit-inside kayak, what is the easiest way to add noodles? I am thinking a smaller vac-seal and to put one in the bow and one in the stern. Thoughts?

I wonder how many people actually practice...

Practice makes perfect right Naoaki! 

First of all thank you for practicing.
So many newbies blow it off even after reading from the long time veterans on this board about how important it is.
I bet you learned a TON of things you probably didn't even imagine, I know I did my first time and I still practice.
The reason I said thank you in the begining is because when you pracitce self rescue you are lessening the chance of someone else having to put themselves in harms way trying to help you out, so I appreciate it.
Great report too.

Practice is very important. Try also to duplicate conditions you may experience. My last self rescue practice was in July, refresher before the Albion tournament, and I had just bought a new FJ wetsuit. The guys at the launch probably thought I was nuts putting on the wetsuit and splash jacket in 90+ temps, but you can't fully appreciate the effect of neoprene buoyancy and how to utilize that to help position yourself for re-entry (same applies to drysuit). I also chose a cove very close to the wakeboard traffic, lots of wave action from multiple directions, to somewhat mimic the rough surf conditions. My Trident 15 has bow and stern airbags and 12 large noodles packed toward the gunnels. Although I haven't tried swamping it yet, it is on the "to-do" short list.

Be safe and fish-on!

I wonder how many people actually practice...

Practice makes perfect right Naoaki! 

Yes (but my old sensei said only the perfect practice makes perfect)!!!

Oh, and another thing.
For those of you that ride more than one type of kayak, you should practice self rescue on each of them. Different kayaks have a different weight balance, so for some kayaks it might be easier to come in from a different direction than others.
I found this out at my old work when we were using a bunch of different kayaks.
OK caper & scupper pro was a low ride, so no problem to come in from the side, but Cobra Navigators are skinny & high, so each time I tried to come in from the side it would flip back over. I had to come in from the front in order to get back on. Also, because of it's shape, I had to reach over far to bring it up right. It took me a few extra mins to figure it out but I worked on the river, so the few mins extra mins of self rescue might changed the situation dramatically...

Good luck & be safe at there everybody!

Naoaki

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We are new to kayaking and love it. We just bought our Oasis the first of October and have been out a dozen times. We have the AMA sidekicks and don't go out without them. We wear our PFD's and just tried out Kokatat paddling pants Saturday. We have not practiced flipping yet, but will do. Something I haven't noticed, at least in this thread is being in good enough shape to lift yourself back onto your yak. This is a concern of mine, I am 61 5'10' and 210. My wife and I just started working out consistently to be able to self rescue if the times comes for that.
I already notice a huge difference lifting my yak to place on car rack.

Thanks to all for their advice, I will be looking for dollar store noodles.

Tom

I am 52, a bit out of shape, but can go hours peddling my Outback.  I did use my anchor trolley cleat for a hand hold to help get on top of my overturned yak. Would be good for boat manufacturers to include indented hand holds to aid in the process. The boats are awesome right side up, but maybe they could consider the overturned scenario

Great info.
When I bought my kayak I also picked up a paddle float. I practiced self rescue in my pool, then out at lake Natoma. After going through info I the site I was able to stuff 26 pool noodles into the hull.

The boats are awesome right side up, but maybe they could consider the overturned scenario

well tie a line on one side long enough to get a foot in. And then it should right it's self when pushing the rope down. I'll have to try that myself, I have never fallen off or had a yak upside down.

Hey Eric - nice wall on the shed.  Is that part of your 10" collection?

I think most know this but just in case I thought I'd put out the reminder that the noodles are more for water displacement than flotation.  If the space inside the hull is full of noodles there is less room for the water to fill.