My Swim(s) at GMS III

...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

Totally agree, best to have a clean deck and limit your load as much as possible. I wear most of my safety gear and bring only a minimum of fishing hardware. There is absolutely need to paddle 5 days worth of fishing gear out there.

My guess is to have something to grab if you fall out in a nice wind, (called a "lifeline" in sailboating), towing, and for fashioning footholds?  But I'm curious about other possible uses.

Eric,

I was kinda thinking the same thing. I wasn't sure if the rope is tied bow to stern or just left floating up front. So yes, I am also curious about this.

Thanks,
Ray

Thought I might try to contribute to this discussion while trying hard not to give my opinions reguarding a situation that I did not witness.

First, If the situation on the water required air rescue.
The Coast Guard responds out of Arcata and the Dauphin travels at approx 120-130ish knots depending on conditions. That would give them about a 30 minute ETE once they launch.
The other option would be "Henry 1" out of sonoma county. The B407 has similiar speed and the ETE would also be about 30 to Shelter Cove. Both of these providers are beyond competent.
You would be looking at approx 35 to 50 minutes until help from above arrived at this particular event and with the weather conditions that were present. Just a few things to think about when time is a factor.

bluekayak
I agree with many of the points you have made but some are not applicable to the majority of the NCKA. I have not had the pleasure of paddling with you sir but it is clear that you are a waterman and a kayaker. The NCKA is largely made up of anglers that have discovered a great vehicle to fish out of. Go to any large NCKA event and you will witness a multitude of mirage driven boats and many of the folks that are paddle in hand are just slapping at the water with little to no solid paddling skills/technique. I also believe that there are a frightening number of members here that cannot get back into their boat without assistance. This threads scenario shows that even with the assistance of BobN (who I have a HUGE amount of respect for as a waterman) the paddler was unable to get back in without even more assistance.
While Im a big believer in keeping the kayak clean and light, this crowd needs more than wetsuits and bowlines to be safe out there.

 

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

While its clear that I personally have never been the posterboy for safety, Ive long been a fan of bowlines and leashes where applicable. I learned early that I dont usually want to be separated from the boat while in hydrolic situations. Ive been forced to swim hundreds of times and the kayak can be one slippery beast when you are swimming and trying to hang on to the boat without a bowline or paddle leash.
Dont want to speak for the bluekayak but Im a big believer in not letting the boat get away from you. swimming sucks!

Here is a picture circa 1992ish before I embraced the SOT boats but you can see the bowline attached to the deck loop. It also shows that I should probably just shut up when trying to preach safety.

hydrospider, great post.  But using a SIK as SOT?!  You were ahead of your time.   Awesome whitewater shot

Here is a picture circa 1992ish before I embraced the SOT boats but you can see the bowline attached to the deck loop. It also shows that I should probably just shut up when trying to preach safety.

  That's funny! On the other hand, anyone who's followed any of your posts will recognize your experience on the water and hopefully heed the safety advice offered here.

I just want to personally thank everyone involved with helping Al, and everyone who has piped in with advice and opinions.  It's an invaluable resource to have you pro first responders and experienced watermen here and OTW.

I vow to do my best to never have to call out anything over the radio except "fish on".

Yellow braided polypro is good, I was at west marine yesterday and they only had it in green and ace has yellow but only up to 3/8 inch

You can find packages of 50 or 100 ft lengths of yellow polypro (might only be 3/8 in). I think I got some at Home Despot; you can order it online, too.
I keep a piece clipped on as a bow line - also came in handy as a stringer when I forgot one last time out.
It's hollow so you can loop the ends as blue mentions by splicing the ends back into the rope using a "fid" (yes, I had to look up what it's called). A pen cap can do the trick.
Here a link to instructions:  http://www.lehighgroup.com/ropespliceeye.htm

...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

Totally agree, best to have a clean deck and limit your load as much as possible. I wear most of my safety gear and bring only a minimum of fishing hardware. There is absolutely need to paddle 5 days worth of fishing gear out there.

In my situation on the swamped T160, one of the factors that prevented a T-rescue was the rigid rod holder that comes with the T160. Very difficult to remove on land; even worse underwater. I already have two Scotty ball mounts below the level of the deck. I use one for the FF, and I was planning to use the other for a downrigger. I think I'll use it for a rod holder. The ball mount rigging would just fold back during a T rescue.

I use spliced yellow poly leashes attached to everything on my P13. But I have found the splice can slip under certain conditions, so I've added an additional step. After I complete the splice, I add a couple drops of superglue in two locations of the splice making sure enough is deposited to saturate to the inner splice. Since then, they are bullet proof.

Rich

What is a t-rescue?

It requires a 2nd kayaker so it's not so useful if you often paddle solo. Routinely practiced in SIS kayaks because they're like big scoops & fill with water when flipped. It's a good way to dump out most of the water at once and also stabilizes the yak to help the swimmer can climb back in - those boats roll much easier than SOT's & tend to be a lot harder to climb back into.

Usually it's way easier to climb right back onto a Sit-On-Top, so this maneuver isn't often necessary for assisting the paddler back on, but if the person is having trouble climbing back on--say in rough water or if he/she is fatigued--it could still be useful for SOT assists.

Video examples: 
 

I fish alone fairly often and have wondered about the leash to the yak.  If I get dumped and its windy, the yak will drift off faster than I can swim.  If I ditch the life jacket, I might catch it, but if I dont, I am screwed. 

BlueKayak, in a worst case scenario, if your leash gets fouled up on a rod holder, doesnt it still keep you in contact with your yak?  Are you more worried about entanglement?

What is a t-rescue?

As Pisciform mentioned, it is an assisted rescue. I mentioned it because in my case, the T160 filled with water. Somebody suggested a T-rescue would have been easier to drain out the water than pumping. In my case, it was better to pump, since the assisting kayaker was in a small boat and had unknown skills. My kayak was too heavy anyway, but the rigid rod holder made it even more difficult to do a T rescue. Pumping worked fine, but it kept me in the water longer than a T rescue would have.

This is a leak issue, I have had my rod pod in big water and it is the driest boat I have owned even after a full day of getting douched.  I also use mine to demo self rescues, and have had it upside down for extended periods with no trouble.

in a worst case scenario, if your leash gets fouled up on a rod holder, doesnt it still keep you in contact with your yak?  Are you more worried about entanglement?

If you're knocked off in wind waves it won't matter as much even your paddle leash can do the job


Picture yourself on top of swell big and steep enough to hide the stickboats around you a couple of which are less than a hundred yards away

One swell goes under you and on the next one you find yourself looking straight down at your shoes The next thing you see is lots of bubbles and the paddle which is leashed midyak is about to pull your shoulder out of its socket so you let that go

When you get to air you’re looking up at the next one about to drop on you and the line on your wrist is pointing almost straight down so you know exactly how deep your yak is

If that line was fouled on a rod holder the force of ? tons of water on your yak would either rip your arm loose at the shoulder or take you down with it or both

as it is you know the yak is down there somewhere and pointing straight at you and what goes down must come up


The handiest use for that line is when you come in and you're looking at break that you're better off swimming

Get the line on your wrist and come in at a diagonal
On the outside of the break zone stow your paddle and hop in the water
pull your yak in and get it by the nose and
swim it in keeping an eye on the break

when you see a big breaker coming that you can't avoid shove your yak as hard as you can at a diagonal toward shore so it won't be in front of you or behind you

keep as good control of the line as you can and tumble in with the surf

Neither one of these scenarios is hypothetical
the 2nd one I could do with my eyes closed
the 1st one if something went wrong it'd be a long lonely swim especially hurt


in any case the fewer jagged edges the better

Cool technique. I think I'll practice it this summer.