If you're new to my blog page, I'd like to introduce myself to you. My name's Jeff, and I fish out of a 12 foot Hobie Outback Mirage kayak. I've have made numerous upgrades to my kayak that makes it better than stock, but is tailor-made and outfitted to suit my tastes. I started out fishing freshwater alone on local lakes and small ponds that only allow electric trolling motors. But the problem with this was, the ponds and lakes I fished at were frequented by others as well, and often depleted the supply quickly. So, in 2011, I joined a saltwater club in neighboring Rhode Island and signed up with the kayak group in this club so I wouldn't have to fish alone.
I got to learn about all the great places to launch in RI, and 98% of them you don't have to pay a fee to park or get in. If you leave your home early enough, you can avoid a parking fee, as these other places usually start charging a fee to park after 8 am. I will admit though, there are still a lot of places that I still have not had the chance to see, or fish. Some of these places are known only to the locals and are not listed in the state rules & regulations guide for Rhode Island.
So, what does this have to do with "Blue Water Kayak Fishing" & the "DC Flip"? Well, for the past 2 years, the club has been talking about doing "kayak self rescue & re-entry" class, but the problem was, finding an instructor that was skilled in the art of re-entry into an overturned sit-on-top fishing kayak, and finding a suitable place to engage in this type of activity. Most of the videos on YouTube show a re-entry done on an unloaded kayak in a swimming pool, small pond, or a private lake.
A few members suggested that it be done in "real world conditions" in the surf, where the reality needs to set in, that this type of kayak fishing, done in saltwater, needs to be classified as "extreme". And, as with most extreme sports, there is the reality of a potentially high risk of danger involved that will be addressed in this article. Others, had made suggestions about using our own kayaks, but said they should be "unloaded", so they can go through the motions one-on-one with whoever is doing the instructing. One member suggested that we have EMS & a Marine Patrol Unit on standby should something go wrong.
On a recent incident, on Saturday September 17, 2016 at Rocky Point Park in Warwick,RI, I led an outing here because in the past, the conditions here have been nearly perfect on past excursions when I'm with friends. But this last outing was different. The forecast called for winds at 7 mph from south, and picking up to 13 mph from the south in the afternoon with high temperature of 89 degrees, and water temps at 87 degrees.
When we arrived at the park entrance, which is heavily protected by many trees, it seemed like a good day. As the other members started to show up, my friend Mona went to greet some of the others who had shown up before we got there, and she & Kraig took a short walk down to the shoreline to check out the sea conditions. Kraig & Mona came back to report that the winds were coming in from the south and the seas looked to be a bit choppy, or as we like to refer to them as "whitecaps".
Once we got all the kayaks rigged and loaded, we made our way down to the shoreline, via paved roadway (the other half of Rocky Point Avenue which is gated off at the entrance). When we got down to the shore, the wind seemed a lot more than the 13 mph the weatherman had predicted earlier that morning, almost blustery in a sense. I probably should have exercised better caution and called off this day's launch. But, we're New Englanders, and we are somewhat suicidal when it comes to fishing the extremes, so we lined up for our photo op - all 3 of us (Kraig, Greg , and myself. Steve would've been the 4th, but he had already headed out). Greg noted that he felt like the newest member of the "Suicide Squad" heading out into conditions like this, as it was choppier than we expected.
Everyone went their separate ways. I headed out north towards the old pier, and the small reef. Steve was already circling the area near the pier. Kraig headed southeast towards the islands. And Greg went south hugging the shoreline and eventually anchored near a large reef area. The shoreline area holds a lot of fish like bluefish, porgy/scup, striped bass, black sea bass, and maybe even a kingfish.
Steve headed in early, as he had other obligations to attend to. He mentioned earlier that he would only be out on the water for an hour and a half. At around the same time Steve headed in, I thought I had a bite, but ended getting my Kastmaster lure hung up on a rock in about 20 feet of water. After several unsuccessful attempts of trying to free the stuck lure, I abandoned all hope of getting it back, and eventually cut the line with my dive knife (a small knife in a sheath that is attached by a lanyard around my neck). After about a half hour of fighting the incoming tide, and the strong winds from the south, I decided to make my way in. I will mention here that that winds felt stronger coming back because for every wave I rode over, the second wave came up over the bow of the kayak's nose and got me more wet than I had anticipated for that day. I finally made it back to the beach where I wanted to exit at.
I will note here, that this area of the beach has a cement ramp that leads right to the water's edge allowing you to put in, or exit with ease. It has been a fixture at the location since the early 1900s, which by the way, was once a beautiful amusement park in its day. RIP: Rocky Point 1847-1995.
Anyway, I lined my kayak up with the beach ramp, and proceeded to my make turn towards the ramp. As I did this, my timing between the waves, the combination of the wind and strong tidal current, as well as, not turning the rudder sharper and paddling faster, caused my kayak to lean heavily on its right side. I tried to counter correct this by leaning to the left to try and balance it out. At this point, I knew the inevitable was coming - that point in time when you KNOW you're about to rollover (aka do the DC Flip*).
* The "DC Flip", is named after kayak fishing member Dennis Carusoe (DC) after his kayak rolled off the southeast coast of Block Island,RI one afternoon in 2013. He stated that he was hit by a rogue wave and described it as, "....having your chair yanked out from underneath you". The wave caught him off guard, and within a half a second, he found himself upside down in the water, struggling to get his kayak righted up, and back in his kayak - an ordeal he later described as, "it took forever to get back in!" (roughly an hour, with the help of kayak fishing member Robert Oberg) .
The last thing I remember doing, and it was a true "guy thing", because that moment when you know you can't save the kayak from going over, you put your opposite hand down to try and "break the fall", and of course, not realizing that you're on the water - it didn't do any good. WHOOSH! I was in the water before I realized it had even happened!
I remember hitting the water on my right side, in theory, I was supposed to exit outside of the kayak's right side. Instead, I wound up underneath the kayak - after I expelled half my lung's capacity for air after saying, "AW CRAP!!!!". After what seemed like 2 seconds of panic, I needed to get the kayak off of my head. The force of my life vest was working against me as I tried to push the kayak up, but found myself pushing my whole body deeper under water. The life vest was doing its job of keeping me afloat, but I was running out of time, and more importantly, out of air while being trapped under the kayak! So, I pushed myself down under water, and felt for the edge of the kayak, then pushed the kayak's edge away from me. As I did that, my body floated back up to the surface, and my head was above the surface so I could breathe again.
Once I was back out from under the kayak, I needed to get my bearings on which side of the kayak had the rescue rope attached to it. My rescue rope is made out of 550 paracord, but it's double up giving me at least 1100 lb of strength. I had it attached on my kayak's left handle. I ended up on my kayak's right side when I flipped. So, I began to float over to the left side. Once I got there, I had to undo 1 clip on the side, then throw it over the hull, and float back over to the other side again.
The idea of the rescue rope was to be used as an aid in helping you turn the kayak over by tugging on the rope. This was my first time using such a rope. Because it was a "prototype", I had it made to 60" in length. It did not work the way I intended it to. Instead of flipping the kayak over, I ended up climbing on top of the hull. When it didn't flip like I intended it to, I decided to "help" it flip over. I grabbed the rope closest to the hull, while holding the clip end firmly, and leaned backward into the water. When I did this, it righted the kayak back over in a hurry. Next, I had to re-attach the clip onto the handle and store the rope away onto one of the storage trays next to the seat.
Getting back in using the rescue rope as stirrup didn't work out the way I had planned because the stirrup was too short. It was 30" in length - not long enough for me to get my foot on the loop. So, I had to go with another option.
I had to level my body flat in the water, like a Superman pose. I put my left hand on the left side of the kayak for balance. With my right hand, I grabbed the right side handle on the other side. While kicking with my feet, I pulled my body across the top of the kayak, and within a few seconds, I was back in the seat of my kayak in no time!
Once I was back in the seat, I began picking up my fishing poles, which were tethered to the rod holsters by a leash. Then, I went about circling the area for my hat, my bait cup, my paddle, and 2 jugs of saltwater (for a demo project). All my gear in my gear crate was safe - thanks to the latch system I made. My ordeal cost me my 3 lb anchor (unsecured), my small dive knife (it must have come unsheathed while climbing back in), and a small bag of bait (I hope the fish are happy they got a free meal).
All of this happened so fast, that my friends couldn't believe I performed a near perfect "self rescue kayak re-entry" in under 5 minutes flat. In fact, Greg thought that because there no action in the water, that he thought I'd try my hand at a self rescue re-entry attempt - just to break the boredom. Now, everybody emailed the incident on our private email board about what happened that day. And, now they've asked me if I'd be interested in doing a clinic in the future about righting a kayak and performing a self rescue re-entry. I said,"yes".
There are some other things that I didn't mention earlier. About 2-3 days after this incident occurred, I began to notice several bruises appearing in places that I normally don't get bruises. While the re-entry was a success, it didn't come without it's injuries. Some issues that arose during the rollover:
1.) While trying to undo the clip for the rescue rope, the force of the waves hitting the kayak on the other side were making the kayak pound against my head, leaving a noticeable welt on my forehead.
2.) I noticed several bruises, scratches, and a small cut on my left forearm that had started to bleed.
3.) The urgency to get back in the kayak was at the top of my list. The only other option was getting slammed against the reefs by an upside down, 110 lb kayak.
4.) Sharks can smell blood underwater from up to 2 miles away. The small cut on my left arm gave me the incentive to hurry and get back in the kayak.
5.) Though there were other kayak fishing members nearby, I also had my floating marine radio, and a safety whistle that could be used to attract attention.
6.) YouTube has a ton of videos on how to do a "Sit-On-Top kayak self rescue attempt". Study each video carefully. I watched them over & over - like a hundred times.
7.) Don't panic! Stay calm, and remember what you watched on YouTube about the self rescue attempt. It will all come together naturally like clockwork.
So, now begins the hard part on the location on where to do this clinic for the "SOT Self Rescue Kayak Re-Entry". But, that's a subject that we will bring up at our year end dinner meeting in November.
As usual, keep those lines wet & tight! - J.
