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

Gang, I know this may not be the place for it but it's a pretty important story that folks in the Northernlands may not catch on TV.

On Jan 24th off Santa Barbara, a tandem yak with 2 paddlers in it capsized with one person making it to shore.  Fire dept etc. searched for the other paddler to no avail.

Today, Feb 4th, a body was found in the water around Summerland.  They believe it's the missing person.  There really doesn't seem to be a lot of info on it beyond that, the stories are here,

http://www.ksby.com/Global/story.asp?S=9790167

http://www.ksby.com/Global/story.asp?s=9736700

I think it's IMPERATIVE that all kayak fisherman wear a wetsuit that will keep you warm in the H20 conditions your paddling in.  Or at least have one on your boat.  Springs suits are for &*#^ in waters north of Pt. Conception.  & personally, I don't believe farmer johns are a whole lot better.

PJ

P.S. Keep in mind the H20 off Santa Barbara is around 10 degrees warmer than the water we frequent.  A BIG difference.

That's rough, Man.    

I agree with you on the wetsuit issue, and I hope everyone has re-evaluated other gear they keep on board on all ocean trips.  I know I feel alot better with around a dozen noodles in my hull, so the carcass of my shark-bitten yak will float there with me.  I'm also glad to have an extra paddle, flares, VHF, GPS, compass, whistle, bilge pump,...etc.  Plan for the worst, hope for the best. 

I'm going to confirm this tommorow, But I am almost positive that I read in the Santa barbara news press that they did not have PFD's on boar either.  No wetsuit I can understand from probably some novices who only intended to e out for a short time but NO PFD's lea to a tragedy for a young man and his family.  I tried to get a link to Santa barbara news press with the no pfd article but they want you to buy the article, so I am going to try and dig up the paper from my works recycling bin

...I am almost positive that I read in the Santa barbara news press that they did not have PFD's on boar either. 

 

Wow...I hope that doesn't turn out to be true. The safety horse seems to get beaten over and over again on this forum. I wish everybody in the kayak world would be as cautious as the people here. I hate hearing these stories. 

-FF

I wonder if he knew how to swim

Surprising they stopped searching when it got dark   Maybe viz was bad    When CG was looking for me off of Stinson it was already dark when they got there   

When CG was looking for me off of Stinson it was already dark when they got there   

Let's hear the entire story please.

Truly Sad for them and their families.... An old guy told me once than the "Safety Book" was written in "BLOOD" ... I hope none of us or ours are ever noted in that book.

Be Safe

Gue

"Two person kayak".........

You guys seem to be assuming:  Two person SOT
I assumed right-off:   A two-person SIT INSIDE

I am guessing, that had it been a SOT those people would have swum back aboard their craft and they'd be alive today.

I am POSTING just because I want to reaffirm a fundamental truth:

Sit-Inside kayaks are absolute death-traps-waiting-to-be-death-traps to any user who does not master a solid "difficult-water" Eskimo Roll.    There is night-and-day difference between a "Pool Roll" and an eskimo-roll that will right your boat in a choppy green-water ocean.....OR in whitewater, for that matter.

Without an eskimo roll, all sit-inside kayaks capsize and STAY DOWN.  And the hapless former occupant, now a swimmer...he just goes NOWHERE from there.

Classic Sea Kayaks......have killed an awful lot of people who view "traditional kayaks" through rose-tinted glasses of, you know, eskimos and  basic environment, and, anyone can see that the boats themselves are very very beautiful...people mistakenly fall in love with the classic kayak's   i m a g e   

But behind that beauty the reality is that they are "war boats."
Get in one.....and you are a "combatant" just as a rock climber on a face.
Beautiful, but cannot be trusted....Beautiful but will leave you out there...

Don't want to belabor this...

Judd

Judd's point is something I've always thought to be true.  When I fell in love with the idea of doing my stuff on a kayak it was due to the SOT concept.  I always looked at a SIK like "that will NOT work for me" due to the big hole that water can rush into.

Sad, very sad.   

  & personally, I don't believe farmer johns are a whole lot better.

Too much armpit and arm exposure, or the typical 3 mil thickness?

Without an eskimo roll, all sit-inside kayaks capsize and STAY DOWN. 

Most decent SIKs have sealed bulkheads fore and aft, I know mine do. It would be pretty tough to sink them; you would basically have to puncture the glass at both ends of the boat. That said, I would still prefer to be on a SOT in foul weather.

  & personally, I don't believe farmer johns are a whole lot better.

Too much armpit and arm exposure, or the typical 3 mil thickness?

Thanks for asking Eugene, I believe it's the armpit exposure/fact that you don't have a water-tight seal on the top of your suit.  There's even a very big difference between full surf suits that have sealed seams (via tape & glue) and ones that don't.  Ones that don't are worthless in the water.  If you take a farmer john & hop in the water, you'll be shivering like crazy in 5 minutes.  Your arms will be close to numb in 10 minutes.  IMHO of course.

If you rate a farmer john against a good surfing wetsuit-there's no comparison at all.  A good O'Neil 4/3 surfsuit with booties & you can be submerged for 3+ hours & still be functioning.  I KNOW if I had to swim for it from a mile out, I wouldn't even worry if I was in my 4/3 surfsuit with a pfd.  If I was in anything less than that I would be very worried about hypothermia.  They are hot to wear but it's a good idea for sure if you going out somewhere alone.

Out of all the suits I've seen I think John Mairey has the optimum setup.  He can describe it but it is a modified surf suit.

I've seen a newbie here & there out in Cambria with springsuits on & I just wonder what would happen if they flipped.

PJ

P.S. We could all benefit from hearing Littorals story about swimming in in a Spring Suit one more time. Don't know if he ever posted it, if he did maybe we could post the link?????

I'd be overheat in 10 minutes in one of those things

I'd be overheat in 10 minutes in one of those things

I hear ya, they are hot, but there has to be some kind of solution for someone actually going in the water.

PJ

I'm still a fan of my 6.5 farmer john.  Don't get me wrong, I usually bring to top if I think I'll need it.  I've tried paddling with the top on and was completely miserable and exhausted because of the extra heat + restriction caused by the torso part.  Perhaps if I wore it but had the top arms dangling or folded down under me, it wouldn't be so bad.