Flipped Kayak Stories

[mermentau]

After reading NeonMoon's ordeal about flipping on a stump in cold water it seems a thread for anyone else that's flipped is in order. I'm not talking about white water stuff, but your average fishing day on the water. It could be educational for those of us who have never been dunked to see what type of things can lead to trouble.

I've been around a lot of power boat traffic that I thought would do it, but to my surprise not even close.

[RetiredRR]

Numerous years ago, I was a SCUBA diving instructor and learned to deal with unexpected situations dealing with water. When I first started purchasing
kayaks, my first concern was stability and how it related to safety. Not too worried about myself, but didn't relish the idea of replacing fishing equipment
on any kind of regular basis. So, no.........I haven't flipped one yet, but being prepared as has been mentioned (dry clothes in a waterproof bag) has been
one of my rules. First aid kit, duct tape, everything except a spare inflatable kayak in the hatch has been my norm. When I do flip my first time, I'll have to
reaccess my abilities and ask myself, "am I too old to be doing this"? Until then, I'm going to play it as safe as I can remember. The first time I look around
and ask myself "where the heck is my truck"? I may have to start having a fishing partner. Stay hydrated and keep snacks dry.

[BlueFoxKiller]

Too bad no-one else commented, very good post!

[NeonMoon]

Too bad no-one else commented, very good post!

Hope it's not from fear of embarrassment. Heck, it's no different than tripping while walking, just gonna happen now and then. You get-up, look around to see who saw you do it, brush yourself, and keep on walkin'.

Sure I got razzed a bit, but only after everyone said they were glad I was OK. I still get laughs from the teasing, and it doesn't bother me at all. I posted only to share what happened to me. I wasn't worried about what others would think or say, just more sharing the "If you haven't, you will" warning. All of us who simply paddle, or fish from a Kayak know the chances going-in, and that's why you always need to keep that in the front of your mind while on the water, from protecting yourself to protecting your gear.

I place the majority of the "blame" of my incident on the water I was on, but it was my choice to put myself in that situation. Oh, and I still fall when I walk sometimes , but it doesn't stop me from walking. I should be using a cane, but choose not to the majority of the time. When I do use it the doctors tell me I'm using it "wrong" because it's "supposed" to be held in the hand opposite your problematic leg, which I don't understand, but I just do what works best for me, and go on about my way and don't feel a bit embarrassed for not fitting their standards.

If getting my pride hurt is the worst thing that happens to me in the rest of my life, I'll feel pretty fortunate.

[irish1]

Well let's try this...

A few years ago I was on vacation in Maine and the family decided to go boating and the rental place had a shortage of canoes so we decided to get a kayak as well as a canoe. I have used kayaks before and know how to handle myself (I thought) so I took the yak. The yak was inclosed and after a few tried I got my fat a## in the "too small" opening. After a couple of hours we went ashore for lunch and as I got closer to shore the canoe rammed me turning over the yak. No big deal right, just "Eskimo roll" and you'll be fine. When I tried I discovered the water was very shallow and the paddle shot out of my hands and drifted out of reach. Still no big deal right, do it without the paddle. or get out of the yak (remember the above 'fat a##' comment it shortly comes into play). Running out of air I bobbed up and grabbed a quick breath and back under. No luck rolling the yak right side up so I try to 'una##' the yak. No good.

Still stuck and low on air I bob up for another breath only to discover that my attempts to get out have actually pushed me further out in the lake and into deeper water so I can't use the bottom to push off and I'm further down in the water so only half of my head can reach the surface. I can still breathe but must get free this time or it's 'game-over'.

Deep breath and back under to get this darn thing off me. When I was finally able to get out the yak shot up in the air and I shot down to the bottom like a rock. When I surfaced the family just discovered I was having trouble. I decided then more lessons were needed.

[jimp]

like anything else, if you do something enough, your number comes up for some type of accident or event. Some are funny, some are definately not. There is a saying among motorcycle riders, "if you have not dropped you bike yet, you will, if you have not laid your bike down, you will". Its true as well. I was lucky in that I only dropped 4 out of the 5 I have owned. I never had to lay one down, but DAMN close more times than I care to remember. I was fortunate, others are not so fortunate.

[mermentau]

@irish1, Wow that sounds like what I feared when opting for a sit-on-top. Thanks for sharing that.

Yesterday we crossed a lake and by the time we headed back the wind had come up pretty stiff. The waves were almost straight into the side of the boat. I really don't want to find my limit when the water is cold. It could have been fun on a hot summer day. We had 2 14' boats and I can say that the good thing is we found out how good they track. Really nice and wet but not that bad.