1. Lack of air... Wear a quality, properly sized Life Jacket.. It floats.. you don't
2. Drastic drop in body temperature do to cold water immersion... Wear appropriate immersion protection. My measure of appropriate is: can I still function in the water until rescue (self or otherwise) if unable to re-board my yak, this of course, varies greatly depending on the temp of the water where you are fishing.
deepcolor:
Agree. Plus a couple of easy items that can save your life. A whistle (required anyway) for thoughtless boaters and a knife for anchor, wind, current and log combinations that can get dangerous quickly. And one other lesson I've learned the hard way that doesn't cost a thing - check the weather often. It can change quickly.
Yarjammer:
The greatest threat to my life on the water is myself. I am the only thing I ultimately have control of and as such I don't pretend to have control over anything else. A lack of situational awareness is a death sentence.
The price to pay for safety... this reminds me of a debate often we have in my motorcycling groups. It is as pure as it is simple; if you can't trust it, won't use it, don't know how to use it, or it doesn't work in the first place then it is worthless. The converse is absolutely true as well. Safety equipment is a cheap insurance policy against the ultimate intagible, your life. I would say the cost of safety would break down like this:
Coast Guard / Washington State required items: http://www.boat-ed.com/wa/handbook/chcklst.htm *PFD ($5 to $400) *Whistle/Air horn/Bell ($2-$25) *Navigation Light/Lantern/Flashlight ($1-$200)
Not Required, but gotta have: *A plan (FREE!) *Hydration source (bottled water, thermos, whatever...) *Sunscreen/Lip Balm *Appropriate clothing for conditions *Paddle leash (~$15)
The good ideas: *Knife ($15-$200) *Safety Flag ($5-$30) *Compass/GPS ($12-$500) *Cell phone or VHF ($0-$250) *Safety strobe ($25-$50)
Devise your plan and determine what equipment YOU need to reasonably save YOUR own tail and make darn sure YOU have them with you on the water. I would advise a newb to plan to spend at least $50 to $100 on safety related gear and then whatever they can afford for clothing/apparel (there are plenty of outlets to get new or used apparel for the cold(er) water or weather). Personally, I bought what I could afford at the time and have been slowly upgrading or increasing my options as time moves on to suit my preferences.
steelheadr:
--- Quote from: pelagic paddler on March 05, 2009, 09:40:57 PM ---Two things will always kill you.
1. Lack of air... Wear a quality, properly sized Life Jacket.. It floats.. you don't
2. Drastic drop in body temperature do to cold water immersion... Wear appropriate immersion protection. My measure of appropriate is: can I still function in the water until rescue (self or otherwise) if unable to re-board my yak, this of course, varies greatly depending on the temp of the water where you are fishing.
--- End quote ---
From a medical perspective, life threats from cold water immersion are as follows:
- 1 minute to gain control of your breathing. This means relax and don't panic when dumped - 10 minutes until you begin to lose purposeful movement - 1 hour until you lose all purposeful movement
A proper pfd may give you the ability to keep your head out of the water, but in the NW waters (most of the year), you need to get out of the water relatively quickly to survive a cold water immersion.
INSAYN:
I really do appreciate this thread.
I have been slowly building up my safety gear before I hit the salt. I owe myself at least this much, right? I plan to test all of my submersion gear really good before I make my first run through the surf on my yak, by playing in the surf on foot first. I want to see if and where water or chill could become an issue. Then fix this.
Now, my biggest concern of the unknown at this point is how my stomach will be in the salt. I have been out in the ocean on several occasions with and without swells. I've been pretty green faced on a few of those occasions, and I just hope I can reduce this effect either by pharmaceuticals or just over time itself.