Flipped by a whale Tues
 

Launched early with Josh looking for a great day on the water after 2 solid months of work. Made mass squid and went offshore looking for rocky spots. The temp was much cooler 15 deg than monday. cruising around with an HDS 5 looking at bottom contour is like watching a movie, the detail is spectacular.
Caught a few fish, one Sheephead that wasnt even hooked, it was rolled up in the line probably from going the small rockfish that had actually been hooked. Took the sheephead and 1 white fish and decided the cold just wasnt matching the reward so I said adios to the Darkhorse and headed in . No way I can match that dudes stamina on the water. Shit I bet dude wouldnt even return to base if it wasnt for running out of food and water.

So Im done and headed in from like 200 feet of water. I have an evolve so I kik it up to about 40 percent power and pedal in. About a half a mile after I left Josh I get lifted out of the water and flipped on my ass. after I hit the water I look up and see my kayak upside down and its about 7 feet away from me. There are swirls on the water but no sign of what hit me, and no boat for at least 1000 yards.

This all happened in what seemed like 100th of a second.
I was wearing my waders and a splash jacket all day due to the cold Probably a minute to get the boat flipped back upright and back aboard. The blades for the mirage drive were bent to about 30 deg from straight so they were useless, but the evolve still worked and had a paddle so it wasnt all bad.
Boat flipps over and I remember that none of my gear was leashed.Lost 4 rods. Black steel, etc etc, custom rod from fisholic John, etc. 4 brand new saltists.......DIDNT lose the fish though. Critical.

Got things back together and got home. I cant begin to imagine why the animal didnt hear me, or see me. Big Ocean Theory, I guess. Same reason we have midair collisions.

Good Lessons. Stay calm in a bad situation and you will live. Close all hatches when not in use ant the boat probably wont load with water when you flip, and you will, its bound to happen once in life. lesson three for me was that these MFs are so dam big they can hit you, but Ill probably win the lotto before that happens again.
Special thanks to Darkhorse for teaching me how to find big ass bottom fish. It aint always about Yellowtail.

The New Year is coming Guys!
Lets be careful out there!
Chris :jig:

:eek:
Damn
gear can be replaced...
Glad your OK and got back in the saddle quickly.
betcha wont forget that day for a long time!

Crap that must have been scary!!! Glad that you are ok... and that you didn't loose your fish. Sorry to hear about the lost gear though, that is a major bummer.

What a story...glad you were able to tell it.

Wow!!! Did you have your PFD on??
That's crazy. Yeah good thing you are ok.

Glad to hear all is well and that you survived. A buddy and I were out and we saw either a Blue whale or a Grey whale about 200 feet away and my buddy turned his boat very quickly and went away from the path the whale was going. When I asked him why he said they have a habit of surfacing under boats and other objects like that. Not intentional, but it happens.

Again glad you're safe and all is well.

Amazing story Chris. Glad you are still with us to tell it.

Now tell us how your wife reacted when you told her you lost another kayak full of gear. I bet that was a bit awkward.

If you need a loaner, I have not started using the Torium you sold me when you upgraded to those hot new Saltists. It is yours if you need it.

Bob

What Bob said. If I have an extra of what you want and you need it, consider it yours. Hell of a fish tale you got there.

Glad you're okay Chris.

Did you see the whale when it was under you? Does your fishfinder still work?

santa cant bring you back but the gear is in his sled ready to deliver

You still trying to decide on a FF?

I bet that was a couple of intense minutes.

Go buy a lottery ticket - if you can collide with a whale winning the lottery should be a cinch.

wow thats crazy!!!! glad your ok and saving the fish is a plus, sorry to hear about your gear. sh&t happens! be prepared is a good warning wake up for us all

Wow, glad you made it out unscathed:)........gear is replaceable.....sounds like the work of a GWS, minus it tearing into you....did you actually see a whale?

Lowrance is a fantastic product
 

Amazingly enough after being upside down in salt water for that amount of time I was delighted to see that the HDS 5 still worked. I tested it last night at home and it was still working.
Had to be a whale from the size of the disturbed water around me after the flip. Probably some big guy having fun chasing all those squid and I managed to get in the mix.
A shark would have shown a big ass fin and likely wouldnt have just split after Of course just my guess since this doesent happen every day. :eek:
And Bob,
Sandra has already authorized full replacement. Great wives are hard to find.

If it'd been a gws there'd be teeth marks somewhere on the
boat and it probably wouldve circled back into view

maybe it was a toothless GWS.......ok , sounds like a whale:)

Wow a great report, glad that you made out ok! Thx for sharing.

Yikes thats a crazy story!

Sorry to hear you lost all your gear! Those damned theives, hopefully your homewoners insurance will cover your loss;)

That's a fishing tale...!!! glad you're ok!

Pretty scary stuff there. Really glad we're hearing the story from the horses mouth and not reading the details based on what a witness saw.

You said you were wearing waders....how easy was it to float or maneuver in them? I ask because I've been wearing some my Carthart bibs with rubber boots while hooping. I've been meaning to go to my sisters house and jump in the pool just to see if I would float right away.

i saw a big Whale in the reserve on Monday a 1 pm-...

also...

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2...y-sperm-whale/

Also, If you rent, check your renters insurance......I lost some gear last year and everything on my kayak was covered......just not the kayak itself

As for the Waders thing check out this video and it will answer you questions about the waders.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OYwG52p4yjs

Wow, brown waders time! Glad you are OK. Sorry about the gear.

I have had some pretty close encounters over the years out there but nothing like that. Things like this should really drive home why you should always wear a PFD. Things happen fast so always be prepared.
Glad it turned out OK.

Wader question
 

I was wearing my spray jacket, with the waist tight and the wrists tight. I also wear a hobie inflatable harness incase things go real bad. if you inflate the harness right away there is no way you are getting back on the boat. it will become too bulky.

When I was tossed I was completely submerged for a second. Water did trickle into the waders , perhaps a cup or two at most. I dont wear a belt, just the tight waist of the spray jacket. the belts seem to want to keep air in the wader pants and for me its an annoyance.


Late report. Looks like my homeowners is covering most of the loss.
Merry Christmas.:sifone:

Ok lets look at this as a worst case scenario. You get dumped into the water and bonked on the head. As you now know first hand crazy things happen fast. I have had free jumping Threshers launch over the bow of my kayak. Inflatable PFDs won't save you if you can't inflate it. You are much safer in a normal PFD.
IF you are going to be thrashing around in the water for an extended period not having a belt could also be an issue.
Just my thoughts but I would at least reconsider your choice of PFD. I know those inflatables are comfortable but I think comfort will take a back seat to floating when it really counts.

Even though it doesn't appear that Jim is wearing any PDF in his Avatar picture, he is correct about the inflatable PFD V the Standard.

You are totally correct about me not having one on in my Avatar. That is the exception not the rule with me though. Kind of like when I was in Panama. We shipped the kayaks down but the PFDs never arrived, I certainly was not going to just not fish because I didn't have a PFD. Kind of the same thing happened the day I got that Dorado. I do though wear a PFD 99% of the time.

Don't they also make water activated pfd's that inflate after being submerged in the water? Of course there would be some trade-offs, but it could solve the comfort vs safety problem. Either way, a pfd is a must 100% of the time. I know, sometimes stuff happens that prevent you from wearing it, either way, Jim is right, we are not all perfect. I used to be a 99% of the time seat-belt wearer until I was thrown from the passenger seat of a pickup truck. I swear to god I will never ride in any vehicle again that I can't get a seatbelt on EVER but that's another story.

Any way........anybody ever heardof the water activated self inflating pfd?

Yes they do have water activated inflating PFD's the problem here is getting splashed particularly when going out through surf, they can and will inflate.

Chris,

Glad you're safe. Thanks for sharing.

I currently have a auto inflate or water activated PFD it has the Auto inflate and the pull string in the event I go over and it does not auto inflate. I'm planning on getting a new one here soon though because, like Jim stated, I don't want to leave anything to chance. Like he said if I'm knocked out and can't pull the string, and something goes wrong with the auto inflate I don't want to risk it. For what I have been doing lately it works and I'm wearing a PFD, but I want to have a normal PFD before I go out in the ocean.

I once had a client wearing an auto inflate down in Baja that got splashed by a big Roosterfish and inflated. Startled the hell out of him but was Funny as hell to us.

Isn't that video on YouTube? After I watched that I started looking for a different PFD. That's what I don't want to happen while I'm fishing. Early Inflation is not good. I hear they have medications for that. :p

pfd 100% of the time will save your ass when the shit is hitting the fan....saved my butt......as far as waders go.......my waders only took on a little water initially last Spring during my 45 minute swim. They had to be kicked off immediately though due to inability to swim with those damn booties and fear of them filling up with water......just my .02

Hey Chris why don't you chime in on your experience with the automatic inflatable life vest?

IAuto inflating life vest
 

I had one of those onboard my kayak. I think I actually had two and had one inside the boat that day. Aparantly the trigger for the vest reacts to moisture, not barometric pressure of sinking.
The one in the boat got wet and BOOM it went off inside the boat. Scared the shit outta me. waaay scarier than this whale event. sounded like a bomb inside the hull.

That is why I dont have the auto inflate mechanism on my harness anymore. Plus if you have to replace one, CAUSE IT GOT WET its like 20 bucks for the trigger.

Jims probably right and a full on vest it the safest way to go. Maybe I should design a comfortable one. I havent found one I like.

lets be careful out there!!:biggrinjester:

Did you have your FF on when you got hit? Just wondering if salvage might be a possibility with a GPS location.

Waders can make an excellent floatation device once removed. You "gulp" air in the top and force it down to the legs. Once both legs are full, you tie off the the top with the suspenders. Lay in the crotch area and you have essentially a pool noodle.