A Learning Experience on Big Blue

Yesterday I launched from Timber Cove at about 11 a.m. to fish for rock fish and ling cod.  The swells were about 5 feet but the wind was only about 5 mph so the conditions seemed okay.  There was thin fog and a somewhat thicker fog bank a ways off the coast.  A couple of guys who had just landed said they had success with rock fish and lings using jigs just north of the cove in about 50 f.o.w.  I proceeded to that area and started jigging.  Getting no results I went a bit farther up the coast and then a bit farther out.  I changed to a different jig and caught two brown rock fish.  After getting them stowed I noticed that I did not recognize any landmarks.  I decided to head back to Timber Cove so I started south looking for the entrance to the cove.  I did not find it so I thought I might have drifted south past it while I was fishing so I turned around and headed north.  After paddling for some time I came to a cove but when I got close I recognized the rest room at Stillwater Cove.  Apparently I had been north of Timber Cove and didn’t go far south enough to get to it before I turned around.  By now it was about 4 p.m.  I considered landing at Stillwater Cove but then I would have to get a ride to Timber Cove to get my pickup then drive to Stillwater Cove to get my yak and gear.  I didn’t feel very tired so I decided to paddle back to Timber Cove. 

On the way back the fog settled in between me and land.  I could see land if I paddled fairly close to shore but that also required getting fairly close to rocks and big breakers.  To avoid points and offshore rocks I had to turn out to the open ocean repeatedly then I would go in close to shore to check out the next section of coast looking for Timber Cove.  I was surprised by a rock far offshore that was not visible until I was nearly even with it and the trough of a swale revealed it about 20 feet from me with a loud roar and a large whirlpool.  I paddled as hard as I could and got away from it.  Shortly after that I heard and then saw a large swell coming toward me.  I could not turn in time to face it so I turned to go with it and paddled hard.  It partially broke on me but did not knock me off my kayak or turn it and flip it.  I was glad that I was in my stable Malibu X-Factor.  I continued south for a couple of hours until the light started to fade.  At that point I couldn’t get close in enough to check for the cove without getting too close to the rocks and breakers. 

I decided that I couldn’t get to shore safely by myself and I didn’t want to stay out all night so the only other option I could think of was to call the coast guard on my radio.  I did so and got a prompt response from the Golden Gate unit.  I told them that I was in the vicinity of Timber Cove.  Soon they contacted the Bodega Bay coast guard station which took over communications.  They asked me if I had a smart phone with me and if so did I have a gps app that I could use to find my way back to Timber Cove.  I said yes I had a smart phone but I didn’t have a gps app on it.  They asked me to try to download one.  I tried but I could not get a signal.  They then said they would deploy land staff to Timber Cove to try to signal me.  By the time land staff were in position it was dark so I could no longer see the shore and when they shined flashlights I could not see them because of the fog.  They asked me if I could take photos toward shore with my phone.  I said yes and did so.  They were able to see the flash so they confirmed that I was in the vicinity of Timber Cove.  However, because I could not see their lights I could not use them as a reference point to find my way into the cove.  The Bodega Bay station decided to send a boat to pick me up.   They said it would take over an hour to get there.  My radio displays gps coordinates but the numbers are very small and the screen on the radio is too dim to read them in the dark.  I was able to use the light from my phone to barely discern the gps reading and relay it.  After that all I could do was wait for the boat.  I used the sound of the breakers to maintain my orientation to shore and to maintain a fairly constant distance from shore.  As the air temperature fell I began to get somewhat cold.  I was wearing a 7 mm farmer John wetsuit with rash guards and booties so I stayed warm except for my arms which were getting cold and my hands which got somewhat numb.  This made operating the radio more difficult.  The coast guard had me change from the default emergency frequency of 16 to 22A.  I was able to do that but then my phone began to malfunction so I no longer had its light to read the radio screen.  Fortunately the swells decreased in size and the wind remained low so it was not too difficult to maintain my approximate distance from shore.  What I could not do was determine whether I was drifting along the coast and if so how fast and in what direction; the swells were from the northwest but the wind was from the southwest.  I could no longer see the gps reading on my radio.  The coast guard boat began contacting me to check on my condition and give me approximate ETAs.  About an hour after the boat launched I heard the faint sound of an engine.  Shortly thereafter I saw a faint light coming from the general direction of Bodega Bay.  The boat crew asked me to give them “long counts” to ten and back down to help them locate me.  Despite doing this several times they did not begin to come in my specific direction until after I saw them going away from me north up the coast.  I told them to turn around.  When the boat got close enough for me to see their light blue search light I was able to give them more specific guidance to my location.  I gave them frequent estimates of their distance from me but I still had to give them an urgent warning when they got about 100 yards from me to get them to slow down before they capsized me with their wake or ran me down.  They got me on board and then pulled my kayak on.  The man at the helm said that there was no place in the area where they could take me so that I could safely paddle in to shore so they took me back with them to Bodega Bay. 

I could not contact local friends to come for me because I don’t have their numbers memorized and my cell phone which had their numbers wasn’t working.  The coast guard staff used their phone to contact taxi companies in Santa Rosa so I could get a ride to my home near Sebastopol.  Two companies said they would call back but they hadn’t after an hour so we called a company in Petaluma; they were too busy but they referred me to another company which sent a cab.  It took them over an hour to get to Bodega Bay and it was after 2 a.m. when I got home.  The cost of the taxi ride wasn’t unreasonable:  $40. 

I plan to take several actions based on this experience:

1.   Get a fish finder with a gps tracking feature so I can use it to find my way back to my launch site.
2.   Always take a flashlight even if I plan to land well before dark.
3.   Get a strobe light as recommended by the coast guard; they are much more visible than a flashlight.
4.   Get flares.
5.   Take more clothing (at least a jacket).
6.   Watch the fog more closely.  The coast guard said they had already rescued a kayaker earlier in the day when the fog came in and he could not find his way

Yesterday I launched from Timber Cove at about 11 a.m. to fish for rock fish and ling cod.  The swells were about 5 feet but the wind was only about 5 mph so the conditions seemed okay.  There was thin fog and a somewhat thicker fog bank a ways off the coast.  A couple of guys who had just landed said they had success with rock fish and lings using jigs just north of the cove in about 50 f.o.w.  I proceeded to that area and started jigging.  Getting no results I went a bit farther up the coast and then a bit farther out.  I changed to a different jig and caught two brown rock fish.  After getting them stowed I noticed that I did not recognize any landmarks.  I decided to head back to Timber Cove so I started south looking for the entrance to the cove.  I did not find it so I thought I might have drifted south past it while I was fishing so I turned around and headed north.  After paddling for some time I came to a cove but when I got close I recognized the rest room at Stillwater Cove.  Apparently I had been north of Timber Cove and didn’t go far south enough to get to it before I turned around.  By now it was about 4 p.m.  I considered landing at Stillwater Cove but then I would have to get a ride to Timber Cove to get my pickup then drive to Stillwater Cove to get my yak and gear.  I didn’t feel very tired so I decided to paddle back to Timber Cove.  On the way back the fog settled in between me and land.  I could see land if I paddled fairly close to shore but that also required getting fairly close to rocks and big breakers.  To avoid points and offshore rocks I had to turn out to the open ocean repeatedly then I would go in close to shore to check out the next section of coast looking for Timber Cove.  I was surprised by a rock far offshore that was not visible until I was nearly even with it and the trough of a swale revealed it about 20 feet from me with a loud roar and a large whirlpool.  I paddled as hard as I could and got away from it.  Shortly after that I heard and then saw a large swell coming toward me.  I could not turn in time to face it so I turned to go with it and paddled hard.  It partially broke on me but did not knock me off my kayak or turn it and flip it.  I was glad that I was in my stable Malibu X-Factor.  I continued south for a couple of hours until the light started to fade.  At that point I couldn’t get close in enough to check for the cove without getting too close to the rocks and breakers.  I decided that I couldn’t get to shore safely by myself and I didn’t want to stay out all night so the only other option I could think of was to call the coast guard on my radio.  I did so and got a prompt response from the Golden Gate unit.  I told them that I was in the vicinity of Timber Cove.  Soon they contacted the Bodega Bay coast guard station which took over communications.  They asked me if I had a smart phone with me and if so did I have a gps app that I could use to find my way back to Timber Cove.  I said yes I had a smart phone but I didn’t have a gps app on it.  They asked me to try to download one.  I tried but I could not get a signal.  They then said they would deploy land staff to Timber Cove to try to signal me.  By the time land staff were in position it was dark so I could no longer see the shore and when they shined flashlights I could not see them because of the fog.  They asked me if I could take photos toward shore with my phone.  I said yes and did so.  They were able to see the flash so they confirmed that I was in the vicinity of Timber Cove.  However, because I could not see their lights I could not use them as a reference point to find my way into the cove.  The Bodega Bay station decided to send a boat to pick me up.   They said it would take over an hour to get there.  My radio displays gps coordinates but the numbers are very small and the screen on the radio is too dim to read them in the dark.  I was able to use the light from my phone to barely discern the gps reading and relay it.  After that all I could do was wait for the boat.  I used the sound of the breakers to maintain my orientation to shore and to maintain a fairly constant distance from shore.  As the air temperature fell I began to get somewhat cold.  I was wearing a 7 mm farmer John wetsuit with rash guards and booties so I stayed warm except for my arms which were getting cold and my hands which got somewhat numb.  This made operating the radio more difficult.  The coast guard had me change from the default emergency frequency of 16 to 22A.  I was able to do that but then my phone began to malfunction so I no longer had its light to read the radio screen.  Fortunately the swells decreased in size and the wind remained low so it was not too difficult to maintain my approximate distance from shore.  What I could not do was determine whether I was drifting along the coast and if so how fast and in what direction; the swells were from the northwest but the wind was from the southwest.  I could no longer see the gps reading on my radio.  The coast guard boat began contacting me to check on my condition and give me approximate ETAs.  About an hour after the boat launched I heard the faint sound of an engine.  Shortly thereafter I saw a faint light coming from the general direction of Bodega Bay.  The boat crew asked me to give them “long counts” to ten and back down to help them locate me.  Despite doing this several times they did not begin to come in my specific direction until after I saw them going away from me north up the coast.  I told them to turn around.  When the boat got close enough for me to see their light blue search light I was able to give them more specific guidance to my location.  I gave them frequent estimates of their distance from me but I still had to give them an urgent warning when they got about 100 yards from me to get them to slow down before they capsized me with their wake or ran me down.  They got me on board and then pulled my kayak on.  The man at the helm said that there was no place in the area where they could take me so that I could safely paddle in to shore so they took me back with them to Bodega Bay.  I could not contact local friends to come for me because I don’t have their numbers memorized and my cell phone which had their numbers wasn’t working.  The coast guard staff used their phone to contact taxi companies in Santa Rosa so I could get a ride to my home near Sebastopol.  Two companies said they would call back but they hadn’t after an hour so we called a company in Petaluma; they were too busy but they referred me to another company which sent a cab.  It took them over an hour to get to Bodega Bay and it was after 2 a.m. when I got home.  The cost of the taxi ride wasn’t unreasonable:  $40. 

I plan to take several actions based on this experience:

1.   Get a fish finder with a gps tracking feature so I can use it to find my way back to my launch site.
2.   Always take a flashlight even if I plan to land well before dark.
3.   Get a strobe light as recommended by the coast guard; they are much more visible than a flashlight.
4.   Get flares.
5.   Take more clothing (at least a jacket).
6.   Watch the fog more closely.  The coast guard said they had already rescued a kayaker earlier in the day when the fog came in and he could not find his way

That's a big paragraph. Break it up if you can. I'd like to read it.

Wow, what an experience! Good lessons learned and thank you for sharing it with the rest of us.

I'm glad it worked out ok. At least you had the radio. Does your phone not have google maps or an equivalent? If you open up Google maps when you have cell service it will show your location on the map even without cell service.

WOW! Considering the circumstances, I'd say that the fact you didn't panic and kept your cool, you did the right thing. Yes, you could have taken more precautions but you made it through this ordeal unharmed. To this I say good for you. Awesome for you to share this as I am sure it will get others to think twice and possibly save someone's life as a result.

Glad everything ended up ok, and thanks for sharing.  I was in a pretty thick fog once at TC, but it was calm, close to shore and I had GPS - still a but nervous.

 I'm taking my strobe light with me tomorrow.

I had no problem reading it,

Quite a story and sounds like although you could have taken different action early on, when you did find yourself in deep doo doo, you handled it well,

Thanks for posting up such a clear and detailed report of a really bad day.

I'm glad it worked out ok. At least you had the radio. Does your phone not have google maps or an equivalent? If you open up Google maps when you have cell service it will show your location on the map even without cell service.

Sometimes, but not always.  GPS is kind of spotty without cell service.

Damn.

Wow! What an adventure. A fish finder with integrated GPS map is indispensable on the ocean. A handheld GPS unit that only gives you your coordinates is useless without paper charts to plot your position. Glad to hear everything worked out.

Glad you made it back to land safely. Another reason why not to go out on the ocean alone.

My personal rule is never to go out in the ocean alone EVER!

Thanks for sharing.

WOW! Considering the circumstances, I'd say that the fact you didn't panic and kept your cool, you did the right thing. Yes, you could have taken more precautions but you made it through this ordeal unharmed. To this I say good for you. Awesome for you to share this as I am sure it will get others to think twice and possibly save someone's life as a result.

+1

I'm glad you made it home safe. Certainly a tough way to learn things.
I go out by myself all the time, but I am familiar with where I'm going, have a couple years experience, and have a working GPS. I also have a compass that I know how to use. Every little thing matters.
I'd of been wetting my pants if out after dark and lost.

Thanks for sharing and really glad you made it back safe.

Scary stuff!  I'm not sure I would have handled it as well as you did, but then again I would never go out alone or without a gps.