My Outback Sunk

Well sort of. Kinda new, but have started fishing away from my home waters of Berryessa.  Have collected PFD, VHF radio, pool noodles, pump and wetsuit. Only problem is I have not tested any of the safety stuff until today.  I started out fishing but was not getting any. Decided to head back in and try self rescues.  Pretty much stripped everything off the boat except for drive and paddle.  Rolled it over in 6' of water. Managed to get on top and rolled it back.  Did this 6 times and felt pretty comfortable with the procedure.  Drive tethered but it didn't release. Paddle separated every time, so I guess I will tether it.  Checked water in hull and after all the rolling and I figured I had maybe 8 oz. I like that.
Having never tested my pump I decided to open a hatch and roll it.  All ok until I tried climbing up to right the hull, then a rush of water entered the hull. 
I let it fill up. So she sank. I imagine the 6 pool noodles in the hull help a bit, but the boat is certainly a toad when full.  No problem, pulled out pump and tried to empty the hull. Next to impossible in water with any chop and I had flat calm water.  You would use up valuable energy trying this in open water. 
Drug her to shore and finished the job there.

Moral of the very lengthy story.  Practice Safety. I did this in warm water on an absolutely beautiful day.  It would be more difficult with all the gear we carry with us. Glad I did it.

Dude that's a great story & experience. Thanks for sharing it w/us! This is something everybody should do (but too few of us take the time).
Thank you!!

Extremely valuable story and lesson for all of us - thanks for sharing, and please report back with followup.

Sounds like you need more noodles - I'd put enough in there to ensure that you'll be able to sit on and manuever the boat to some extent when it's flooded.  Also, half-full will be very tippy, as the water in the hull with rush to the downhill side when tipped causing you to flip as you try to use your body weight to counteract it and are unable to do so.  Completely full is much more stable than half, as there's no rush of water to one side. 

I have a video of this process on my youtube channel if you'd like to view it and add to the information available on this subject. 

Good job practicing.
Just remember in nasty weather never go alone hence if someone is with you then you can "T" the yaks and pump the water out. Like you stated time consuming and will burn energy but you do what you got to do.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk because I'm one of the cool kids.

Great post,  I've got 18 noodles and still figure I should have a few more. Each standard noodle (2"X5') will yield 8-10 pounds bouyancy.  Also try and keep them secured and as far to the outside of the hull as you can, all mine are between the outside of the hull and the scupper passages.  This will help keep the boat level if it gets full.

I'd put enough in there to ensure that you'll be able to sit on and manuever the boat to some extent when it's flooded

Is that even possible?  I suspect not. 

Even if you stuffed a hull with noodles, the noodles being hollow and all, I bet there's be enough water in there to pretty much fill a hull halfway.

Anyone tried it?  I put a dozen in my last yak and it was nowhere near full.  I think you'd need about $100 worth of noodles.

get them on sale at the end of the summer for cheap and in the end it is cheap insurance for sure. i see them for $2-3.

Our Dollar store has them at a dollar each.

I'd put enough in there to ensure that you'll be able to sit on and manuever the boat to some extent when it's flooded

Is that even possible?  I suspect not. 

Anyone tried it?

Watch the vid and judge for yourself.

Good that you are practicing and so true that things are much harder when drifting toward crashing surf. I am not for tethering paddles or having to many tether lines on my boat. If you really get tumbled it is easy to get wrapped up in those lines. If you use a lot of tethers at least keep a sharp dive knife strapped to your ankle.

Extremely valuable story and lesson for all of us - thanks for sharing, and please report back with followup.

Sounds like you need more noodles - I'd put enough in there to ensure that you'll be able to sit on and manuever the boat to some extent when it's flooded.  Also, half-full will be very tippy, as the water in the hull with rush to the downhill side when tipped causing you to flip as you try to use your body weight to counteract it and are unable to do so.  Completely full is much more stable than half, as there's no rush of water to one side. 

I have a video of this process on my youtube channel if you'd like to view it and add to the information available on this subject. 

Hey, here is a question - where do all the noodles fit? Are they stuffed into the hull?
-Cherie

Hey, here is a question - where do all the noodles fit? Are they stuffed into the hull?
-Cherie

The X-Factor has alot of room in the hull.  Here's how I got so many in there:

  Floatation air bags work great.

  Floatation air bags work great.

I have three of them in my sit inside Raptor and why no one using them ? Why so many people placing noodles inside the sit on top yak's hall ? Aren't the sit on top yaks designed that way so that they can get in and out the waves without accumulating water in the vessel and can be flipped back to the upright position easily ? 

I never tried to flip my sit inside Raptor in the ocean, I believe it is about time for me to practice that sooner not later.

  Floatation air bags work great.

This is how I roll, but I already had a set from a previous SIK I once owned. I think the noodle route is an excellent addition though, and keep meaning to add some. For now I just top off the float bags each time I launch, then deflate them some when I land. This keeps them from over inflating in the heat.

I think the attraction to the noodles is that they won't pop in the event of  a , um, hull puncture.