Kayaker Rescued by boater HMB

I read this on the Coastside Fishing Club site. He was pretty lucky guy.

We went out on the ShootNReel to set the traps the afternoon before on Friday March 1 2013. With huge hopes of big limits we left Princeton harbor at 8am today. We pulled 9 of 10 traps for one legal crab (bummer). We lost a trap after looking for 30 minutes (bummer).

On the way in I see something strange 1/4 mile from the harbor mouth. It looks like a kayak but higher in the water then normal with no person in it. I think I saw movement of some sort but not sure. We took a long 1 minute look after slowing down. Hey is that a kayak tilted on its side?

First thought Kayak trapper has laid down for a rest while his pots are soaking.

Second thought maybe it’s a diver.

Third thought no way someone is diving near the harbor in these conditions. Let’s go in for a closer look.

300 degrees into the circle, I think it must be a diver putting something into the kayak. Wishful thinking as I yell hey you ok? Reply was gargled hellll hellllp. We went straight in to help the kayaker.

He was hanging over the side of the kayak motionless. His left hand was tied to a rope connecting him to the middle of the kayak. He was unable to talk, lethargic, and unable to move. We grabbed a hold of him, untied his hand, and pushed the kayak out from between him and the starboard side of my boat. We then pulled him aboard.

Immediate call to 16 yields paramedics and the harbor patrol at the ramp - we arrive within 10 minutes. He’s lying on the floor motionless, eyes closed for the ride in but is able to speak a few mumbles. After a ½ hour or so at the ramp he is able to give info in the form of a cell number for his wife and kid who is in the harbor vicinity waiting for him to return. He’s seemingly out of the woods and communicating with the EMT’s and Harbor Patrol - all were so quick to respond, prepped, and professional.

The crabbings not that good right now and no other real reason to be out there. Not a lot of other boats around and he was the only kayaker.

His said he yelled at a couple other boats coming in and out of the harbor mouth but they went unheard. He said he had tied himself off to the kayak so his body would be recovered.

He was prepared to communicate and save himself! He had a cell and a vhf. He was wearing a PFD but his clothing included neoprene pants and when he hit the water his clothing weighted him down.

It was apparent that the cold hit him hard. He was unable to use his hands and was basically incapacitated by the cold.

It was an issue of cold, immobilizing cold, and second guessing how it goes is hard so dont. His cell phone was tied to his kayak in a dry case on and ready to use. Vhf was set to something other the 16. None of it was used successfully.

We got 1/10th a crab per pot, lost a trap and took a 30 minute search time to look for it. We gave up on that trap and headed in. I noticed something strange and almost did not turn to investigate, but we did and it turned into an amazing day.

Wow! Thanks for posting & thanks to that pb for turning around to save that guy's life.

Wow, incredibly lucky guy.

Lucky yakker!
At least one of those boats checked it out.
Gnarly story.

Sounds like he was real close to making a his final exit if you guys didn't come along when you did ! Thanks for making this a happy ending ! I hope that guy learned some important lessons out there !
Kudos !
Kimo

Wow, man, glad they had the sense to follow their instinct and survey the scene, crazy story, thanks for sharing.

Incredible story!  Thanks for sharing.

Thanks for the report and after reading stories of this kind, it reaffirms that I made a good decision to buy a dry suit. 

Thanks for the report and after reading stories of this kind, it reaffirms that I made a good decision to buy a dry suit.

Not so fast. Sailfish was wearing a dry suit at GS6 when he went into the drink. And he was in bad shape when he came out of the water. A dry suit alone will not insulate you from the cold water.

Vhf was set to something other the 16.

Often when we go fishing, we set our VHF to channel 69 to chat on the water. If you go for an unplanned swim with your radio set to channel 69, and you call for help, the coast guard will not hear your call. Make sure you switch to channel 16 before sending out a distress call.

Most hand held VHF's (maybe ALL?) have a button that automatically takes you to CH 16.  Curious as to why this guy did not use his radio.  Maybe it was mounted in an attractive manner onto his boat.  Note:  Keep your radio on your PFD.

(oh, and DRESS FOR IMMERSION!!)

Glad he made it thanks to the PB dudes!

Allen

Curious as to why this guy did not use his radio.  Maybe it was mounted in an attractive manner onto his boat.  Note:  Keep your radio on your PFD.

(oh, and DRESS FOR IMMERSION!!)

Glad he made it thanks to the PB dudes!

Allen

+1.

Sincerely,

Jim

Yep lucky guy.
Doesn't say if it was a SIK or SOT. If he was doing some sort of fishing and he's not one of us, it would be nice if we could reach out with support and advice on how to do things right. Otherwise with his WAF at zero that was probably his  last time OTW