Non Swimmer In A Yak

opinions please.......am I crazy?  I can't swim and have two yaks  (Hobie Pro Angler and Outback).  while on the water in a yak or my boat I always wear a PFD.  I have always wondered how the PFD would work but have never jumped in or waded in to see.  I have been fishing out of a 15' Gregor on freshwater lakes for several years and many years ago I fished offshore a lot for salmon and rock fish without a PFD.  If I remember correctly back then the only vests available were those funky orange things. 

I'll give my two cents, but I'm kind of a hard ass about this subject. 

Sure, you can kayak with a pfd if you can't swim, but seriously, wtf are you thinking?
Swim lessons are cheap and they are fun. Getting involved in a water sport and not learning how to swim is just plain foolish. One of the simplest things you can do to improve your safety on the water is learn how to do a survival float. Add to it a simple survival stroke and you've got all the swimming skills you need to kayak. And if you like the lessons, then take an extra class or two so you can learn to swim with a basic level of efficiency.

I wouldn't stop kayaking altogether if I were you, but I would definitely contact your local pool/friend who teaches swimming and get the basics down right away. If you're willing to kayak, then obviously fear of the water isn't a problem, so learn to swim! 

As mentioned in the previous post, swim lessons are inexpensive and fun.Please learn how to swim NOW! Then learn and practice self rescue in your kayaks.

I agree with the other comments about swim lessons.  In the mean time, at the very least, I would go out in shallow water and get used to the PFD and self rescue.    I flipped my Outback a few times the other day intentionally.  It was not hard but not exactly easy the first time to get back in. I am not a strong swimmer but can float with the best of them.   I know the Outback is your son’s but you mentioned getting a sail for it.  I have one for mine, and I love it, but I can see I will end up in the water at some point.

Your choice of kayaks and a pfd are very safe but don't rely on them 100%, you must learn to swim. Especially in the sea. Like stated above swimming is easy to do, easy to learn, and fun. I'm willing to bet you can sign up for a swimming class for $30-50, and may be able to find a free class. If you can afford the Hobies then surely you can spare some dollars on an absolute necessity such as this. Learn to swim in calm waters then learn to swim in the ocean with your pfd on. It may save your life someday. A suitable outerwear is a good idea in order to keep yourself from getting hypothermia

Gear can fail.  Learn to swim.  Remember pools have scantily clad women around them

I was surprised when you wrote that you've never been in the water to see how it feels to float with the PFD.  You must do that immediately, because if you do not you are risking a very traumatic event when you go in unexpectedly some day.

I agree with the others about swim lessons, but I also think you can continue to kayak without learning to swim if that's what you choose.  After floating yourself with the PFD you will be a good portion of the way toward knowing what it will take to save yourself if you need to someday.  The secret to being a highly effective swimmer is timing the breathing and the movements.  Bob up and down for 10 minutes in that PFD in water that's over your head and you'll be starting to learn to swim and learning to save yourself.

 

     I think you deserve credit for admitting you can't swim, and asking the "dumb" question.  I used to own a 15' racing sailboat and was always recruiting crew, and I'd always ask them if they could swim, and only about half of the ones who said they could really were comfortable in the water.  I could tell within 2 mins how well they could swim - if I asked them to hike out (lean out to the side to keep the boat skimming along the surface), the non or poor swimmers would push their butts out, and their torsos in, doing us no good at all.   I don't think most of them were lying to me when they said they were good swimmers, they had probably been in denial for so long they believed their own stories. 
    If you don't learn to swim, you'll never have much of a clue about where the line is between when you should really be concerned about conditions when yakking, and when it's quite doable but more exciting and fun.  That line is  hard enough for good swimmers to see.
      I'll bet if you learn to swim and get comfortable in all kinds of swimmable water, you'll be more enthusiastic about swimming than those who have been doing it since infancy, just because you'll be so thrilled you cleared a hurdle that you've probably thought of every time you saw a pool.   And you sure will enjoy yakking a lot more.   If you don't want to take lessons, just find a pool you can stand up in and play around  in, and start by doing the dog paddle or the breast stroke (frog kick) where you don't need to put your head under water, and move on from there. 
      On the other hand, so far, after hundreds of trips on the Bay/Ocean, I haven't had to swim a lick, but I
know it might keep me alive just long enough to save myself if I ever need to.   
       

FWIW and I know it is no excuse but I do not plan on going out in the deep blue......I will be fishing inland Sierra Lakes.  I realize the lakes can and do get rough enough to capsize a yak as well  (I have seen Silver Lake get so wind whipped there was spray blowing off the crests like the ocean).  I do thank everyone for their frank and eye opening input.  there is a local dive shop that has an indoor pool that I took my son to last year so he could learn to swim.  I will just have to bite the bullet and man up.

Yah OK.  Good call... Nothing to be ashamed of and  kudos for the courage in aksing.  In the meantime, though get in the shallows and pratcie self rescure a few times, and wee what it feels like to float with your pfd.  Move your arms a bit and kick, and guess what?  You are swimming.

Just don't take the pfd off while you are fishing (I never do)

Allen

ps except when I pee.

Just don't take the pfd off while you are fishing (I never do)

Allen

ps except when I pee.

Isnt that when you are most likely to flip over?

To Tom's point, in Jamaica at an all inclusive resort, they offered free scuba diving without certification.  When you show up, they ask if you are a "strong swimmer."  Everyone says yes.  They then take you to a beach area and tell you to swim back and forth with a 10 pound weight belt on.  Over half the people just leave.  Of the remaining half, about half cant do it.