Kayak Survivor In San Diego

Check out the kayak4fish.com forum. The story is under the General category. Apparently a kayaker left La Jolla Shores in the late morning. his kayak took on water and sunk leaving him in the water until he was found miles away from where he launched on an inaccessable beach with extreme hypothermia.

I am going to La Jolla on Saturday. I have a 2006 Big A that I recently bought new and have only used once so far. Think I will pick up the fix kit for the drive well before I NEED it.

What brand and model kayak was it that sank?

I read the link but it did not say.

I would also:

1. Pack some pool noodles in there. Three full size ones in front and chop a couple of small ones in half for the rear.

2, Carry a pump. Store in center compartment. Works pretty good if the dread drive well leak occurs.

3. Something for getting help. VHF,cell, and some flares at a minimum.

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Text on NBC site says "ocean kayak" but may be a generic term.

"A former Navy man has lived to tell of an all-night swim for survival, after his ocean kayak sank off the coast of San Diego."

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Matt Miller
Former - Director of Parts and Accessory Sales
Warranty and Technical Support
Hobie Cat USA
(Retired 11/7/2022)

Kayaks with no Bulkheads can sink unless one puts in air flotation bags in the inner spaces in the hull. Does Hobie have any plans to upgrade their hull design to include Bulkheads?

Not a typical feature you can mold in a rotomolded product. We are looking at options for flotation. Most add weight, so we need a new idea.

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Matt Miller
Former - Director of Parts and Accessory Sales
Warranty and Technical Support
Hobie Cat USA
(Retired 11/7/2022)

Dan's idea of using pool noodles is the ticket.

Cheap, easy and effective. Quick trip to the dollar store or Wal-E-Mart and your in buisness.

If your lucky enough to be sailing an Island you already have 3 seperate water tight compartments. The hull and each of the amas.

Whenever I get a package shipped to the house I take out all those new fangled segmented plastic air packaging pouches and stuff them under my seat toward the stern. That is the cheap and easy way to do it. At higher altitudes they puff up like balloons back there .
. The other thing I tried was pumping up a vinyl soccer ball and puttting that down the hatch..works great ..just member to pump it up once in a couple whiles..and use two if need be
...........Kepnutz

Adding flotation takes away your storage space, but I guess, if you aren't using the space, it's a good idea. Having a few white water kayaks around, I think I would opt for using the float bags from them. Never thought to bring my sea kayak bilge pump with me, but I will now. One idea, if you need the space for some camping, would be to keep a hand pump on hand and some deflated float bags for emergencies. That should work for anything but an out and out hull breach. If you had just enough flotation to keep from sinking all together, stuffing the float bags into a sinking boat and inflating them should displace the water in the hull?

Ted

While reading these posts, I remembered making a Santana 20 "unsinkable" back in 1979. I used closed cell foam (1 cubic foot displaces about 62 lbs of freshwater). It worked well but took up a lot of space...ok for a race boat. That project made 1600 lbs of "flotation".

What about a 12" ATV innertube, positioned under the center hatch hole and partially inflated to stay in place? You can get a CO2 inflater that fits the valve stem from motorcycle supply shops. Having one on board (it's just a little plastic device that receives a CO2 cartridge) would allow additional inflation of the tube if you needed max flotation. A 12" ATV type tube inflated to 6" column equivalency (it will be uneven shaped, within the hull confines) is more than .92 cubic feet. That's good for 57 lbs at very low inflation pressure (actually more weight in saltwater).

I suspect I can get a little more column displacememt, perhaps enough to keep a Sport afloat with the addition of an extra life vest stored inside. I like the innertube idea because I should be able to use my storage hatch for whatever fits in the center of the hole (right now, I tend to lose everything as it slides away in wave action).

Note that a 12" ATV inner tube is actually 23" outside diameter, so the true column area will be more than my minimum calculation....probably more than enough flotation. Also, once the tube is blown up in the hull, it won't move around and get caught in cables or mechanicals. They sell thorn proof tubes that are very heavy duty, but a standard should do (for less than $20).

I'll try this out, and post how it works.
Regards, JimL

I have used Sam's Club or Wally 20 oz. water bottles for flotation. They are light in weight, free (my favorite four letter word), and easy to stow. You can put them in very light mesh bags, tie the necks along a string or group them together with string. You can make up your flotation in 20 oz. increments. Easy to check on and replace if necessary.

Bill