Body Found Off Santa Barbara May Be Kayaker's (Non Fishing)

On a lighter note, another lesson learned from that mishap; if you're going to sink a boat, do it off Cambria. When surf rescue got to me they immediately put me in dry clothes and told me to go ahead and keep them.  A pair of Levi's and an LL Bean sweatshirt. They were brand new and fit me perfectly. I still wear them to this day.

  Amazing, I'll remember that!

Hey Littoral, did your friend want you to go retrieve his yak?

on the bilge pump, they work, I have pumped a load of water out of a kayak before, however you have to start with little water cuz it can only move so much so fast.  Also if it is in the hatch, make sure it is tied, velcroed etc or you may find it inaccessible.

Hey Littoral, did your friend want you to go retrieve his yak?

Oh you're going to love this.

For an extra added level of crazy - He was there.

We were fishing away, they were really hitting that day, but we had become separated and the swell was pretty big. He never saw me go down. I wasn't sure where, or how far away he was either, but I definitely wasn’t swimming away from shore to look for him.

The kayak was bobbing in the water vertically. It had a small bubble of air in the bow and I had hung onto the toggle for a couple minutes trying to get a bearing on my buddy. When I started for shore I tried to pull the damn thing with me for a short time but quickly decided to abandon it and save myself.

After surf rescue scooped me up on shore one of the guys asked about the kayak. I told him that it was floating out there in the form of a very small, triangular, yellow buoy. The guy pulled the rescue yak from the top of their truck and paddled out, amazingly found it out there in all that swell, and towed it back in.

About ten minutes later my friend comes paddling in wondering what all the commotion’s about.

Re: Body Found Off Santa Barbara May Be Kayaker's (Non Fishing)

Somehow it seems like this belongs someplace besides in the fishing reports

maybe like in the fresh (or bloated) corpses dept or kayak rigging tips

Littoral,

What was the nature of the leak?  Was it around a scupper hole or some kind of crack in the hull?

Littoral,

What was the nature of the leak?  Was it around a scupper hole or some kind of crack in the hull?

Well....The leak is a subject of contention. It was at exactly the same location and size as the drain plug; or where a plug should have been. My buddy swears it was there, I had ling-fever and stupidly launched without checking the boat. It was an old Hobie, and afterwards I noticed the plug location was ridiculously close to the waterline to begin with, but it was only a matter of time. Everytime I would face shore the swells washed over the tail and squirted a little more water in until the plug-hole was effectively at the waterline.

I’ve heard of a few other yaks going down offshore here. It’s usually either a bad seam or a paper-thin worn hull tearing at a scupper. SLO and Sur are pretty hard on boats.

What's important to note is that any one of three separate safety items would have turned a life threatening day into a non-event. Had I been wearing a decent wetsuit, had a radio, or checked the boat, the most that would have happened is I would have gotten a little wet. But, I guess, instead I have story with a valuable object lesson that might help someone.

56-year-old becomes 1st woman to swim Atlantic

As it turns out, she didn't.

56-year-old becomes 1st woman to swim Atlantic

As it turns out, she didn't.

2100 vs 250 miles, whats 1850 miles between friends?  Excuse me while I go run a marathon.  Sort of

56-year-old becomes 1st woman to swim Atlantic

As it turns out, she didn't.

2100 vs 250 miles, whats 1850 miles between friends?  Excuse me while I go run a marathon.  Sort of

What a lying sack.    A-Frod, Tejada, and now this swimmer.  Its so funny, i was just thinking out loud the other day to some swimmer friends.  Doubts crept into our heads regarding pacing.  After the news broke today, felt like a total lameass!    Guess I'm just a sucker for an aquachick.

Since we're on the topic, I didn't actually swim the entire TI distance.  I hung off of Mooch's bow, he paddled me 1.1 of the 1.6 miles.   

OK, back to fishing ...

56-year-old becomes 1st woman to swim Atlantic

As it turns out, she didn't.

2100 vs 250 miles, whats 1850 miles between friends?  Excuse me while I go run a marathon.  Sort of

What a lying sack.    A-Frod, Tejada, and now this swimmer.  Its so funny, i was just thinking out loud the other day to some swimmer friends.  Doubts crept into our heads regarding pacing.  After the news broke today, felt like a total lameass!    Guess I'm just a sucker for an aquachick.

Since we're on the topic, I didn't actually swim the entire TI distance.  I hung off of Mooch's bow, he paddled me 1.1 of the 1.6 miles.   

OK, back to fishing ...

Thats why you did not get cold, Mooch's body heat radiating from the Kayak ahead of you.   

Good going, Yakuza (having lived in Japan those words sound funny!).   I used to swim out of the Dolphin Club in SF Bay.  No wetsuit: speedo and cap only.  I did the Polar Bear several times (you log 40 miles+ over the three months of winter).  Swam GGB, Alcatraz, did the Escape from Alcatraz.   Swam alone at night sometimes, and once kicked a fish out there in the dark.  My brother in law still swims out there, and has had his foot nuzzled/nibbled by a curious seal!  All true. 

I learned a few things about cold water swimming (temp down to high 40s).  First, your calmness and awareness of what is going on, and especially, physical conditioning has a huge effect on your chance of making it.  There is a reason they didn't let the Alcatraz inmates take cold showers.  Second, your hands are the first to go; the fingers start spreading out and you lose muscle control, which would affect your ability to use a radio etc.  Lastly is the 50-50-50 rule they taught us, which is that, after 50 minutes in 50 degree water, 50% of the people will die.  This is consistent with the posts here. 

The one thing I don't follow is all the posts about Olympic swimmers' times.  With a life jacket on and a wetsuit, you ain't setting any speed records! 

The question I had was this: I'm considering going with a drysuit; does anyone know if these are good in case of a 1 mile swim back to shore?  Or do they start leaking?  It cant be as bomb-proof as a good ol wetsuit but I am tired of being wet all day. 


Pete