Driving To Shelter (Wear your seat belt!)

Hey guys I just wanted to share my experience from the weekend with you in hopes that some one can learn from my experience. I am feeling very blessed for being a live and wish that I could have fished with and hung out with all my brothers and sisters at GS7. Well here it goes.

I left Newport, OR at 3 am with my friend in hopes of getting to shelter cove by noon for a quick afternoon fish and dive before the tournament on sat.The weather was gloomy but I was supper excited for some sunny CA weather and good company. Heading south on 101 the rain would come and go as I passed from coastal town to coastal town navigating the turns on the empty road with ease. As the hours wore on so did my alertness and my bladder emptiness so I took a quick break on the side of the road to stand and enjoy nature. Hopped back in the car and continued on to shelter cove. About 50 min later near Bandon, OR I am starting to feel tired again and decide I should find a place to pullover soon but before I can find a spot Ive already drifted pretty far over to the right and start to hit gravel  . I perked up but turned to hard to the left and into the oncoming lane, I then over compensate to the right and go into a spin . I am now facing north as my side goes off the road and hits a small dirt bank flipping my subaru. We slide until the passenger side is stopped by a young tree. The whole time I am worried about my passenger and knowing that I fucked up and should have stopped a lot sooner. As soon as we stop I spring in to action turning my key to the off position and unbuckle my seat belt and find my glasses next to me. I yell over to Erin and hear a reply shes alive and unhurt but is not what sure what happened as she just woke up. I tell her we have crashed and need to get out of the car but my side is crushed and we have to get out on her side. She opens her door but it is blocked by a tree and will only open a sliver. I turn to my phone and have no service but then we hear a yell from out side from a good samaritan. "Any one in there?" I tell him there are two of us and we appear to be ok but need some one to call 911. As we wait for EMS I try to squeeze myself out of the passenger door as my head gets through I take my first breath on clean air. I then start breaking branches off the tree and open the door a little more and finally am able to pull myself and Erin out of the car. We look at each other with joy and disbelief and then look at my totaled car  . Tom the good samaritan greets us and lets us call our loved ones on his phone and waits for EMS to show up. EMS shows up and sees we are fine and we refuse transport as the state police shows up to start the accident report. Tom offers to get his big truck from his farm up the road to help load all of our gear and wait for a ride. As I finish my report and we start backing things up we get to talking about kayaking and ab diving and it turns out that his family are ab divers and his sons are kayak fisherman. At this point I remember my kayak and go to examine the damage. All my patches on the keel are gone and there is a new crack on its side but every thing is fixable. After the car is righted we can see were the car hit and how the kayak took away a lot of the force from the roof and I attribute that to my survival. My old faithful Ride saved my life and I will be holding on to it for a long time.

Beside the hurt yak I managed to only break food containers, yakima bars, paddle,  and my friends fishing pole. Erin came out without a scratch and I came out with a bruise and and one scratch. We made it back to Newport to a sunny day and all our friends smiling faces. I am thankful for my friends, my seat belt, and my kayak for with out them I would not have been able to get through this. This week has been a long one for us kayakers and I would like to share my condolences with ohbryants family and friends. I did not have the chance to meet him but I would have liked to and I could have easily been another tragedy. Please be careful on the roads guys we are on them a lot and can take them for granted. Please wear your seat belts ans stay safe...


Wes

Dang Wes!
Gnarly crash, glad you and your passenger are OK!
Makes me happy I drive the same combo: Subaru + Yak

Very happy to hear that you guys came out of the ordeal with only scratches... thx for sharing.

OMG!  Glad to hear no one was seriously hurt.  Thank you for sharing the accident with us Wes.

Dang Wes!
Gnarly crash, glad you and your passenger are OK!
Makes me happy I drive the same combo: Subaru + Yak

+1 for the suby

Glad you're okay Wes. Looks like a crazy crash

Super glad this ending turned into a lesson not a tragedy!

And I want a Subaru! Glad u folks r ok

WOW!
Amazing you both survived that.
I keep a 5 hour energy drink in my glove box at all times and have designated 'pull over' spots to sleep when returning from the Sonoma coast should I feel even a little sleepy.

Aloha Wes, I am so glad that you and Erin are ok. So happy that both of you guys walked away with few cuts and bruises. The most important thing is that you and Erin are still alive and all other things can be replace. Thanks for sharing your story and hope will prevent any future mishap. Mahalo

Freddie
IslandYak

Really glad you and your passenger made it through that in such good health; the car looks real bad! Thanks for sharing and hopefully this article will remind us all not too push the limits when we are driving tired.

I'm glad to hear that you and your passenger are ok! This is a great reminder to many. I know I have gotten tired at the wheel and have pushed my limits, and I know I shouldn't.

Man! I'm glad nobody was hurt. Sorry about your car and gear tho.

Glad you are ok Wes. 
Missed you

Wes, glad you and Erin came out okay!  Sorry about your Subaru and kayak but you can always replace those.  Thanks for sharing.  We all need to be reminded every once in a while that it's better to pull over and rest.

Rey

Geez - I'm so glad you guys are OK.  I was bummed that I didn't see you, and now I'm glad that you came out of your ordeal OK.  Thanks for sharing the lesson, and hope to see you next year.  That's really cool that a family of abbers/yakkers helped you out.   

Very happy that both of you are OK, Wesley.