Safety Reminder

Hey folks. I know we kayakers tend to be very safety conscious, but sometimes a slap in the face kicks the cobwebs out of the brain. Below is a story from one of the guys at San Jose Fly Shop who just lost a coworker and friend at San Louis this past week. He said he is making it his mission to get people to wear PFD's so I thought I would help him along. Most of you aren't flyfishers, but the guys at SJ Fly Shop are top notch.

Marc Mc



From www.danblanton.com
Author: Tom Malech of SJ Flyshop

For the last two mornings, I have been on the face of San Luis dam going through the turn of events that ended a young and fine man’s life late Wednesday. Jeff Ketelson, who survived the incident, told me the story of how it happened. This is basically what I heard. Jeff is the only person who could probably tell us exactly how it happened.

Apparently, Mark and Jeff had been fishing in the safer, less windy areas of the lake when the wind died down. They decided to make a run for their current favorite spot near the trash racks. For those that don’t know the lake, the trash racks are a series of structures near the face of the dam. They hooked a few stripers then got into a double. Neither one had notice a small amount of water splashing in the back of the boat. By the time they realized this, they were drifting close to the dam. They immediately tried to start the motor and bilge pump and both were failing. After a few minutes they were able to start the motor and decided to get the boat running fast so they could get the water out. With so much water in the boat, the engine was riding low and when it got wet, it failed. Soon the boat capsized and they were in four foot waves with the sun going down. For a while they were able to hang on the boat but the air bubble holding it up disappeared the boat was sinking. They had a small piece of debris and fuel tank to grab onto. Mark was struggling and Jeff pushed the piece of wood to him and made a swim for the fuel can that was quickly getting away…Soon after they lost sight of each other and Jeff made it to a cable near the trash racks where he hung on to life for the next three hours before being rescued just before midnight.

I guess the message here is that not only do things happen fast; they are usually a series of events that create a catastrophic ending. Mark was not a strong swimmer and was wearing jeans and heavy shoes. Mark’s boat, a 15 ½’ Cobia, was not a “floatable”. Even I assumed it was. It’s easy to say they should have done XYZ. Jeff told me they knew there were some problems mounting. The thought was that they would be able to take care of it. Not until the boat was capsized did they realize how serious the situation had become. I asked about the life jackets. He said that when they realized the boat was going to flip it was too late to grab them. They thought they could float with the float safely back to shore, not knowing it was going to sink.

The whole thing is just a tragedy. I can’t do anything to save Mark at this point. What I can do is tell you that although they look funny and can be uncomfortable at times, life jackets are usually the difference. When you go out in your boat, pontoon, float tube, or even a dangerous stream, remember this story. I have made it my personal pilgrimage to make sure more people are wearing their life jackets.

There will be a memorial fund set up for Mark’s 3 month old son, Andrew Mark III or “Tre”. I’ll get that out as soon as I find out. I have passed on many messages to his wife Lisa, and she said to tell all of you it really helps, so thank you.

Thanks for the reminder, it's too bad it takes another's loss to give us a reality check.

My daughter lost two friends in a very similar tagedy there just a few years ago, twin brothers.  Two of three on the boat did not make it when they were swamped and the boat sank.  Accidents happen so quickly...

Pete

I read about it in the Modesto be, it's so sad. I put a little post in the general area of this site about it.
I'll be looking for your next post.

Craigh