A dumbass move followed by a skunk - and still a nice day!

Launched out of Santa Cruz harbor around 11 AM. A little choppy, but otherwise not bad. Since I was alone and couldn't find my radio, I didn't head out to the mile buoy. Good move. I did have my cell phone in a waterproof case. As I got near West Cliff, I noticed my T160 was rolling with the waves in a weird way. As it got worse, I remembered the previous post about leaving out the drain plug. Popped the mini hatch in front of me, and there was a couple of inches of water. Oh s**t! I paddled toward the wharf, hoping to get to one of the floating docks. Got within 50 yards of the end of the wharf before the boat filled up. Even leaning all the way to the opposite side, the weight of the water rolled that sucker, and it swamped. Grabbed my Calstar rod before it went down to the bottom and rolled the boat upright with the other hand. Screwed in the drain plug (doh!),  stashed the rod and got to work. I have flotation bags in the bow and stern, so the boat stayed on the surface, but it was impossible to get back on. As soon as I put the slightest weight on the boat, it tipped up 90 degrees. Called 911 and asked them to contact the Harbor Patrol, and started pumping. Another kayaker came by, but even with him leaning on the other side, the weight of the water made it impossible to get back on the boat. I asked him to pump for a while, since I wanted to save some energy. After a few minutes of pumping out water, I was able to do a self rescue and finish pumping out the water. The Harbor Patrol came by at this point, but no help was needed. I thanked them for their quick response and got back down to business.

Tied up in the kelp near the lighthouse to target some Lings, but not even any bites. Drifted for halibut for about an hour, but nothing at all. I was drifting near a party boat, and they weren't getting anything either. The water is still pretty cold, so maybe that's a factor. Started getting windy, so I headed back to the harbor. Overall a pretty nice day out on the water.

After this bonehead move, I think I'm going to make a checklist, laminate it, and keep it with my gear. This could have been a lot worse, of course.

Holy Moly, Batman!  Glad you were able to keep your head...heck, you even recovered enough to do some fishing!  Thanks for the post tho...it's one more reminder for me to check my drain plug next time!  Although, the post would have been better with pics...you should have had that other kayaker take a few photos. 

Thanks for sharing, A constant reminder that it can happen to any of us.

At least you had a pump with you... it really paid off.

Yikes, that could have been much worse.  Glad your okay, and thanks for sharing...it's a good reminder to everyone.

-beenfishin

Your mistake = my lesson!  Thanks for sharing...I'm getting a pump tomorrow! 

Your mistake = my lesson!  Thanks for sharing...I'm getting a pump tomorrow! 

I would recommend stashing the pump in front of you somewhere. With all that water in the boat, I was unable to lean back to grab the pump from the tank well. The bow would rise up, Titanic style. I would have had to get in the water anyway to seal the drain plug, but it's a factor I hadn't considered before.

salt=pump.  While I have never had to use mine...several others have!  Glad you are ok.

I went out and got a pump after reading the similar story about a week ago.  I'm thinking maybe a few pool noodles in the hull might be a good idea too.  I have a Hobie Revo.  Has anybody had any water in the hull issues with a Revo or other Hobie yak? 

Can someone recommend a pump?

Scotty makes a great pump with a stainless shaft and it can be taken apart for cleaning.

I went out and got a pump after reading the similar story about a week ago.  I'm thinking maybe a few pool noodles in the hull might be a good idea too.  I have a Hobie Revo.  Has anybody had any water in the hull issues with a Revo or other Hobie yak? 

A leaking kayak without flotation is just a plastic jug full of water. If I didn't have flotation bags, I would have had to swim for shore. A lot of guys on the site use pool noodles. There are lots of posts on that.

There is no way to describe the experience during the period between when you discover the boat has become dangerously unstable and that first minute in the water.

It really doesn't take much water to make a yak un-ridable, especially on rolling seas.

Way to go on the level-headed response.  I like that you didn't hesitate to get help on the way while at the same time following through with your plan to correct your situation.  And you pulled it off.  Nice one.   

I'm really liking my dozen pool noodles and pump on-board with the stories lately.   

  Lesson learned for me to about this is NEVER remove the drain plug!  Glad your were able to work it all out and at lease get some fish time in. After all that, I'm sure it would have been nice to at least hook something.