Kayaker rescue...

Saw this posted on Coastside -- seems like everything worked out in the end, but easily could have ended up much worse. Be safe out there.

Cheers,
Brad

Headed up with my buddy Kevin to do some fishing on SPB yesterday . Arrived around 9:AM to catch the out-go.
Beautiful warm flat conditions. Started looking around on the meter a mile or so off China Camp when we
noticed a net floating in the water. We circled around and picked it up. I immediately had a bad feeling in my
gut. Sure enough a few hundred yards away we found an overturned kayak and a person in the water.
He said had been in the water for about 45 minutes, and was showing all the signs of hypothermia.
Fortunately he had a PFD on which clearly saved his life. We managed to get him in our boat and help him remove his waders which were filled with water, got his wet closes off, and started warming him in the sun. We got his kayak uprighted, tied off to our stern, and headed to China Camp pier. We called 911 while underway. The FD showed up shortly after our arrival and we handed Todd off to them for transport to the ER.
Todd said he was with a friend, who was in another Kayak , but for some reason they had become
separated. Not good. We ran into his friend by chance while fishing about two hours later and told him about Todd. I'm not a kayak fisherman but I think it would be a good idea to wear a wet suit while in that type of craft. Also practicing the buddy system is a must. Some sort of water proof emergency calling device would be a good idea as well.

Anyway, once we got to fishing we managed two sturgeon, one released and one kept at 42 inches .
Several shaker bass, two keeper bass, and what appeared to be a surf perch. That was a first for a surf perch
in SPB. All fish caught on GS. Fished off CC in about 12' .

Happy St. Patricks Day

Wow.... thanks for sharing Brad. Can we just blame Eddie for everything--> blame Eddie for all the spb sturgeon fishing non sense!!

That guy got CHETED by his fishing buddy for sure. Grrr.....
Glad that he is ok.

ha - it's a verb now. Cheted

Wow.... thanks for sharing Brad. Can we just blame Eddie for everything--> blame Eddie for all the spb sturgeon fishing non sense!!

That guy got CHETED by his fishing buddy for sure. Grrr.....
Glad that he is ok.

Damn Cheted 

Also love your Avatar 

That's why you don't wear waders kayak fishing period!

Yikes. Thanks for posting that.

Stop the madness!  Thanks Brad for the heads up and report, glad you scored and certainly there for a bigger purpose.  Dang that bay, gotta pull up that anchor slow...

Good thing you came along and helped that guy out. As you stated the whole point of the buddy system is to stay close enough in case someone has a problem.

That's why you don't wear waders kayak fishing period!

+1

wow!! wearing waiters, incapable of self-rescue and fishing alone. What a fucking dumb-ass.

Waders without a belt, apparently.

Thanks for sharing. That's a very fortunate outcome.

That's why I love this club.

When you come to NCKA you're subject to a level of community safety pressure, and it's such a good thing.

For a powerboater to suggest that "Some sort of water proof emergency calling device would be a good idea", I feel good to know that we exercise not only good judgment about safety on the water, but we also practice continuous discussion as we help each other be on top of safety issues for our sport.  Anyone who participates in kayak fishing - especially offshore - needs to get their shit together and have safety as a priority, or, I say, we need to let them know that they're out of line.

This guy absolutely blew it by not having a waterproof VHF - not to mention the waders and not being able to self-rescue.

Thanks, NCKA. 

Glad it wasn’t worse.

Thanks for posting. Good thing everything turned out okay

Wow, amazing recue!! First timers do not know how treacherous the seemingly "flat " Bay can be. Getting caught in strong outgoing and incoming tides is no joke. Capsizing with no radio or help is a high risk, dangerous and possibly deadly situation.
Great work NCKA Bruddahs!!!
Aloha,
Michael
da Bruddah