Sunday NCKA rescue at Rockaway

At risk of upsetting a member (Shake, sorry bro), I'm going to post this anyway because it is a good story all the way around and there were many members in the vicinity who probably want an update.  This is why we all wear immersion gear, PFD's, and carry functioning radios.

(Shake's kayak had a catastrophic failure yesterday)

Hi All,
I wanted to say thank you again for your help today. I hope you all got fish. I honestly don't know what I would have done without you guys being on your radios and coming to help me out. That kayak is officially retired. And there was one other person in a newer green hobie, if anyone has his info, I'd like to say thanks to him as well. I owe you all a round of beers and more.

Thanks again,

Shake

Hey Shake,

I can safely say that we are all happy to help out, and for sure are thrilled that things turned out as well as they did -- both you and ALL of your gear made it safely back to shore.  That's what the community of the Forum is all about, why it was formed so long ago; we share the good times and help each other through the bad times.  If the weather had been even a little bit worse, things would NOT have turned out so well for your gear, you got lucky.

There were 2 amazing things to me about the experience:  A)  I watched those Malibu Brothers get to you incredibly FAST on their tandem; my Revo-16 is impressively fast, but they were moving across the water like a powerboat and then they got you in to the beach on their trampoline -- BRAVO Andrew and Bro!!  B) I also watched and cruised past a number of other yakkers, who were much closer to you than those of us who helped (and others who were indeed quite far away too), do absolutely nothing to help a man in true need of assistance.  That is not what the Rules of the Sea are about and not what our great NCKA is about -- we are a community that is committed to each other, the health of our waters, and the sport we all love; that not responding business was a huge disappointment for me and I hope it's because those guys are not members in the NCKA community.

That green Hobie yakker is Umichi, he helped you in the water and helped us get your boat in.  I've been fishing and spending time with both Krishna and Umichi for a couple of years now, and can say that they are my friends and I value our time together; now I suspect you appreciate them too, they are great guys, as are Andrew and his Bro -- NCKA Strong!

We are all happy to hear that you are retiring your ancient Outback, it has had a long, hard life, LOL.


Tight lines,
Bradley

Glad that everything worked out!

Thanks for the write-up Bradley.  Do you know what happened to his kayak?

Thanks for sharing. Glad everything turned well and it's a good reminder to not to take risk w/solo outings.

So glad to hear everything turned out great with no fatalities! Shake came to my rescue (no gaff trying to land a thresher) a few years back in Bolinas -  thanks a lot brother, I still owe you a beer and gaff 

What exactly do you mean by catastrophic failure?  I was out in Pacifica last Saturday, 2 yakers flipped and came out OK.

What exactly do you mean by catastrophic failure?  I was out in Pacifica last Saturday, 2 yakers flipped and came out OK.

A catastrophic failure is an engineering term. It is a sudden, unanticipated total failure from which recovery is impossible.

So something really really bad.

What failed?  How did it happen?

With older models hobies it's probably the scupper or mirage slot cracked.

Yeah, it cracked in front of the drive well. Not a linear crack like I have seen before, but a circular crack that made an opening about an inch and a half across. The resulting flap didn’t open all the way, so Scurvy was able to pump fast enough to reduce the amount of water in the kayak before we towed it in, but it filled quickly.

How old was the model?

Great job all around. Glad it turned out ok. I guess I'll have to make a habit of checking inside the hull once in a while when I'm on the water.

Yeah, it cracked in front of the drive well. Not a linear crack like I have seen before, but a circular crack that made an opening about an inch and a half across. The resulting flap didn’t open all the way, so Scurvy was able to pump fast enough to reduce the amount of water in the kayak before we towed it in, but it filled quickly.

Yeah, and Krishna got one heck of a workout rolling the swamped boat back upright several times 💪🏼🥵 ...Never mind his jumping into the water to try and free up the jammed Mirage Drive. 🦈

I'm truly fortunate for Scurvy, Malibu Two, KPD, Umunchu and another guys who's name I don't know who came quickly, without hesitation to help me out. It could have been way worse. These guys saved my butt and need to be thanked. I was out of the water, on the AI within a couple of minutes.

Always carry a radio, wear your PFD and be prepared to get wet. My float bags were they only thing keeping it off the bottom of the ocean. It was an old Outback, 2008. The crack was about almost 2 inches. It's now retired.

Glad you got back to the land safely Shake and great job Scurvy, Malibutwo brothers, KPD and Naoaki who got on scene quickly.