My Swim(s) at GMS III

Right on spot Swellrider.....

 I have been feeling " Uncomfortable " about his whole thing,

 and you just pointed out why in very well put post... Thanks....

 When I saw Al, overturned, headed towards the rocks... my first thought was " He's Done....  "

no one near,, and how " Avoidable " this whole thing was... it quickly turned for the better... we got lucky...

 

 Swellrider has said it perfectly and pointedly and we should all hear his words,

Thanks Again,

One question that has been in my mind since that Sunday was "should we have called the Coast Guard in with so many kayaks right there"? 

 I knew when calling the Coast Guard, it would not be the Coast Guard coming to the rescue in time unless a miracle happened, but...

 They know of the immediate resources and what is available. They would be able to get in touch with The Shelter Cove Fire department quicker than any us,  and, if our situation did get worse, they were all ready advised/in the loop, and help would be on the way that much quicker....

 Ramping something up and then backing down, is always better than falling behind the 8 Ball.....

 Thanks for all the kudo's on what I did, Police/Fire personnel, it's what we do and it just comes's natural when you do this sort of thing on a daily basis,

 If it's real or not, your putting a system in place and " Practicing it.... "

That is just what Swellrider is saying, we need to train/practice and always be familiar with our abilities and prepare for these situations... they are real

Again, I broke down the communication thing so we could all further learn from it...

But what Swellrider has posted is far more valuable for us NOT to get into these situations in the first place...

 No blame on anyone....  We were Blessed we a perfect opportunity to learn from,

   I think we are doing a Great Job on that, ( More Kudo's... )

               So,  lets turn this into action.....

Great thread, nice to see how pro we are to have this discussion without stepping on feelings or second-guessing the decisions made by others.  We have to remember, kayaking is a water sport...you have to be prepared and even expect to get wet everytime you go out.  I'm confident in my ability to get back in the boat, but never gave too much thought on how to get someone else back in their boat.  Thanks for the tips Hawk, I'll be putting them to practice this summer.

In the meantime, I think I'll head out to Wal Mart now and buy a dozen or so floaties to stuff in my boat!

Good fishing all,
-beenfishin

those helicopter rides aren't free

If I remember right they run $30 or 35k  Something to think about before you hit the mayday button

Ask yourself do I want to swim? or do I want to be in debt for the price of a nice car?



If you don't have a bailer get out your knife and cut the bottom off one of your h2o bottles

drink the water first

By the time Al was on the powerboat Ariel had already started with towing his yak to shore.  We followed Ariel with intentions of relieving him, but he easily towed Al's boat in and it hardly took more time than just paddling in without towing anything.  As for pumping the boat out before Al's entry to the powerboat, I assumed those options were weighed and decided on by others behind me that were seeing to those things.  That was the beauty of the Team, and I think it proved to be the right choice to just tow it ashore.

Thinking more about how the Coast Guard must react when they're summoned on something like this, and dredging vague memories of reading about it...  I realize this should have been a call of "Pan-pan". 


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pan-pan

Wow what a great thread this has turned out to be. I have been following this from the beginning wishing I was there with you guys. I can just feel the passion for this sport and this event just beaming from each reply and account of the weekends festivities. It has all the elements of a great trip. You guys really know how to have a good time and way to go on looking out for each other.

Reading the last few replies about safety, I couldn't agree more that each individual should be as prepared as they can. I am planning on entering the ocean this year for the first time and I am very safety conscientious. I have read several threads on this site and believe I have all the safety gear needed. I have practiced self rescue in a fully rigged kayak in the Delta, not the ocean. I plan on practicing surf launching and landing in Linda Mar in the next couple of weeks. But, will this make me completely ready for kayak fishing in the ocean, probably not. I think only on the water experience and time will allow one to be fully prepared. You have to start somewhere, right?
It sounds to me that the more experience guys feel that the prerequisite to entering the ocean may be taking some kind of safety/paddling class. Can everyone truly say they have done this, or again are the skills acquired by those more advance guys just achieved over time? I do not want to be a risk to myself and ultimately to someone else. I would much rather start off in an easy launch/landing location with ideal weather conditions and favorably someone with experience. Will this be deemed a risky venture and frowned upon, given the fact I have not taken some type of safety/paddling class? I have been around the water all my life and feel very comfortable in it. This sport is new to me as I have only been paddling in the Delta since last October. Sorry for the long drawn out questions and reply, but I am having fun kayaking and I really want to have a fun and safe summer fishing for the various species of rockfish and meeting a lot of you.

You guys are great and I truly value your opinions and insight,

Ray

Thanks for that enthusiastic reply, Raydog.  I think you're good to go with what you're doing as far as preparing to enter the ocean.  Personally, when I start spouting about safety seminars...etc. (no, I've never been to one) it's because I was the primary instigator of GS3, so events and second-guessing are weighing a bit more heavily on me than most at this point.  I'm coming down off it though, and outside of wanting everyone to bring a certain level of preparedness to a future planned event, I don't plan to try to regulate anyone other than myself.  Events like this with so many people yakking (it was my first "hookup" of more than 8 guys or so) are bound to present some issues, and, like I touched on before, I think it's up to us to determine how best to respond.  Even if we "required" someone in a tournee to have some training or equipment, there are all the other parts of the weekend that are really not being overseen by anyone other than the group itself, so we're back to the honor system, as it really should be.  If we, as a group, see someone who is out there and obviously not prepared it is up to us to decide if we're going to pressure that person into complying with some set of safety guidelines, OR it's up to us to state that we are not responsible for others on the water.  The nature of the group is to assist others and support a group mentality, so I think we'll continue to feel our way along the road of trying to bring a little peer pressure, but no one is looking to dictate any kind of requirements.

What's "funny" is that years ago myself and my buddies who got into this sport started off in wetsuits, no PFD's, no radios, no pumps, no noodles, no flares, no extra paddles, no GPS, no compass...etc. - we went a mile offshore with a cheap boat, a paddle (no leash!), a rod, a gaff, a few leadheads and shrimpfly rigs, and that was it!  Ah, how times have changed - for the better!   

Raydog

before you waste your time and money on a lot of safety gear and classes etc that won’t do you a bit of good in a real situation

get out your favorite screwdriver and stare at your yak til you figure out what you want it to look like when you find yourself in conditions

for instance on a big steep swell say 10 or 20 ft tall coming back to back or in a nasty blow with 6 ft wind waves pounding down on you every 3 or 4 seconds

or when you come in and the tame spot you launched in the a.m. is unrecognizable in a scary way


after you looked at it long enough take the screwdriver and clean all the crap off the top of your yak and when you go out take only what you need and nothing extra When weather drops on your head you’ll be a lot happier on a lightweight unrigged yak

The conditions you see in the vids here are primo, nothing like the wild pitch the ocean’s going to throw at you even on the dreamiest day If you get tossed it shouldn’t be a big deal and getting back on your yak should be a piece of cake


On the ocean a yak all by itself is way safer than any other boat but fully rigged it’s just the opposite If you want to think about safety most of the yaks you’ll see are an absurdity and it’s sheer luck so far that more people aren’t getting themselves or somebody else killed (like in Hawaii a little while back)


do that simple thing first and then think about whether you need the safety classes etc


abking maybe you and the moderator could figure out how to extract all this safety and rescue talk from the thread and give it it’s own little corner in the cyberworld   It’s a shame to clutter up a nice fishing report this way

IMO going out with others and a bunch of equipment can give a false sense of security. 

My first time in the ocean there were 15 of us and I still got separated and forgotten about because of the Dan Incident, (no one's fault but my own). 

My compass just broke...  glad it wasn't in a fog with dead GPS batteries.  As mentioned, radios fail, batteries die, etc.

We all must be prepared to rely on noone but ourselves.

Nice work on the cut-and-paste-post, Al.  I put one up that addresses general safety and the difference between Mayday and Panpan.  Between the two of us we're giving everyone an opportunity to see it and chime in.

I respect the fact that you are being so forthright with this info - well done.   

al did you ever figure out why it happened?

No, not exactly.  Still under investigation.  I'll report my findings here later...

Hi all,

Appreciate Swellrider's candid critique about the incident and the provocative discussion it has spawned. Don't know you but appreciate your professional expertise on this matter. Was with the core group of first responders and on scene for the entire incident. Never felt there was a true emergency, but realized the potential for it to spin into one quickly. 21 years in Police/rescue(many on ocean incidents) has taught me that panic is contagious & calm is contagious. All were on their game.  Some great dialog going here and without egos and defensiveness that can block the ability to grow and learn.

There are many ways to skin a cat and that goes with this incident too. Agree with Eric, knowing how USCG will respond when a mayday goes out. Pan- Pan might have been the way to go so as to put USCG on standby, at least. Knowing where they were responding from, the on- water assets were not going to be a factor. That leaves the air ship.  Spool up for the helo takes some time. Don't know the  flight times from Eureka, but seems it would be a fairly short one if they fly a Dolphin. A solid insight, Eric. Having seen the aftermath of delaying a call for help until it's beyond critical is a fools errand. Get notification made ASAP and cancel them if need be.   

Getting Al to hang from a more stable craft was a good call, as was towing him outside to more smooth conditions. this allowed us to begin working on righting the yak and removing the H20. The call to enlist a powerboat was perfect. If it had not been available, we were in position to bail the yak and get Al back on, there were ample resources. We knew the powerboat was going to be on scene in the next five minutes and that made getting Al onto another's craft in those conditions(Al is a stout fellow to boot)less emergent in my eyes. If Al was going to be emersed any longer than that, we would have gotten him onto another yak right away.


A huge lesson learned is for each of us to conduct an honest and candid assessment of our ability to self rescue in the eventuality it becomes necessary. When push comes to shove, do you have the proper equipment, ability, skill, and physical fitness level to get it done on your own? Complacency on the water up here will lay you low. Knowbody thinks it will happen to them....until  it happens to them.

Will be doing all that I can to make myself ready. Am not an authority on kayaking and my opinions are based on other ocean rescue experiences over two decades in my profession. Heading to West Marine today to buy a handheld, then to somewhere for the noodles(had no idea about that little bit of flotation insurance and had not considered I needed flotation for my kayak-thank you). Keep the dialog going all.

Strenth an honor

Shannon

bluekayak,

I couldn't agree with you more. I read a lot of posts here prior to rigging my kayak and took heed that the less stuff on the deck = easier reentry if you happen to come off. I have an ocean kayak prowler 15 and only have a fish finder mounted up front and center, a Plano box in the back with pole holders, and flush mounted Scotty rod holders up front if I want to use them. I feel this leaves the cockpit free so that I may scoot back in if needed. Again, this was done primarily because I have listened to the wonderful advice from those that have already put in the time and were gracious enough to share.

Besides, I wanted to leave room for all the fish I may catch 

Thanks again for all the great advice,
Ray

No, not exactly.  Still under investigation. 

Your boat has a pretty good leak.  Set it on level concrete and fill it with a hose...you'll find it.

Yeah, that sounds like a good idea--fill the hull w/water and you'll find the leak. But please remember to get it on video.
I was so amped to get a T13 because of the rodpod feature. But now I'm 2nd (and 3rd) guessing that decision. Maybe I should wait until this issue is resolved, then make a decision.

bluekayak,

Please explain the use of the 20ft of floating rope with loops tied to the nose of the yak. I know this must be something probably obvious and simple but I just can't wrap my mind around this one. Sorry for the ignorance but I just can't go without asking.

Thanks,
Ray