Outback Kayak Flooded but Floating

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Waterman at Work - Kayak Fishing Photos, Video,Kayak Rigging - Blog

Yeah I don't worry terribly about the amount of water that comes in through the hatch; its usually about a cup or two of water when i'm crashing through 2 footers to get to the fishing spots offshore. Also, if you have the front hatch bin in place, that seems to catch the water that has leaked in so there is even less water in the hull itself.

Normally the water intrusion is minimal even crashing through waves. The only time I saw a lot of water come in was when the seal split. It had to be split at the bow end of the opening of course (Murphy strikes again) and the seal was pretty much useless. The split was about 18" long between the rubber weatherstrip and the 'U' channel. The waves came over the bow, up under the hatch and into my hull. 4 to 5 hours of kayak fishing and it accumulated enough to slow me down but not capsize. I keep tabs on the seal after that. Cheap enough to replace.

Personally in choppy water I prefer not to open hatches and keep my gear and tackle in my Crate Mate or behind my Skwoosh seat in the attached tackle box.

Jcanracer - the hatch tub insert does catch what little water that comes in.

Revo

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I would rather be kayaking and think about work than to be at work thinking about kayaking.
A Thrill Ride is being dragged around in your kayak for 40 minutes by an extremely large fish.

Personally I don't accept leaking hatches at all. I will do anything to make them 100% waterproof. It is possible.
I will also continue to search for other leaks and try fix them.
I think that the idea to secure the large front hatch is more than good. It is an safety issue when going offshore.
Last but not least, I think it is necessary to be able to operate a bilge pump without open any hatches.

These are only my opinions and apply for my personal use of an Adventure Island in any mode.

best regards
thomas

We have a heated pool and have practiced capsize recovery quite a bit on all of our kayaks. We are both older and not in the greatest condition. If you go by the height weight charts the correct height for my weight is 6' 4". I have attempted every thing possible to get to the correct chart height, bu still remain 5' 8" (it's a lost cause). Because of my top heavy shape it is near impossible to re-enter a flipped sot kayak without help or without some sort of assisting device (like a life jacket on a paddle). We know this from practicing hours on end in our pool (I'm sure it was entertaining to the neighbors).
Even with all the practice, both of us have been out kayak sailing, and needed rescue more than once, we simply couldn't get back on board without help.
Lessens learned:
Don't go offshore alone.
Keep a couple pool noodles in the bow area, because once the bow goes under you are screwed (the stern is not a problem because of the hobie flotation).
We found climbing up over the stern of the kayak works best for us. With practice everyone will come up with a best re-entry method based on their body type and condition. (Why it's important to practice).
Dress for the water temps, not necessarily the air temps. When the water is cold we bring wet suites along that we can slip on in the water if we can't get back in the boat (strapped to the deck), it actually easier than it sounds to put them on in the water (practiced).
We now always carry waterproof phones and radios....
We always file a paddle plan with someone who can alert the right people if we are over due.
We have a boat us membership, cheap insurance (around $125/yr), they will get you and your boat home (CG only saves you, not neccissarily your boat), of course you need to know your position always, and have a working phone/radio.
Hope this helps
Bob

Practice how to climb back in/on your SOT is of course very good. How many of us do that?
Maybe we should practice how to turn a turtled AI/TI right. I have not done that (yet).
Maybe conditions when an AI/TI capsize is too much anyway.
I have been out in conditions when I really did not wanted the rudder pin to break.

In harder conditions I furl my sail in to a minimum to avoid unnecessary forces on the boat.
But waves can still do unpredictible and bad things.

Race is another thing. Then you allways go as fast as possible and expose the boat until you win or something breaks.
But when racing you are never alone. Racing people get skilled and are safe sailors when not racing. They have lots of practice.

best regards
thomas

My wife is only 5'-2" and cannot reach across the kayak to grab the other side to help pull herself up to reenter after a turtle. A paddle float is an option but I found another solution for those short and stout to reenter more easily.

A length of rope about 5' long (best to size for your own comfort). You make a loop in each end. One end you can slip a short piece of PVC pipe over the rope to create a ladder step. You attach the loop end to the cleat inside the kayak then hang the step end over the opposite side. Put your foot into the step grab hold as far into the kayak as possible and use arms and leg to climb back into the kayak. Working yourself slowly back in so it does not come back over you. This has worked for my wife who is much shorter and weaker than I am. Gives you more than just water to push against to reenter and helps to bring the kayak under you.

Keep it handy attached to the cleat or tied to the well bungee in case it is needed.

Hope this is a helpful idea.

Revo

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I would rather be kayaking and think about work than to be at work thinking about kayaking.
A Thrill Ride is being dragged around in your kayak for 40 minutes by an extremely large fish.

Like many people, solitude recharges my mental batteries, so I regularly commit the safety sin of solo kayaking in out of the way places, including offshore. The onus then is on carrying as much as is possible the necessary equipment to get out of trouble without imposing on the rescue services or other boaters.

The discussion above has been very useful. First, it has convinced me that my manual bilge pump needs to be modified to enable pumping out water in rough seas without opening hatches. I will follow RoadRunner’s suggestion that the bilge pump needs a long hose extension that goes through a small hole in the hull. In my case, I reckon use can be made in an emergency of the hole where the wires to my fish finder/chart plotter pass through the hull.

Second, the discussion above has made me think that some extra buoyancy aids are needed to manage stability problems that could occur with a water logged kayak. I like the versatility of these inflatable paddle floats http://www.kayakpaddling.net/3-6. (I have avoided linking to any specific brand of paddle float but a simple search will reveal many). Not only could paddle floats help you get back into a kayak when you are tired or debilitated through hypothermia, they look like they also could be strategically placed to avoid or reverse the dreaded Cleopatra’s Needle (bow up, stern down or vice versa) attitude. I think I will carry two paddle floats; they look to be more versatile and lighter than noodles.

Sobering to think that I could have got into the same dire situation as the above mentioned lad, except that I wear a waterproof marine radio attached to my PFD.

I have a drybag open in bottom and closed at top end. The open bottom is mounted between hull and hatch. Works like a lock.
Open the hatch, lift up the drybag, open when top is high over water, put down bilge pump and hold the pump with the drybag tight aorund the pump.



No water gets in while pumping out. Tested IRL (real serious situation, not fun!), works.



I like paddle floats. But not the inflatable ones. I have 2 paddle floats with foam blocks in, very nice to put under a heavy loaded hull and just slide you expedition packed boat up on various type of beaches.

best regards
thomas (also solo sailing offshore)

So you are pumping water out of the dry bag and then filling the bag with water that is still in the hull and repeating. By sealing the dry bag over the opening trying to keep water out. Keeping the seal in any conditions seems key and challenging

Good for you to have made a safe return using this technique.

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@Clintvava

Sorry if the concept was unclear.

I open the original hatch and under the hatch is the top of the "dry bag" (this no longer a real dry bag because I have cut away the bottom!) with the roll-closing.
This dry bag is only working as one extra waterproof door/hatch.
There is no bottom in this "dry bag". Instead it is lika a pipe or a turtle-neck collar.
The botton/down end is fitted between hull and the original hatch.
When I stick down the pump it is down to in to the actual hull.

As you can see on the second picture I can hold the pump on the outside of the "dry bag".
No water can then go in the kayak while pumping out water from inside the hull.

There is also one other thing that is possible with this "turtle-neck".
Because I can rise it rather high, I can reach for things inside hull without getting any water inside.

This is the same idea as everyone use in "sit in" kayaks. The "turtle-neck" is called "spray deck" and fitted around your body, top end around your body up under your arms, bottom end around the seat openening.

Hope this was clearifying my concept!

best regards
thomas

I know this is a way late response but I'm new to forum and just discovered this conversations. Good information though. I've got a friend with a swimming pool that I'm considering asking to use to practice some self rescue maneuvers in. He's expressed some curiosity about the Hobie so I think he might be willing.

Anyway, I know you emphasized "may" be able to invert the boat and use a bucket to scoop air into the hull, but have you actually tried to submerge a bucket full of air while swimming free? I played with one in a swimming pool once and found it next to impossible. I'm not a small guy and I'm also one of those folks not gifted with a lot of natural buoyancy and I still found it very difficult to get the bucket under water with any significant amount of air trapped. I can't imagine trying to do that in open water, especially if it's cold enough to threaten hypothermia. The energy reserves, at least in my case, probably wouldn't last long.

Interesting idea though!

Stay safe,
Steve R.

I second the need to bail out any kayak going more than a few feet past the breakers. Further, doing so without needing to open a hatch is imperative. Some have described electric bilge pumps in this forum, others manual plunger pumps that can be used without opening hatches. I took another approach and used a manual diaphragm pump, described under the heading "Bilge Pump" on June 2, 2013. You can do a search for the term "Bilge Pump" with me as the author if you are interested in viewing the photos. Works a charm and cannot be left at home!

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Martin Hochberg
Tandem Island 2012
Pro Angler 2015

No. Keep in mind that coming up with a way not to drown in the ocean, one is willing to try anything with whatever is available no matter what the odds are. On the other hand, questions like this are great because it forces one to get out of the "armchair" and actually try them.

I grabbed a Hobie Gear Bucket and a 5 gal pail (surrogate for for a boat for now) to test the idea. This could also be a Plano box, worm can water bottle or any container.

The Hobie Gear Bucket has a 1/2 gallon volume:


Delivery of air to submerged "kayak"


Release of air:


Voila!:


A 5 gallon pail was effectively filled with air in about 45 seconds. Lets say a minute. So that is about 50 gallon if 5 minutes. Lets guess you need to displace about 150 gal. of water -- that's about a 15 minute job. When done, one would be sure to secure the hatch before flipping the boat right side up. You don't need to get all the water out, just enough to stablize the boat.

Lets go back to the story again. The Hobie gear bucket matches the description of a "white bucket". The kid has been in the water for 2 hours so we know the water wasn't cold. Hypothermia wasn't a factor for at least an hour. In salt water you're more bouyant -- in any event, it should be possible to hold the boat in position inverted by the open hatch lid and support oneself in the water while delivering the air with the other hand.

When you go to your friend's pool for re-entry practice, that would be a good time to see how this works out in a real kayak! Please post the result!

BTW, the Hobie Gear Bucket makes a great expedient paddle as well as hailing device!

Very nice job. I also appreciate that you went out and tested it with tangible results! Here's the link:
viewtopic.php?f=69&t=47866&p=211720

A couple of questions. I gather you operate the pump from the seat by bearing down on the handle. Could you operate it from the water where you would have less downward force available? Remember also, a bilge pump removes water but need a source of air to replace it. In this particular case where the boat is completely awash, it would appear that only water could replace the water removed -- it would be too late for any bilge pump. In other situations, however, it looks like a great option. Thanks for sharing it!

When practicing in our pool with the flooded TI the rear of he boat floated ok withe the hobie flotation, but the bow sunk to the bottom, it was really difficult to recover. Since then i always have a couple pool noodles up there. Still was very difficult and time consuming to get the water out. I just have a tiny bulb pump, it is probably not sufficient. Of course if you have a hull breach, the pump doesnt help. Have no idea what I would do.
Bob