Kayaking Fog and current

However, I was concerned that the fact that the sun was south of east and going south quickly, the current was flowing south, and the fact willbd was getting to the southern edge of radio transmission range was adding up to a situation where he might make  too much headway south and get out of communication range, or worse, get turned due south and get going parallel to the coast. I thought a warning to try to keep his bow pointed to the left of the sun would be simple enough to understand, and valuable.

Now in the interest of further education for all, I had some of our engineers do some trig for me. I gave them the following parameters:

a) Kayaker maintaing a bearing of 115 degrees @ 3.5mph ( the bearing of the sun at 10:00am and the generally agreed on speed we should be able to sustain for a few hours)
b) South flowing current of 1.2mph (One estimate of the current which I believe is reasonably accurate)

I asked them to calculate where the kayaker would be in one hour. I plotted the results on Google Earth using willbd's furthest out waypoint and  marked the endpoint as "rawkfish's bearing"

I also asked them to the same problem, but changing the bearing to 25 degrees. In my previous post, I said that willbd would have fared better if was told to keep the sun at 3 o'clock. I picked that because I thought it was easy to understand, (although I really wanted to say 1:30) and it would cause willbd to "ferry" across the current in an eastward direction. I plotted this as sherminator's bearing".

One of the engineers figured that a bearing of 70 degrees would produce a due east track given the above parameters. I don't know if this proved anything or not, but those that feel I owe rawkfish a beer, let me know and I will gladly provide as many beers as you all request.

That's a really solid analysis, sherm.  Thank you, and thank your engineer!  You make a very important point regarding the south east course putting willbd farther out of radio range - I admit I did not think of that. 

Big fan of a bunch of seamen stuck in plastic containers huh? 

Legit LOL! 

Glad everyone made it home safe and are willing to put egos aside and get an open dialog going about the events so others can learn from it.

Points I take from this thread:
1: Install a good deck compass like I used to have on my Current Designs SINK.   
2: Make sure batteries for the mapping GPS/FF are fresh and have a spare set handy.
3: Keep up my gym membership and stay in top shape.
4: Never NEVER go out in the ocean alone!
5: frequent radio checks with the companion(s).

   Add # 6 ;     When you see a bank of thick fog rolling in... get the hell out of there.

  I was getting dis-orented  out there , but listened for the bell and used that as a reference point to head in.
 I'm more concerned about encounters with PB's . 
       

From what Sherman posted it seems like, had willbd followed rawkfish's advice he'd have come within sight of land probably within a half hour (or less) of starting to pedal in that direction.  Now, by the time he got that advice I don't know if he'd have had the physical ability left to do that.  Then, even he really didn't have it in him to buck the currents and get home he could have just drifted south a short ways, seen the beach by Finger Rock, and maybe landed there (I don't know if that's a suitable beach, but Sherman's picture makes it look like a possibility).  From there he could have called someone to come get him, or hitched a ride back to the boat launch and gotten his vehicle to go retrieve his yak.

Willbd - If you don't mind, I'd like to see an analysis from you of which decisions you made that contributed to the situation.  That will other relative newbies to the salt to avoid similar problems. 

Not having been party to the problem other than what I could hear on my radio, it seems to me like some of the problems come down to a few key decisions.  The choice not to stick to an old salt vet (or at least staying within sight of a substantial group of other yakkers) would seem significant.  So would a seeming lack of familarity with navigation equipment.  The choice to go further west than those with far more experience would also have put him in a more challanging environment.

Is any of that a fair assesment?

Sherm - while I enjoy the calculations, and obviously heading at an angle would have been slightly better, there are a few flaws:  Willbd was definitely not able to paddle at 3.5 mph, and Jeff didn't have a team of engineers to help make on the fly decisions.  Don't worry, I agree, he should have gone at an angle, but listening in on the conversation it was easy to tell that more complex instructions were highly likely to fail or be misunderstood.

Agree on all points.

The calculations were simplifications of the problem, and more for education. Too many straight line assumptions. They were not meant to show what willbd should have done, but what others might have done.

I think I saw an episode of Man vs Wild like this. Bear Grylls was dropped 10 miles offshore by helicopter in the ocean without any form of navigation. He only had a Swiss army knife, a bag of Cheetos and some dental floss.

His first task was to find a piece of driftwood and whittle himself a kayak with a propulsion system which he did within about an hour (I thought it was funny though how the drift wood had a Hobie sticker on it after he was done whittling). After a few more minutes adrift the courageous adventurer spotted a seabird. Recognizing it was a reticulated northern blue footed booby and because it was May it could only mean that the bird would be flying on a bearing of approximately 35 degrees on its way to its summer feeding grounds in a wildlife preserve near Des Moines Iowa, bear decided to give pursuit.  Unfortunately he could only stay with the bird for half an hour or so before the the head winds became too strong to follow. Luckily the bird was having a hard time too so when it flew down to take a rest Bear quickly caught up to it and humanely bit off his head.

Because it had been almost two hours since Bear had eaten with his crew at the IHOP "all you can eat breakfast buffet" he was concerned about loss of energy so he eat the bird and then used its feathers and the dental floss to fashion a ford fender like trolling device that the natives had used for millennia. He whittled a bone from the bird into a hook and used a Cheetos as bait. It was not long before he had a small greenling at the boat but he had to feed the crew too so he sent it back down to see if he could pick up something bigger. It wasn't long before he had a peacock bass but realizing that would only feed them for an afternoon he sent the bass and greenling back down and wouldn't you know it he picked up a salmon. Realizing it was too big to get into the boat safely he used the birds beak as a fish grabber. So not only did they have enough for lunch but Bear was able to sit some of the meat out on top of the reflective Cheetos bag to make jerky.

Now fed he knew he had to navigate towards land and ultimately salvation. If he just followed the sun as it would be at a bearing of approximately 115 degrees at 11:30 he would be within eyesight of land within a few hours. He just had to adjust his course every hour to account for the suns angle of repose schedule. But what was to be his salvation was also his tormentor.
He was starting to look like he had rubbed the Cheetos all over his face and arms but No it was the dreaded sunburns calling card. So to keep the suns deadly rays from cooking him alive he wrapped himself in sea weed.

All was good again and he was peddling towards shore when he thought he could hear a familiar sound? Well just as he realized what it was and started to turn around he was nearly run over by a fishing boat called the Kadaho. It seems the captain had mistaken him for some kind of hybrid Sasquatch/mermaid and figured there might be a bounty to bring it in. Upon seeing Bear strip off all the seaweed and thinking it was just a kayak fisherman the Kadaho captain decided to just drive by him real fast creating as big a wake as he could manage and use it as a diversion to make a getaway.

In the run in with the boat Bears propulsion system had been broken. Luckily for bear he soon drifted upon a herd of harmless jelly fish. He was able to use there tentacles and some of the salmon bones to sew the jellyfish together and make a sail to catch those strong winds. So he sailed to shore, and with the video from his trip as proof placed second to a man named Michael in a local fishing competition.

Luckily all ended well for Bear. Glad the same happened for all involved with ORC. And yea I know I had too much free time on mu hands today.

Can anyone tell me what major city Bear would have more than likely ended up in given the boobies trajectory and final destination?

LOVED IT!  I'm gonna say Tijuana.

 

Started reading  "I saw an episode of Man vs Wild like this. Bear Grylls was dropped 10 miles offshore by helicopter in the ocean without any form of navigation. He only had a Swiss army knife, a bag of Cheetos and some dental floss."...and thought Wow...Cheetos are new to his arsenal...

Like they say, There's one born every minute!

Dig the story...just about spit coffee all over my dog   

And my vote for the "where"...
Bakersfield, Ca...why else would anyone go there?

Points I take from this thread:
1: Install a good deck compass like I used to have on my Current Designs SINK.   
2: Make sure batteries for the mapping GPS/FF are fresh and have a spare set handy.
3: Keep up my gym membership and stay in top shape.
4: Never NEVER go out in the ocean alone!
5: frequent radio checks with the companion(s).

   Add # 6 ;     When you see a bank of thick fog rolling in... get the hell out of there.

  I was getting dis-orented  out there , but listened for the bell and used that as a reference point to head in.
 I'm more concerned about encounters with PB's . 
       

I might also add, know your possible exit points (have a plan B and C and D).  They don't have to be the same point you launched from.  Beverly Beach was certainly an option to get out of the water and hitch a ride (or radio for one).

-Allen

To all, here is what I believe happened to me at the ORC.

When the fog rolled in I lost track of my location relative to the buoy marking the channel.

When I realized that I was way west and south of where I wanted to be I tried to get back. My GPS showed where I wanted to be but I could not make any headway to the Depoe bay buoy.

I realized to inform the group of this issue and was looking for coaching to get back to Depoe Bay.

I thought that I was a lot farther south than I was. I was thinking it was over 5 miles back. It looks like when I first made the call for assistance from the group I was less than 2 miles south of the buoy.

I was never tired. I felt like I could peddle for 3 to 4 more hours. But in the fog I lost track of time.
Be disoriented in the fog is a big mental challenge.
 
With visibility of 300 feet of less I did not want to end up into the rocks. I felt safe sitting offshore. I was worried about getting hit by PB’s.

The title says “Kayaking, fog and current” if you would take anyone of these out of the equation there would have been no issue. If I was not out in a kayak I would have not need anyone to help me. If the fog did not roll in I could see me drifting and adjust. I could have used the shore line with its less current to work my way back. No current no drift.

Here was my thinking when I realized that I was way south of my desired location.
1 Not to end up in the rocks
2 Not to end up in the water
3 Not get into a situation that put anyone in risk to help me
4 Try to get back by myself
I did achieve 1 and 2 and I believe and was iffy on number 3 with IslandHoppa coming south to meet me.

Thank you to all that helped me and are reading and posting to this forum.

RawFish, Pole pole and IslandHoppa are some of the people that make the kayak world a safer place to play and learn about yourself.

Will I go out in the salt again? I don’t know that answer yet.
Will I go out if fog is in the forecast? That would be NO.

willbd

Whale Cove is another good emergency haul out. Ships loaded with Canadian whiskey used to bring their nectar ashore there during prohibition.

As the saying goes in car racing, you never know where your limits really are until you cross them.

I think willbd found some of his limits. 

I chose to head in around 12:30 in large part because I recognized that with the currents the way they were that it would go from fun to not fun if I continued to fish.  My butt was getting sore (must get a pad) and my knees were unhappy.  I made it back in with a healthy margin of energy.  But another couple of half mile drifts south and that margin would have gotten small enough to make me feel uncomfortable about getting back in.  I'm I'd have made it in that case, but I also think it would have been a lot harder to enjoy the festivities had I stayed out longer. 

I, for one, really appreciate how open you've been about your experience, Willbd. Outdoor pursuits of any kind have risks. With risk you gain experience. I'd also venture a guess that ANYONE that has pursued anything outdoors has found themselves in a bit of a pickle some time during an adventure. Or in my case , several times. Whether it be a whitewater experience gone awry or being caught in a sudden storms on a mountainside, all of us have been there. Difference is you've been open to telling the tale so we can learn from it. Most just keep it quiet and don't share.

FWIW, when I read your tale, I read that you kept your head, thought worse case scenario, and did what you needed to do, ego aside. Speaks volumes to me.

I'd fish with you anytime! Thanks for sharing!

Willbd, don't give up on the salt just yet.  Keep at it and keep learning your limits. 

My first time in the salt with Rawfish was a humbling experience.  Solid chum line, zero fishing, and epic huli upon coming back in.  I know I have grown exponentially on my ocean traveling skills in just a few years. 

ORC 2012 - I was pleasantly surprised by the fact this was my 3rd day in one week in salt water fighting current (and wind on two of the days) and made it 8 hours solid on the water with no piss breaks, no chumming, and still caught me some fish.

Never in a million years would I have considered playing in the fog/current for 8 hours and love the time spent out there.  Being that I had knee surgery in December and pushed myself that hard gives me more motivation than ever.  My other knee actually felt more tired in the end than my recently hacked on one. 

I, for one, really appreciate how open you've been about your experience, Willbd. Outdoor pursuits of any kind have risks. With risk you gain experience. I'd also venture a guess that ANYONE that has pursued anything outdoors has found themselves in a bit of a pickle some time during an adventure. Or in my case , several times. Whether it be a whitewater experience gone awry or being caught in a sudden storms on a mountainside, all of us have been there. Difference is you've been open to telling the tale so we can learn from it. Most just keep it quiet and don't share.

FWIW, when I read your tale, I read that you kept your head, thought worse case scenario, and did what you needed to do, ego aside. Speaks volumes to me.

I'd fish with you anytime! Thanks for sharing!

Willbd, don't give up on the salt just yet.  Keep at it and keep learning your limits. 

+1   Don't give up, just live and learn.

I mentioned it earlier, but staying inside the bay area resulted in little to no current, and there are fish there too.

There are lots of points that I have taken away from this thread. Two that stand out are the need for a good GPS system and keeping your head. A good reliable GPS is something that I always take with me. It can give you direction in fog and at night if needed. Some GPS systems even have polling functions that not only track you but others so equipped on your screen. I never go out in the ocean or hiking on land without it.

I have to agree with others when they say "keeping your head" was very important. In most situations panic brings on mistakes which lead to disaster. I also will fish with you anytime. I even have an extra GPS!

Wobbler