This is an excerpt from Kayak World Traveler who is currently on a solo trip from Tallahassee FL around the Gulf & Caribbean. He was rescued by the Coast Guard in May after a capsize and equipment failure in rough conditions. It's useful to see how equipment can be a hazard as well as a help. Also, this story amply illustrates the utility of the VHF radio.
You can read more about his adventures here
"Now Sunday.........shouldn't have left the island. Winds were too strong,seas too rough.Needed to go 5 miles southwest to a small swampy island that was not visible.(Possibly gone during last hurricane,not sure on that) Forecast had high winds until at least Tuesday so when it calmed a bit I went for it at about 1 PM.
Hit some crazy waves & winds. Kayak handled very well. Only real worry I had was my left arm was a bit sore & I was a bit tired overall from the intense exercise I had been getting. GPS was all over the place.Pointing in wrong direction then correcting. The one I have is so hard to see I couldn't put it in something waterproof & had it on deck. 3 miles from the island (9 from land) I hit some intense Atlantic ocean storm kind of waves. Big & goin' in all directions. Had to fully concentrated on them so looking at the GPS was difficult.
1 mile from the swamp island & I still could see no land! If it doesn't exist I got another 3 miles from here to the next one.
What happen next is hard to explain. I'm not really sure what happened. As rough & windy as it was,was nothing like what I hit next. The waves suddenly tripled in size (I'd say 10-12 ft) & the wind quadrupled. Maybe a waterspout or an isolated squall???? don't know. All I do know is it literally lifted me clean out of the water & back down upside down in about 2 seconds. I must of known it was coming because I had just put my GPS in my water-backpack moments before.
I didn't panic. I released my spray skirt,held on to the kayak & paddle and exited.Had paddle leash on so wouldn't have lost that anyway. GPS now no good as it is only water resistant.
Attached paddle float for reentry but kayak would not turn upright. (I realized later that the big bag on deck was more of a problem then I thought.It filled with water which was why I couldn't get upright.)
Bilge pump useless due to more water coming in then going out.
I had 1 option left. My VHF "emergency" radio was in my backpack right behind my head.I purposely had the antenna sticking out so I could reach it easily. This was in a waterproof bag.Luckily for me it was one of the only waterproof bags that actually kept water out!
Wave hit me so hard it I dropped it & it got about 15 feet away before I was able to swim it down. I knew I'd be screwed without it.
Made it back to the kayak.Problem now was the only was to use it was to take it out of the bag!!!
I braced the paddle between my legs,climbed up on the side of the kayak with arms wrapped thru decking rope and hesitantly opened the bag.
The second "Mayday" got a response from Coast Guard station out of New Orleans. (Told you I should have left May 1st) With no GPS I could only give my general location (but pretty darn close to exact). Seems LA,MS & AL ALL have a Cat Island!
Did most of my conversations with a fisherman who could here me clearly. I could here the Coast Guard clearly but they couldn't here me well at all so we "relayed" info.
Coast Guard was rescuing 12 people in a sinking boat so I had to wait a bit. They sent a helicopter out of New Orleans as well.Was getting a bit cold by the time the helicopter showed up. Flew directly over me but did not see me!
As I called out on the VHF that they went RIGHT over me & to turn around the coast guard boat was approaching,heard this & knew right were to go. 3 boats & the helicopter converged on me at the same time.
Had it not been for the VHF I probably would not have made it.It is suppose to get down in to the 40's tomorrow night if I would have lasted that long.
I'm sure I would have cut everything off the deck eventually as I had a handy knife in my PDF.At that point I should have been able to reenter.
Coast Guard is number 1! Everyone one I met at the Gulfport MS station were as nice,helpful and friendly as the ones who rescued me.They are going to get a whole chapter for sure & some autographed copies of my book."
