Don't Panic - Half Sunk Yak in the Salty Sea

Well let me just start this off by stating that this was all caused by stupidity and could have been a whole hell of a lot worse than it ended up being. Surfanor and I went to PC on Saturday to do a little bottom fishing. Everything started fine... no issues with surf launches. We got out to the rock ok and were having a good time fishing. After about an hour or so, my brand new Lami Pro Bouncer snapped. I should have taken this as an omen, packed my shit up and headed back to shore, but it was a relatively nice day and I decided to keep fishing. While I wasn't catching shit on shrimp flies, surfanor was knocking them dead on a crippled herring. He eventually hooked into a really nice Black and asked me to take a pick. My camera was up in the front hatch, but I didn't think anything of it. I had busted this move out countless times on the willy, various lakes and reservoirs, and the John Day. Between my balance being a bit off and a bit of a cross swell... bam, I was in the drink.

I quickly flipped the yak back over and popped back on board, but because I went over with the front hatch off, it took on a ton of water. This is where it all started to go down hill. After the first dunk, my biggest concern was exposure and out of habit I got out of the water as quick as I could. I was wearing a poly base layer at the time covered by a pair of extrasport pants and an extrasport dry top, along with neoprene booties. I was fine, but didn't want to get drenched and ruin the day. So, I hopped right back on the yak. Big Mistake!  Instead of hopping right back on the yak, I should have calmly closed the front hatch, and attempted to bilge as much water out of the craft as I could. That, however, is not what I did. I was in such shock, that I hopped back into the boat instantly and because of the volume of water in the boat, she was really unstable. She rolled again and this time pretty much filled up the rest of the way. The only thing keeping the yak afloat at this point was six pool noodles.

Yep, flooded yak, out near the rock being held up by six pool noodles. Surfanor came along side and we attempted to bilge out the yak, but it was flooded and there wasn't a damn thing we could do about it. By this point, I am thoroughly soaked through, but still pretty warm and we decide that the best course of action is to tow the yak back to shore. Surfanor at this point is taking his own sweet ass time stowing his shit (I can say this because we have known each other for years, argue like brothers, and might as well be family). Finally about the point we are going to start heading in, we managed to signal a dory, who came over, and helped us get the yak out of the water and emptied out. After we emptied her of water, I loaded my shit up and headed to shore with no issues.

This story is being put out there just as a reminder of how quickly shit can hit the fan and how important it is to think before just hopping back in the yak. When this stuff happens to you, all you can think about is gear... pole, check... dry box and dry bag, check... paddle, check... you are scrambling and I found it hard to be as calm as I should have been.

Clearly I know my actions were stupid and I made a poor judgment call. Trust me, I don't need any reminders. What was shocking to me about the whole thing was just how quickly the yak took on water and for all intents and purposes might as well have been sunk. The pool noodles most definitely worked! Oddly, the only gear lost in the whole incident was one shrimp fly rigging I had in my cup holder. While I never felt in danger for my life, I could easily have lost a couple grand worth of gear. I grew up around the coast and am a strong swimmer and know I could have made it back to shore, but certainly not with the yak and all of the gear and had I been out another 1/2 mile to a mile, odds start to drop dramatically. So, that all being said, I'm damn glad I didn't have to and am really glad I wasn't alone out there.

I know it has been said countless times on these forums, but it bears repeating when going out on the salt.

1. Go with friends if at all possible
2. Have all your safety gear
3. Dress for immersion
4. Don't do stupid shit, like trying to get your camera out of a location to take a picture of your buddies fish when you know it probably isn't the best idea to attempt it.
5. Use Pool Noodles!

Needless to say, those Dory Fisherman had some cold frosty ones waiting for them at the end of the day.

damn, that sucks, glad it had a happy ending. I'm sure i would have jumped right back in too, been watching Shark week on discovery channel...

damn, that sucks, glad it had a happy ending. I'm sure i would have jumped right back in too, been watching Shark week on discovery channel...

   That don't help much does it?

Thanks for sharing the story. Amazing how fast things happen out there. Good job on keeping a level head. No doubt that's why it ended well.

And I think we can all agree those noodles just might be the the best $6 dollars spent on a yak.

Z

Good to hear everything worked out ok. Thanks for posting!

Dude it was a brand new rod and reel combo I didn't want to risk losing it in case I rolled helping you ;-p  Plus that was easily a 5lb+ bass that had to be secured on my gameclip.

Out of respect I didn't take any pics of J swimming in the deep blue.  But I did manage to snap a few shots of them hauling his yak onto the dory.

Dude!!!!!

I'm glad you kept your head and put together a workable solution that didn't include losing your yak and gear!  We all do stupid stuff. 

- Did you guys have VHF's?
- What was Plan B in the event that you couldn't hail a PB?
- Do you think you'd have been able to pump out your boat after the 2nd roll?
- Was surfanor rigging up a Ginormous mooching rig to "tow you in" with? 

The tide was heading in at the time there wouldn't have been much of a problem getting him and the yak back to shore.  My biggest concern was the surf contest going on and our shortest route to shore being the exact middle of the lineup.  Talk about embarrassing.  I had a vhf so we were set there if needed.  We also had plenty of rope for towing between our bow and stern lines. With the front hatch still open after the second roll the bilge became a pipe dream. 

My Plan B was the tow in with Jack probably just body surfing in and wrestling the yak to shore. That would've been easily doable but since the dory was close I flagged them down with a whistle and waving a paddle.

All in all it was an interesting morning.  The biggest concerns being loss of gear really.  "how can we get this giant plastic water bottle back to shore?"

Did the yak roll out from underneath you or did you just fall off?  I have always wondered how stable it is when I see folks  slide out to access that front hatch, unless of course you are a yak acrobat like Yaknitup, who does everything but handstands .
Glad it ended well for you guys, and hats off to the Dory guy for lending a hand. 

Thanks for sharing.  Lessons learned from other's mistakes are much less painful to swallow for me.

... unless of course you are a yak acrobat like Yaknitup, who does everything but handstands .

Sounds like a challenge to me.

... unless of course you are a yak acrobat like Yaknitup, who does everything but handstands .

Sounds like a challenge to me.

Yeah, I'll have to work on that. I'll be sure to post something on youtube if I get it down though! 

In all honesty, I think I'm due for a humbling experiance. That X-Factor sure is stable out there, but it's only a matter of time before I push it too far and get put in my place! 

In all honesty, I think I'm due for a humbling experiance. That X-Factor sure is stable out there, but it's only a matter of time before I push it too far and get put in my place! 

       

This all reminds me, I need to find a good, high volume bilge pump!!!!

This all reminds me, I need to find a good, high volume bilge pump!!!!

You mean you don't have one yet??? Click this and buy NOW!!!!
http://www.kayakfishinggear.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=14

Z

   I agree that the move to open the front hatch is not a hard one to do physically.  But hearing stories like this have me feeling more than a bit leary of having the thing open at all when on the water. Many thanks for the reminder, glad that you came out if it relatively easily and intact. We should all remember that just 'cuz we can, doesn't mean we should.
Chris