A dire event

Alex,

When you heal up you are more than welcome to come to my place and practice self rescue in my back yard. It's where I taught my boys to do it.

Let me know if you are interested

Thanks Antonio. Will do. Bring a couple of beverages for afterwards.

 

Thanks for sharing your story Alex!  Take care and I hope you get back into fishing soon. 

A pool is a great place to start and get the basic idea however don't forget to try it in deeper water with all of your gear too!  Fishing rods, nets, milk crates and coolers can make it a little more difficult.  Wear the gear you will be wearing too.  Stay safe out there fellas!  The one thing that will stick with me the most about this story is going with a buddy!  I went out once by my self and I don't think I'll do that again.  You never know what can happen and that's a big pond out there!

Thanks for sharing your story Alex!  Take care and I hope you get back into fishing soon.

Thanks Lapulapu. See ya at Del Valle one of these days. I have a love/hate relationship for that lake. 

A pool is a great place to start and get the basic idea however don't forget to try it in deeper water with all of your gear too!  Fishing rods, nets, milk crates and coolers can make it a little more difficult.  Wear the gear you will be wearing too.  Stay safe out there fellas!  The one thing that will stick with me the most about this story is going with a buddy!  I went out once by my self and I don't think I'll do that again.  You never know what can happen and that's a big pond out there!

I agree it helps to have all your gear when practicing to simulate the real thing.
My pool is 9 feet so that is plenty deep to practice in and is very similar to the lake you practiced in minus the murky water.

Now these are both pretty much controlled environments. An ocean self rescue can add a myriad of unforeseen obstacles to the mix. First thing to remember DON'T PANIC ! and then calmly apply your training.

  Thank you for sharing your experience and I hope your recovery goes well. I too have had a separated shoulder (that required surgical repair) and with it, a broken clavicle. I was still able to use my arm to climb out of that situation, just with some pain. It sounds like yours wouldn't work at all.Was it also dislocated? Anyway, best of luck through your surgery and PT.
   It reads like there was water in the hull of your boat, making the situation more challenging.
Im curious why you chose not to use any floatation?
Your not a beginner, in fact it says that you have been a member here since 2006.
2000+ posts and more than 44 days + reading the shared information on this site alone.
There are threads regarding the use of floatation both here and in every other kayak resource, so it would seem to be conscious decision to leave it off of your minimum equipment list.
Do you find that there are advantages to not using floatation?
Or is it just a lesser priority than a fish finder or rod holders, etc?

Thanks again for the report and I hope you recover completely.

Right on Alex.Glad your o.k.Props to all who helped.You guy's are bad ass.Way to hang in there and fight thru it Alex.Hope you get well soon.

Marines are not allowed to die without permission.

Once and always. We're a special breed.

Marines are not allowed to die without permission.

Once and always. We're a special breed.

I did think of the pool training we did on staying afloat. Was amazed at some of the Instructors who stayed afloat with a simple breathing technique.

HURAH Brutha !! 

Thanks Tiny !!

This is the Paddle flotation that I will be adding to my emergency kit. I had also considered the compact flare kit that I will be now caring on my next trips.



I am glad you make use of flotation in the interior of your kayak hydrospider. I would say it is a very good idea . Maybe you should start a poll as to how many other folks use flotation in the interior of there kayak , how long they have been on the site, the amount of posts they have and the pros and cons? I think it would be very interesting. It is definitely something I had considered and more than likely will implement. Thanks for the well wishes. 

Alex

When you say floatation,  are we talking about "pool noodles" in the hull?  If so what's the rule of thumb,  cram, cram, cram until no more fit?  I have about 20 or so in my hull with room for a little more.  Bought out every dollar store in my area.  Maybe there is already a post?

When you say floatation,  are we talking about "pool noodles" in the hull?  If so what's the rule of thumb,  cram, cram, cram until no more fit?  I have about 20 or so in my hull with room for a little more.  Bought out every dollar store in my area.  Maybe there is already a post?

Someone smarter than me could probably do the math to figure out the minimum amount of pool noodles needed to make a kayak of a given weight impossible to sink, given that it remained structurally intact. I don't imagine it would need to be all that many.

Pool noodles will only keep your kayak afloat...if it's not overloaded with a bunch of crap like tackle, rods&reels, FF battery, etc. But you will not be able to stay on top and actually paddle/pedal the kayak if it's full of water. So to me, the pool noodle thing is overblown. Yes, I have a few in my kayak but I wouldn't expect them to save my life.

Pool noddles are your kayak's life jacket.  Yes they work.  They are cheap insurance to keep your kayak afloat.  With regards to personal safety, not going out alone in the ocean is the first rule to follow.

 I agree that pool noodles are not the ultimate answer. I like to use them because they are easy to work with and I am able to customize hull interiors and still allow for storage. I have inflatables, but they have limitations and Boyle's gas laws are in effect with their use. Mini-cell foam is my favorite and ill most likely be upgrading my boats with it even its just the bulkheads.
Still, I don't believe that is necessarily about the material used for floatation as much as the elimination of dead space. At a minimum, bulkheads should be in place and Ive never been able to understand while SOT's don't come equipped off the shelf. Its just one of the very simple (risk limiting) things that a boat should have.  Fishing SOTs are getting bigger = more gallons per boat.

Some of my work.