Flipped by a whale Tues

[Hypoxic1]

Launched early with Josh looking for a great day on the water after 2 solid months of work. Made mass squid and went offshore looking for rocky spots. The temp was much cooler 15 deg than monday. cruising around with an HDS 5 looking at bottom contour is like watching a movie, the detail is spectacular.
Caught a few fish, one Sheephead that wasnt even hooked, it was rolled up in the line probably from going the small rockfish that had actually been hooked. Took the sheephead and 1 white fish and decided the cold just wasnt matching the reward so I said adios to the Darkhorse and headed in . No way I can match that dudes stamina on the water. Shit I bet dude wouldnt even return to base if it wasnt for running out of food and water.

So Im done and headed in from like 200 feet of water. I have an evolve so I kik it up to about 40 percent power and pedal in. About a half a mile after I left Josh I get lifted out of the water and flipped on my ass. after I hit the water I look up and see my kayak upside down and its about 7 feet away from me. There are swirls on the water but no sign of what hit me, and no boat for at least 1000 yards.

This all happened in what seemed like 100th of a second.
I was wearing my waders and a splash jacket all day due to the cold Probably a minute to get the boat flipped back upright and back aboard. The blades for the mirage drive were bent to about 30 deg from straight so they were useless, but the evolve still worked and had a paddle so it wasnt all bad.
Boat flipps over and I remember that none of my gear was leashed.Lost 4 rods. Black steel, etc etc, custom rod from fisholic John, etc. 4 brand new saltists.......DIDNT lose the fish though. Critical.

Got things back together and got home. I cant begin to imagine why the animal didnt hear me, or see me. Big Ocean Theory, I guess. Same reason we have midair collisions.

Good Lessons. Stay calm in a bad situation and you will live. Close all hatches when not in use ant the boat probably wont load with water when you flip, and you will, its bound to happen once in life. lesson three for me was that these MFs are so dam big they can hit you, but Ill probably win the lotto before that happens again.
Special thanks to Darkhorse for teaching me how to find big ass bottom fish. It aint always about Yellowtail.

The New Year is coming Guys!
Lets be careful out there!
Chris

[bellcon]

Damn
gear can be replaced...
Glad your OK and got back in the saddle quickly.
betcha wont forget that day for a long time!

[fishinkid2010]

Crap that must have been scary!!! Glad that you are ok... and that you didn't loose your fish. Sorry to hear about the lost gear though, that is a major bummer.

[roby]

What a story...glad you were able to tell it.

[old_rookie]

Wow!!! Did you have your PFD on??
That's crazy. Yeah good thing you are ok.

[Jimmyz123]

Glad to hear all is well and that you survived. A buddy and I were out and we saw either a Blue whale or a Grey whale about 200 feet away and my buddy turned his boat very quickly and went away from the path the whale was going. When I asked him why he said they have a habit of surfacing under boats and other objects like that. Not intentional, but it happens.

Again glad you're safe and all is well.

[dsafety]

Amazing story Chris. Glad you are still with us to tell it.

Now tell us how your wife reacted when you told her you lost another kayak full of gear. I bet that was a bit awkward.

If you need a loaner, I have not started using the Torium you sold me when you upgraded to those hot new Saltists. It is yours if you need it.

Bob

[GregAndrew]

What Bob said. If I have an extra of what you want and you need it, consider it yours. Hell of a fish tale you got there.

[TCS]

Glad you're okay Chris.

Did you see the whale when it was under you? Does your fishfinder still work?

[ericko]

santa cant bring you back but the gear is in his sled ready to deliver

[BigBalsa]

Originally Posted by TCS

Glad you're okay Chris.

Did you see the whale when it was under you? Does your fishfinder still work?

You still trying to decide on a FF?

[THE DARKHORSE]

Originally Posted by Hypoxic1

cruising around with an HDS 5 looking at bottom contour is like watching a movie, the detail is spectacular.

Chris

Speaking of, did you try that cool scroll back function on the HDS, Chris? It's a pretty slick feature that allows you to scroll back quite a distance through your travels, viewing what was on the meter at the time.

I know what all the other fish look like on the meter, but I'm not sure I want to know what that mark looks like. I'm guessing something along the lines of a false depth 25' down, blacked out, Sardine-school looking thingamajiggy---shooting straight up!?!
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Seriously though, the good news is you kept your' whits about you when the sh!t hit the fan. Good on ya' not to panic! I'm guessing that living on a boat for years helped in that arena.

Honestly, I'd be more freaked out if I didn't get a 100% positive, Whale I.D.---I have my own theory, but saying Whale sounds better than Shark!

[sundog]

Good story.

[Hypoxic1]

Checked the ff after a few weeks . only getting a partial screen so its off to West marine for a replacement. Thanks Josh for the advice about getting the ff insurance.