iHop therefore iHuli...or Half A Dry Suit is NOT a Semi-Dry Suit

"Of all the things I've lost, I miss my mind the most." - Bumper Sticker from the '60's

D Rock from Kayak Shed set me up for a demo of the Jackson Coosa, a very cool all around fishing kayak. I'd floated the Sandy with it last week and did great, not a single problem. So many cool features for fishing and actually an exceptionally stable craft.

We drove over to Lake Rowland for some practice paddling and a little rainbow hunting. I was wearing my new dry suit but it was so nice and warm and calm that I didn't bother to put my head and arms into the suit. So I'm totally unprepared for a dunk. Ditto on my normally fully leashed status. 

What could go wrong on a little lake with no other boats and no waves? A wind gust and a lack of proper kayaking instincts.

Well, since I'm normally sitting in what's basically the aircraft carrier of kayaks (my Tandem Island) I haven't developed many paddling skills as clearly seen in the following video.



So many wonderful lessons learned, my only hope is that others can learn by watching this rather than having to experience it first hand. Seems that when you're prepared things don't go wrong but when you're stupid you reap the rewards.

Here's what I "gained":

An appreciation for preparation
   a. put on all your immersion gear
   b. put your phone in a dry case
   c. leash or stow stuff you want to keep
   d. keep your friends close, don't go alone until you've got the skills...and then still don't go alone.
   e. Practice paddling, bracing, leaning and recovery before you load your fishing gear into your yak.
   f. Rods with cork handles float, rods with foam handles don't

Here's what I lost:

My iPhone 4 (this hurts, I use this thing more than any other item in my life, it's dead, maybe Apple will be kind and replace it free like they did for the one I dropped in the toilet last year),
My favorite Fenwick HMX 7' spinning rod, my Shimano Sedona reel which I'd just loaded with new hi vis floating braid for drifting for Steelhead, my new 60" folding fish measurer, two plastic tackle boxes loaded with lures, a small hand net (I thought sure this would float),

and my status as a Huli Virgin. Be kind, I'm old and feeble of body and mind...

IslandHoppa ... wow! Thanks for sharing that experience. We all understand how quickly things happen ... and no one understands more than me about how much a multiplier "being old" can be. Glad you came out ok. Sorry about the gear loss. I hope I get to meet you when I come up for my biannual trek to PDX to see my grandsons and fish with my son (Jammer). Whew!

Carl

Ouch!
 Expensive lesson.  Glad it was not worse (that water's pretty cold isn't it? )and your here to post about it.
You have my empathy.

Sorry for your loss IHop. Thanks for sharing. I for one am going to learn from your experience and shake off my complacency about safety.

FFTW,

Yep, I shoulda practiced in JAX with you where the water is not in the 40's...both air and water temp were in upper 40's yesterday I think.

I was quite surprised that my wet fleece, wool and poly kept me comfortable, I fished another hour or so but when the sun went behind the mountain I got cold. The water inside my drysuit warmed up until I moved my legs, then it was a lot colder. Guess that's another benefit of the Mirage Drive, keeps your lower body active. I dumped about a gallon or so out of the dry suit when I got ashore.

When I got home I turned the drysuit inside out and just dried it off with a couple of towels and it was ready to go. I'm going to make sure to keep a dry bag with a large towel and warm clothes in my car or in my yak. Good to know how fast I could have gotten warm if I'd needed to. As it was I had my thermal underwear in the car so I drove home in them. Got home a little after dark and was all warmed up. Today I'm tired and a little sore, played two tennis matches Friday night and Saturday morning before hitting the water so I need the rest. Just relaxing around the house today and dreaming about getting on the water tomorrow to practice my paddling.

PDX, yes, PLEASE take safety seriously. I'm an old geezer but I plan to be around a long time so I spend the time and money to equip myself. In the future I'll also not skip important steps just because it looks like tame conditions. That was the only gust of its type all day, it was probably only about 20-25 knots but I didn't respond properly and in just a second or two I was wet. It's kind of fun to watch it in slow motion, not sure what I was doing putting my right hand up to my head and leaning downwind. Sheesh, when things happen fast proper instincts developed from practice are what save you. This was a very valuable lesson for me and I'm very grateful that it happened in safe conditions with an experienced partner nearby to save me.

Yikes... That is not a good advertisement regarding the stability of that kayak. IHop I am glad you are OK

sorry about the lost goodies, the good thing is----it's just stuff, replaceable stuff.  You dodged a big bullet, cold water immersion can have disastrous consequences, like making that first gasp an inhale of water.

   Amazing how fast SH** hapens----just in the blink of an eye, and you're in...

Yikes... That is not a good advertisement regarding the stability of that kayak. IHop I am glad you are OK

I agree... Glad you are ok.  Good reminder for folks to do a little reentry practice.

I have yet to paddle a Coosa but to me they seem to have much to high a center of gravity. Especially when it would come to running smaller northwest coastal rivers. 

WOW!  I just watched the video and the gopro on your head really put me in the water.   First, let me commend you on posting it and maintaining your head.  That was a great vid and I hope you'll forgive me if I jump in with a little arm chair quarterbacking in the 3rd half of the game.

 It was a great lesson on a half worn dry suit, but I know you were just doing that for the camera to demonstrate the practical uselessness of an open drysuit.    It also speaks VOLUMES about initial vs. secondary stability,  high center of gravity, and wide flat boats.

More time on the water with a paddle would have helped, but getting clocked by a bigazz gust on your quarter and being that far up in the air would have been challenging to most folk. That sudden change of your center of mass to somewhere outside of your base would have put a lot of us on our ears.

In fact, I seem to recall someone really close to me (me) in a similar situation a few years back in a boat with a high center, wide beam, excellent initial stability and considerably less secondary stability. and improperly clothed, and alone

http://www.northwestkayakanglers.com/index.php/topic,2683.msg24786.html#msg24786

Like you, I don't think I'll do that again.

Seems that when you're prepared things don't go wrong but when you're stupid you reap the rewards.

Oh that wasn't stupid. That was ignorant!
That just means you don't know... yet.
Now you know!
Stupid is when you don't know and you don't want to know.

Here's what I "gained":

An appreciation for preparation
   a. put on all your immersion gear
   b. put your phone in a dry case
   c. leash or stow stuff you want to keep
   d. keep your friends close, don't go alone until you've got the skills...and then still don't go alone.
   e. Practice Recovery, paddling, bracing,and leaning before you load your fishing gear into your yak. IN ALL OF YOUR BOATS
   f. Rods with cork handles float, rods with foam handles don't 
       (cork floats, but a rod floaty is better)

Really glad you lived and learned, and then taught the rest of us so generously by sharing the lessons.  With video! I've watched a couple times, noticing how my body was leaning to brace in reaction to the shift in perspective. Very good illustration in real time. 

I'm especially sympathetic on the iPhone front.  Had my iPhone 4 less than I week when I flipped an IK on the Kenai River, phone in my vest pocket -- and spent the next week watching function after function after function disappear.  Apple replaced it, despite full admission about water immersion. Hope they do the same for you.

Loved the cool-headed commentary at the end!

IHop was a trooper!! Instead of packing it in and heading home the guy just laughed it off and kept on fishing.

Glad we are able to learn and laugh about this.  There are many valuable lessons to learn and I will remeber this every time I load up my boat.

The Coosa has two seat positions and because the water was glass we were both seated in the high position. That indeed makes the center of gravity higher but is really nice to cast and sight fish from.  In Ihops defense that was a massive gust! and almost got me as well. I just happened to be heading into the wind and he got broadsided. If we had the seat in the lower position we would have been just fine. The Coosa has a whitewater hull and is made to paddle up to class 3 white water and is my go to boat for drift trips down the Deschutes, Klickitatt and the John Day river.   

Again, props to Ihop for having such a great sense of humor about what could have been more serious.  I'm glad we can all learn from this.

Derek

WOW!  Glad to see you are alright, thanks for posting the video, I think the only way to learn more about this would be to do it yourself.  I always try to learn as much as I can from others....Sorry about the lost gear, no fun.

Glad to hear and see that you are okay and thanks for sharing this video.  It shows how important the buddy system is and how to help rescue someone!  Did you have the open back on the Gopro to get the sound? If so good thing your head didnt go under. 

Coosa's are extremely unstable if the seat is in the high position.  You guys forgot my story about flipping in the Wynoochee already huh?   

Ihop, one thing I do if I am worried about getting to warm in the dry suit is to wear it with less layers underneath.  I add a layer of fleece over the top of my drysuit and life vest if i get cold later. This way I am always waterproof.

That was a great video though.  That water looked cold.