Risk management

I would like some inputs about risks when using kayaks in general and also Hobie kayaks.

In Sweden, where we dont have sharks, I nailed it down to 3 occasions when it is risk for your life.

1 Drowning (almost certain death)
2 Hypotermia
3 Hit by other boat or ship

Next step is how to avoid these, what precautions you can make. After some analyzing I came to following:

1 Use PFD
2 Never leave your kayak (when in sea)
3 Use a leash to stay with your kayak
4 Train your self to climb back in your kayak
5 Use adequate clothing
6 Be visible
7 Use signal (horn)
8 Pay attention and keep out of way for other boats

And of course you can buy all kinds of electronic devices and avoid paddle/pedal alone.

Hobie kayak risks:

1 If your Mirage Drive breaks, you have a kayak that is slower and demand much more effort to propulse. Ie not same kayak anymore and you could be blown out at sea.

2 Hobie Adventure have one big hatch only secured with two bungees. If anything happens to that hatch the kayak fills up with water very fast.

3 If you somehow get lots of water in the hull in choppy conditions, it could be difficult to pump it out without getting it back in.

4 Even if I have seen posts with how to rigthen a capsized AI, I think that in windy/choppy conditions it could be VERY difficult to righten an AI or a TI.

5 Hobie kayaks will be best handled with rudder, especially under sail (especially AI/TI). So if rudder fails, it could be difficult to handle the kayak and depending the circumstances it could get seriuos.

If you suspect a leakage ahead of the drivewell it is in fact possible (not in AI/TI) to jump in the water, turn the kayak upside down, climb it, and put some tape over the leak. Then get back and pump out the water. But I think you should train this in variuos conditions before.

I am interested in more inputs where risks are and of course your ideas of apropriate precautions.

I use my Adventure sometimes in open waters and wish to do that without discomfort.

thomas

Thomas, I too think through possible risks and what to do about them when sailing AI's (and TI's)
From Roadrunners many great posts, it's almost impossible to completely disable a Mirage drive. To cover that rare possibility, I carry a spare Mirage drive for the group whenever we go out. I use to carry parts, but trying to repair a drive in wind and waves isn't going to turn out well often (too many little parts to loose down the Mirage or scupper holes).

With 2 sets of bungees to keep it close, I have not heard of anyone loosing a front hatch cover. I would put that possibility up with a complete hull failure (hull breaking apart). A leaky front hatch, maybe, but handled in #3 below.

I always carry a hand pump and recommend it to everyone. Aloha Dan among others have posted in the past about adding an access port to use the pump in very poor conditions without having to open a hatch. Some AI fishermen have added a powered pump since they already are carrying a 12volt battery for their fish finders. We have also had a few occasions, when hulls have cracked during a sail, to land and then find out the hull was full of water (once 85% full), and not notice that much difference in handling because of the ama.

Actually, the AI is easier to right in windy/choppy conditions then in calm waters. The waves actually help the hull over, just be ready to stop it from continuing to re-capsize if the waves or wind are that big.

Even in very poor conditions an AI can be controlled with a paddle in a rudder failure. A strait, 'T' handle strong 1/2 paddle I find is best for ruddering, but ever the Hobie paddle can be used with less sail to paddle-steer in all but the worse conditions. (I have too much experience with this from the AI's early years! )


So, among the many items I carry whenever I sail, I always have a spare Mirage drive, a hand pump (or 2 if in a larger group), a throw-rope for (self) rescue and a single and double paddle.

And as you said, sailing with others can add to your safety AND FUN!

_________________

Hobie Island Sailing since 2006

Most likely not a problem in Sweden, but the number one danger in my area of Florida is getting run down by a air-boat. Mainly commercial operations.

They run the shallow creeks and cut across the salt marsh without difficulty. One is defenseless against one that cross a creek from salt marsh.

They slide really bad in corners, so even if you take to the bank of the creek if you are on the outside of the turn you are in danger. Very seldom will they slow even if they see you. The tourist will alway wave.

Your best defense is; their sound, but it is sometimes difficult to get a direction of travel, a tall flag so they can see you, positioning yourself on the inside of the turn, and having the ability to bail out underwater if worst comes to worst (they only take about three inches of water).

_________________
I'm right 98% of the time. The other 3% I don't worry about.

Insurance on the Boat

Good PFD

DrySuit if the water is cold

Beer


Those 4 items I feel prepare me for any difficulties I may encounter.


Seriously, if you sit and ponder every possable thing that could go wrong on an outing, your in for a boring life.

Even scarier...

Dying of a heart attack on the couch.

(censored) happens. Be prepaired. have fun.

@WingnuttWell, a boring life on the couch is not an option. I often make solo tours and cannot avoid open waters, therefore I feel better when I thought about risks before I go out. I want to know WHEN risks are arising and WHAT they are.
BTW For me open waters is something between 3 and 15 miles. If wheather is bad it is even less.

Maybe so but a Mirage Drive CAN break. What will be the result? I think it is good to think about that when I plan my tour.
The front hatch is big and it is realy not so good secured. A big wave have a lot of force and can also make things packed under the hatch move and relocate. If you look at normal sea kayaks there are hatches better secured. I dont say that I need to do something about it. I just needed to identify where the risks are. I have just an Adventure, not an Island, so therefore I can see problems with pumping out water without getting it back in. That I did something about.Glad to hear that because I am very interested to exchange my Adventure to an AI. I guess you are right here, perhaps some training will do paddle steering to just normal task.I carry a pump, spare parts for the Mirage Drive, some different tapes and some tools. And of course some ropes. I use a leash between me and the kayak when crossing open waters. When sailing I often use a drysuit.

@All
Thanks for all inputs!

thomas

I have an AI for a few years now and been making a few solo trips in Western Australia and in the Ssouth coast where it can get prety rough and cold (not as cold as Sweden though). I have seen a shark that was at least as long as the AI so I carry a Shark Shield for ocean trips.

For solo trips I also cary a hand bilge pump which I have not had to use (yet) I have a 12V battery for a depth sounder so also have 12V pump with auto switch when the water level gets to about 30mm 1".

Safety gear includes
On my vest I carry:
Personal 406Mhz EPIRB locator beacon with built in GPS: this I carry in my life vest. a rescue knife, spare sun glases/strap on goggles, Museli bars, water bladder, whistle, nylon string, LED waterproof tourch x2, diving compas.
"Saftey sausage" (this is a SCUBA diving safety item that is a 1.5 m long fluro orange tube that can be filled with air and it stands up straight above the water to aid visibility if you are lost overboard).

Also because I sail offshore I must carry all the normal boating safety gear required for any boat in West Australia. So I have a Hoby dry bag with the following gear:
A 406 EPIRB registered to the boat (GPS enabled), an anchor with 30 m rope,
Flares for offshore 2 x orange smoke flares 2x red rockets.
Signaling mirror, whistle, waterproof tourch, first aid kit, knife, Fire extinguisher (I do not carry this). Extra compas with safety gear, waterproof fire starter flint, more museli bars and 2L water.

VHF Marine band waterproof radio and also have a spare in the boat. The main radio has GPS signal built in so if I send a coded emergency distress call it sends my location as well as my radio registration call sign.
GPS in a waterproof bag. Compas.

Spare rope and line, spare Mirage drive parts kit, dry bag with extra warm clothes, wet suit hooded top and extras depending on the temperature for the time of year.

Esky with essential items for hot weather, frozen bottles of water x 4, and sometimes Ice, bait, beer.

I have now just bought a new 2012 Tandem Island and am getting my 14 year old son out for a few adventures. So now need to think about what extra gear to have in the new bigger boat.

_________________
Geordie
West Ausie

Assessing potential risks and being properly equipped for the situation are both important. But there is another aspect of risk management -- the ability to make good critical decisions. Hands-on experience counts and the best way to get that is by taking the trouble to do some real time emergency simulations under controlled conditions.

Almost any serious Drive failure can be simulated by dropping off one fin from the Drive and experiencing what will actually happen (run around for a mile or so and get a good feel for the rhythm). Try a simple repair procedure like removing and installing a fin on the water. Pull the rudder up, put the paddle in the water and test your maneuverability in both directions. Try some different techniques while you have the chance. "Fall" overboard and get back in. Knowing what you can expect can help you make the best choices.

Here's a scenario:

Joe Blow is pedaling along offshore in active water against the current. Everything is going well ... until he suddenly breaks a cable on his Drive. Having read about this, he tries to continue pedaling but his boat starts rolling -- he fears he may capsize. He elects to break out his emergency parts kit (which he stores in the hatch) and make the repair, since he has worked on his Drive successfully at home.

While his Drive is in his lap, he fumbles with his cold, wet hands, drops the part he needs -- it rolls right out the empty drivewell. As he instinctively reaches for it, mind focused on recovering the part, an unseen swell knocks him off balance -- he falls out, the boat capsizes, the untethered Drive goes down to Davy's locker and so far a lack of experience and poor decisions have combined to put him in quite a pickle.

But he has read up on re-entry procedures, rights his boat (paddle still in place), gets half way in and the boat capsizes again. Uh-oh, it wasn't supposed to work this way. Cold, tired and drifting, he must try to keep sufficient presence of mind to try to figure how to get back in the boat. He finally figures it out, when to his horror, he discovers his open hatch has admitted enough water into the boat that it is no longer stable. He is in serious trouble now and thankfully he has an EPIRB. He turns it on and wouldn't you know, he hasn't inspected it in two years and the batteries have leaked and corroded the terminals.

Joe got in trouble here despite his equipment and risk assessment. because of a series of poor decisions due to over confidence in his abilities and lack of experience. Fortunately for him, somebody rescued him before he drowned, and towed his half sunk boat in.

This scenario is a compilation of several that have actually happened. Our man Joe thought he was prepared, but some of his bad decisions are fairly obvious to us as we reflect upon the events:

1. He never previously tried operating his Drive with one fin (easy to simulate) and was spooked by the rocking motion. He therefore missed the opportunity to continue pedaling home without further incident.

2. He failed to plug the drivewell in his ill-advised preparation to work on the Drive.

3. He never tried working on his Drive in the water and assumed he could do everything he could do at home on the bench.

4. He failed to tether his gear.

5. He opened his hatch at sea in unsafe conditions without first looking around and observing his orientation. Then with his diminished presence of mind, he forgot about it.

6. He never actually attempted a capsize recovery until this fateful moment.

7. He failed to insure his equipment was in proper working order.

You can't prepare for every eventuality, but you can establish basic procedures that can effectively mitigate a wide range of potential emergencies.

IMO, the most important elements in risk management are 1. hands on experience to explore the limits and capabilities of your gear and 2. know and practice emergency procedures before the next real one happens.

Thanks for wise inputs, Geordie and Roadrunner!

What safety equipment to buy must of course be a result of a risk evaluation. There is a lot of different and expensive products on the market. What safety gear do I need? For MY use of MY kayak, in MY waters.

The other part, about training and simulate how to deal with possible situations IRL, is of course absolutely needed to perform.
It starts with a knowledge (or sometimes a suspicion) that it CAN be done, then must be tested if I can do it IRL. Next step is training to make it easy to do. You never know under what circumstances you need to do it when life depends on it. Never heard of anyone that learned to ride a bicycle by reading a manual.

Can I climb back in my kayak?
Can I put a piece of tape somewhere under the kayak?
Can I pedal with one fin?
What repairs can I do at sea?
Which are the best methods to for doing that?
How much water can I have in the hull?
Can I pump it out? Lying outside in the sea?

I have capsized several times when sailing (Adventure kayak) and now know that climbing back differs due to clothing, wind and waves. Also got some feeling for when risk for capsizing starts to rise.

As for poor Joe Blow I think that when I find myself in his situation, I can do the same wise list of mistakes I have done.
Just want to do that list before it happens.

"1. hands on experience to explore the limits and capabilities of your gear and
2. know and practice emergency procedures before the next real one happens."

Agree 100% with you Roadrunner. Want to add:

3 Determine weak points or special risks with the specified kayak you are using. In my case the Hobie Adventure kayak. Lots of technique compared to standard sea kayak!

thomas

I think one thing left out is plan ole common sense. That goes a long ways.

_________________
Perception Caster and Proud owner of a 2012 Hobie Outback

The UK's RNLI (Royal National Lifeboat Institution) produces stats on the rescues that they undertake. The causes don't all apply terribly well to kayaking, nor would you expect the biggest risk factors for other forms of boating to be identical to those for kayaking, but it might pay to consider such stats and how they relate to kayaking.

With a bit of interpretation the biggest risk factors in 2010 seem to be something like:
Machinery failure
Person in distress/overboard
Vessel meeting adverse conditions
Capsize
Stranding/Grounding
Leaking/swamping
Fire
Steering loss
Collision
Out of fuel...
and so on.

We might be able to discount Fire, and the risk of Collision on a kayak might be greater than for larger vessels but the point is that there are clearly parallels to be made between this list and what might be expected to be a risk on a kayak!

Pumping out a water-filled boat has been covered but since leakage/swamping is quite high on the RNLI's list I feel it should be a fourth major risk on your list of 3...

Several people on these forums (me included - fortunately close to shore at the time) have had the experience of opening a hatch to find the boat full of water because the hull has sprung a leak. In my case a cracked hull was the cause but it could easily be caused by cutting or wearing through the plastic when dragging the boat around on dry land or something silly like leaving a hatch open (did this myself yesterday - doh!!).

I do not believe that opening a hatch to pump/bail the hull out is a realistic proposition in anything but calm conditions so some sort of pump installation would be required - and the the capacity of the pump needs to be considered - because you would need one that was at least capable of keeping up with any leak.

Another strategy would be to fill the hull with floatation material to render the boat unsinkable though how much of what material would need to be researched and I can't see many people wanting to pedal round tonees of the stuff. (Inflatable flotation bags should work well enough as long as they don't get popped on the exposed screws inside your kayak).

Thanks for inputs stobbo!

Well I suppose you mean my 3 things that could/would put your life at danger. If you could not get your water out, you either risk drowning or hypotermia, wich is covered. My solution for that problem you can see in this post.

viewtopic.php?f=75&t=32772&start=30

It is now tested and working as I hoped. Now I need to test/train to pump out water lying OUTSIDE the kayk IN the sea.
You are propably right but with normal tour packing in water sealed bags, I don't think you need extra floating material.

thomas