On Capsizing

Not so bad is it!
I use a micro-fiber cloth to wipe out the excess water while paddling.
All I can say is SHAMWOW!!!LOL

Capsizing isn't the only safety concern that we need to be thinking about.  It would probably do us all some good to get a book or video or better yet take a safety class.  My roots lay more in white water kayaking than fishing.  One of the big concerns there is entrapment.  This can come from trees or rocks in the river during a swim or it can come from your own equipment.  White water boaters don't use paddle tethers or any thing that they could get tangled in because of this.  When I started thinking about kayak fishing this was and is still a concern for me.  You are going to have a fishing line out at a minimum.  Add to that maybe an anchor line, crab pots or any other gear strapped to your boat.  One of the fatalities on the lower Clackamas river (Oregon) this year was a kid that got tangled in a rope in moving water.  It takes suprising little current to be a problem.  Probably not nearly as big of a concern in a calm flat lake as it is in moving or rough water.  I also know that it is a hole new game once you start moving things off shore.  We could probably get the most useful information from sea kayaking resources but I think white water resources could also be useful especially if you plan on fishing any rivers with any current.  Does anyone know if there is any organization that publishes boating accidents?  The American Mountaineering Association does this form climbers.  It can be very educational reading through accident reports and seeing what kind of things went wrong and what lead up to them. 

just my 2 pennies
Matt

I have a major fear of entanglement  My background is mostly in whitewater rafting and canoeing, where loose cordage and straps are a major no-no.  I always have a sharp fixed-blade knife (serrated Gerber river knife) clipped to my vest, and often have a folding knife with a thumb-opener clipped somewhere as well.  All of my PFD's, both rafting and kayaking, have similar knives clipped to them, and I avoid using those knives for anything that might dull them.

When I take a newbie rafting the first lecture they get is to wear the pfd, know where their knife and whistle are, and never use that knife for anything but it's intended purpose.

Sea Kayaker magazine http://www.seakayakermag.com/ used to publish postmortem stories regularly. I don't know if they still do, as I haven't read it recently. The major problems seemed to be unpreparedness: for cold water exposure, weather and tide shifts, etc.

yeah, pisco, they still do.. current issue has an excellent article re; a relatively skilled whitewater kayaker capsizing on in an expedition yak repeatedly on a san juans crossing tour. pick up the august edition and go to page 25 for a dose of gut check.

that, plus several recent posts here could not have come at a better time for me.. i'm really looking into classes someplace, plus our safety classes Zeelander polepole et al are planning..