could this have been you?

[bellcon]

hi guys, this is a post i made at Baytubers.com
just wanted as many kayakers to hear the story as possible, so i am sharing it with the bwe crew
Thanks, Don


Hey guys,
At the tournament on sunday many of you know about the guy who's kayak was sinking. (he wasnt in the tournament)
I was coming in from the Topaz jeddy cruising over the canyon and off in the distance I see a brizzare site...
as i get closer i realize a guy has fallen off his yak and is struggling to get back on, i reel my lines in and paddle as fast as i can to assist.
when i reach him he is getting exhausted and has that shocked look on his face...he is scared shitless and first thing to do is try to calm him down.
he was stammering about the yak being his friends and how the thing started taking on water... by this time 2/3 of the yak is under water with just the bow pointing straight up in the air.
his equipment is floating all over the place.
he has no PFD on and i again tell him "calm down big guy everything is alright now"
at this time a paddle boarder shows up and starts collecting his stuff, i get ready to call bay watch and realize they are coming full speed out of the harbor towards us.
i get the guys pfd (witch is attached to a bucket about 20 yards from him)
he struggles to put it on then finally starts to chill out
the life guards get to us and after a bit of struggle get the guy up the swim step, getting his yak on the boat was almost impossible because it had so much water in it.
turns out he had also sliced his hand somehow and was bleeding.
i got most his stuff (everything that floated) got it to the boat and waved good bye to my lucky new friend.


To be honest i was looking forward to posting a report about catching a 250 WDB (White DumBass) and posting a couple of pics i took once he was on the boat. you know catch photo release (cpr)
i even joked about it at the tournament a little with the guys.

obviously i changed my mind...
this guy for as "dumb" as some of his actions were was seriuosly up stuff creek... literally with out a paddle

1. we were in 140-150 feet of water
2. he had no pfd on (ever try to put one on in water?)
3. he had no pump
4. his cell phone was floating away in a zip lock baggy
5. he had no vhf radio (if he did it sunk)
6. he was alone (there was no one around for i dont know how long before i noticed him)
7. he had NOTHING strapped down and nothing leashed
8. he lost at least 3 poles and and who knows what else
9. he was a big guy 250 lbs at least and another ?lbs of stuff (looked like way to much for the yak he was in)
10. he was in borrowed yak he had never used before.

the list could go on.... so i decided instead of making a big joke about it, i would learn from this guys story

i bought my first yak about 6-7 years ago and...i do not own a pump...i am picking one up tomorrow, i do wear my pfd always but have been tempted to just throw it in the back (i hate it on warm days) i will continue to wear it.
i carry my cell and vhf always but from now i will have them strapped to me not just the yak.
i am sure there is more to say i will stop here
i will also cut the guy some slack and not post pics of his rescue (or release ).

Stay safe guys i would much rather learn from this guys mistakes than repeat them someday
Don