SFR Cold Water Canoe Capsizing - Near Fatal Event -

[krusty]

Two extremely lucky boaters. They had PFDs, but weren't wearing them.

Two men saved after canoe capsizes on Horseshoe Lake

HORSESHOE LAKE, Wash. — Two people were rescued after their canoe capsized on Horseshoe Lake Thursday afternoon.

www.kxly.com

 

[RCF]

Thank you for posting. Ongoing reminders, like previous threads, need to be posted to remind us of the perils of not wearing PFDs.

 

[kmudgn]

Seems to me this has been covered before:

 

[Old406Kid]

Wow, two lucky dumbasses.
I just drove out to that lake two days ago while scouting it out to fly one of my rc float planes and saw the aluminum boat there. There's a little house just north of the launch area so I'm guessing that it might have been the occupants that live there who heard them yelling for help. Otherwise it's a very seldom traveled dirt road and the odds of anyone driving by are slim.
Kudos to the two brave officers that risked their lives in the rescue.

 

[krusty]

Year around I'm amazed at the number of people I see in very small watercraft not wearing a PFD. Perhaps they're somewhere on the bottom of the boat, but they might as well not have them aboard because finding them (let alone getting one on) is extremely unlikely after a capsize. People must mistakenly believe that the primary mode of watercraft accident is a slowly leaking hull.

A habit of wearing a PFD can turn a potential tragedy into a merely embarrassing event.

 

[Tim L]

I went without for years, even rescued a capsized fisher at Pass, his pfd in boat but not worn - all while not having one of my own. Like many, I always thought they were bulky and uncomfortable. Boy was I wrong. Shocked at just how convenient and comfortable they are anymore. I keep an NRS here in Ohio and another in WA. Wear them everytime out.

 

[troutpocket]

I assume the text in the article about both men losing their legs meant to include the words “lost control of their legs” because the follow up stated they are expected to fully recover. Anyway, some folks just won’t wear ‘em, for whatever reason they use to justify a bad choice. When I get checked on the water, enforcement always thanks me for having mine on.

 

[krusty]

I assume the text in the article about both men losing their legs meant to include the words “lost control of their legs” because the follow up stated they are expected to fully recover.

Maybe not....they might end up looking like Jim Travers.

 

[Peyton00]

I just don't get why people don't wear helmets. More people trip/fall and die than people drown each year.

 

[Scott Salzer]

I got schooled by a woman from Spokane for not having Pfd while fishing Coffee Pot. Of course, I deserved it. Got a CO2 vest when I got home. Never hit a lake again without it. My thanks to the lady from Spokane.

 

[Guy Gregory]

Warm spring days, cold winter water: deadly combination.

 

[Tom Butler]

I went without for years. Wear them everytime out now.

Me too. I always figured I could swim out of anything. Somehow got old enough now to know better though. The grandkids were really my trigger to just always do it right.
Great reminder @krusty .

 

[Old406Kid]

I got schooled by a woman from Spokane for not having Pfd while fishing Coffee Pot. Of course, I deserved it. Got a CO2 vest when I got home. Never hit a lake again without it. My thanks to the lady from Spokane.

If you could hear her half way down the lake I'm guessing it might have been Judy K.
A good lady, good fisherman, good friend and was instrumental in starting the pontoon safety class for our fly club.

 

[Buzzy]

If you could hear her half way down the lake I'm guessing it might have been Judy K.
A good lady, good fisherman, good friend and was instrumental in starting the pontoon safety class for our fly club.

I had the same thought, Judy K. Generous!

 

[PhilR]

The immersion shock, gasp reflex, and loss of muscle control doesn’t care how good of a swimmer you are.

 

[Northern]

Yikes!
The only time I don't have mine on in the yak is if the weather and water are warm enough that I'd go swimming for fun anyway AND I'm wearing clothes that would be easy to swim in.

And that's from someone who grew up in MN, where we'd sometimes go swimming on warm spring days as soon as the ice was melted far enough out from the beach! Blue lips, uncontrollable shivering, and loss of muscle control was part of the fun when you're 12 and in 4' of water with friends. Pretty frickin scary in open water!

 

[Dragon Mo]

Several years ago, in early May, I capsized an 8 foot jon boat in Coldwater lake. I pulled the cord on my inflatable vest and made it to shore. I always wear the vest now, in a boat or a float tube. And no cotton clothing. I was hypothermic but the synthetics did dry out once I made the bank. Took a sawzall and cut the damn boat in half and recycled the metal when I got home.

 

[RCF]

The immersion shock, gasp reflex, and loss of muscle control doesn’t care how good of a swimmer you are.

Well said! This is what most people don't understand and why PFDs are so important...

 

[Tim L]

Several years ago, in early May, I capsized an 8 foot jon boat in Coldwater lake. I pulled the cord on my inflatable vest and made it to shore. I always wear the vest now, in a boat or a float tube. And no cotton clothing. I was hypothermic but the synthetics did dry out once I made the bank. Took a sawzall and cut the damn boat in half and recycled the metal when I got home.

Probably worth knowing, the time at Pass, small pram and a hookset facing stern sent his bow dipping just below surface. The physics of that began slowly filling the boat while the bow refused to right itself. The partner boat and I told him to sit still and not panic. That worked until he felt the 42 degree water behind him. He lurched forward and sent the pram immediately upside down.

It gets worse before ending well, but seeing how fast he was capsized, end to end flip, from a simple hookset was really interesting. Also worth knowing, the partner boat was his pregnant sister-in-law. She said she would have tried to help him if alone. The husband was out of sight at the launch, we were in the ranger house bay.

 

[krusty]

I have capsized in a rigid kayak on a river many times...which is to be expected and wearing a PFD is a no-brainer in that environment (for most people anyway!), but I certainly didn't expect to roll my big fishing kayak (a model frequently used for off-shore coastal fishing) a few years ago while fishing a small lake with Ive.

What happened?

Well, for the first time I elevated its seat to its highest position (fished from it for years in the lowest position because it just felt more stable that way), and I positioned a large gearbag full of stuff I really don't need right behind that raised seat....which raised my center of gravity significantly. I'm a fairly tall guy (6'2" 225 lbs, with a long torso, built like an elderly Adonis), and that really aggravated the center of gravity situation. The anchor hanging on a Scotty anchor holder off the stern didn't help matters either, because it rotated like a pendulum as the kayak rolled..

Yeah...the Adonis part may be a slight stretch.

All it took was a reach for a fly snagged in a lillypad next to the boat to instantly roll the kayak over....and I found myself looking up at the kayak deck from below. The water wasn't all that cold (warm spring, late May, small lake).

Of course I was wearing my PFD, and I bobbed to the surface like a duck, surveyed the wreckage, and yelled to Ive down the lake for a hand to help straighten the mess out. At no time was I in any danger....the PFD allowed me the luxury of sorting things out rather than focusing my efforts at staying afloat.

There so many excellent PFDs around these days....comfortable and with pockets to hold many of the small items essential while flyfishing, and if used to do so strongly reinforces wearing a PFD.