Synopsis:
We launched from Pavilion Beach, between Great Neck and Little Neck in Ipswich prior to 10am on Sunday, June 4. Predicted conditions were for 12-15kt NNE winds and 4-5 ft waves. Water temperature was between 52 and 53 degrees. Tide tables showed high tide at about 6:11am, low tide at 12:17pm. The area we planned to paddle in was not far our the mouth of the Parker River estuary, in the bar area at the SE end of the Plum Island barrier island.

Between 20 to 30 minutes into the paddle and in the bar area we separately got knocked over and rolled. Conditions appeared rougher than predicted with steeper and crossing confused breaking/dumping waves, so we started to exit. I then got knocked over again, wasn't able to roll, exited my boat, then wasn't able to hold onto it. Almost immediately after my exit and as I was losing my boat, John was looped, then got hit again as his boat surfaced and had to exit but was able to hold on. I was able to reach him (very short distance) and we both held onto his boat. We spent the next 30 to 40 minutes attempting various self rescues - both trying to re-enter the boat and trying to swim or surf the boat out. At the end of that time as far as we could tell we had made absolutely no progress and appeared to be in the same spot we started.

At that point we called for assistance, indicating difficulty but not immediate danger. The USCG reacted to our first call and we spent the next two hours working on maintaining contact with John's boat, periodic attempts to reenter or swim it out and working with the USCG and the Ipswich Harbor master to assist them in locating and helping us. Slightly more than two hours after our initial call (a little more the 2.5 hours in the water), we were pulled out by a USCG helicopter which took us to a local airport. Per protocol we were taken to the local hospital, where oral temperatures were taken (John was 97.2, I was 95) and we refused treatment. John was bruised, I had a small rope burn on my left hand from the deck lines and we were both sore, but other than that fine. Thanks to the Ipswich Harbor master we recovered both boats the same day.

 
Hypothermia claims life of capsized kayaker
Steve Kuchera Duluth News Tribune
Published Tuesday, June 26, 2007

A Brule man died Friday after his kayak capsized in Lake Superior northeast of Cornucopia.

Bruce Hofstedt, 55, died at a Duluth hospital after becoming hypothermic, according to the Bayfield County Sheriff’s Department.

A second man, Theodore “Ted” Benedict Yox, 52, of South Range was treated for hypothermia at the Ashland hospital.

“The lake is an unforgiving mistress,” said Tim Smalley, a boating safety specialist with the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. “It can hurt you badly very quickly if you don’t know what the conditions are going to be.”

Hofstedt and Yox launched their kayaks at Meyers Beach in the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore near Cornucopia and paddled northeast toward the mainland sea caves. Neither wore a wetsuit.

“Ted said they left earlier in the day, the weather was good and [the] lake was calm,” Bayfield County Sheriff Bob Follis said.

But on their return the lake became rough and Hofstedt capsized. The two righted Hofstedt’s kayak, but he was unable to climb back in.

According to Coast Guard Station Bayfield, the wind was blowing from the northeast at up to 17 mph and waves were two to four feet at the time.

While trying to help Hofstedt, Yox capsized.

“Ted said the last time he saw Bruce he was drifting toward Meyers Beach,” Follis said. “At some point Bruce went under.”

A woman on shore noticed the pair in trouble and asked a passerby to notify authorities. The National Park Service in turn notified the Coast Guard. A 30-foot Coast Guard boat was on a routine safety patrol nearby.

“We were on the scene in 11 minutes, but the guy had been in the water for quite some time before we were even notified,” said Chief Wayne Spritka, officer in charge of Coast Guard Station Bayfield.

Spritka and his crew found Hofstedt floating face down in the water about 150 feet off shore.

“His life jacket wasn’t really on him. It was wrapped around his arm,” Spritka said.

The rescuers found Yox about 300 yards away, standing in chest-deep water against cliffs, his arms folded across his chest.

“He was as far along into hypothermia as you can get,” Spritka said. “He couldn’t move when we got there.”

The water temperature was 42 degrees, Spritka said. A person without a wetsuit or dry suit in waters that cold will become exhausted or unconscious in 30 to 60 minutes, according to United States Search and Rescue Task Force data. Expected survival time is one to three hours.

The woman who spotted Hofstedt and Yox reported that she watched them for an hour before they were rescued. Yox later estimated that they had been in the water three hours.

“I’m glad we found one alive,” Spritka said. “If it would have been a few more hours, who knows what might have happened to him.”

There have been other incidents in recent years at the area of Apostle Islands National Lakeshore between Meyers Beach and the mainland sea caves. In August 2004, a 23-year-old St. Germain, Wis., man died of hypothermia after his kayak capsized in the caves.

In July 2005, 31 kayakers — girls from a Minnesota camp along with four camp counselors and four guides — were rescued after a line of intense thunderstorms and high winds swept in the area while they attempted to visit the caves from Meyers Beach.

“You’re totally self-reliant when you’re in a kayak out there,” Follis said.

Friday’s accident shows the need to prepare for changes in conditions on Lake Superior, Smalley said. While PFDs are vital, they can only do so much to slow the loss of body heat to cold water that leads to hypothermia — the lowering of the core body temperature. As the body cools, a hypothermia victim loses motor coordination and mental ability, and eventually consciousness. Severe hypothermia leads to cardiac and respiratory failure, then death.

“While a life jacket is a great thing to have and helps slow down hypothermia, if you don’t get to shore and get dry, eventually hypothermia will get you,” Smalley said.

The fact that Hofstedt’s PFD wasn’t on could have made him more vulnerable to hypothermia.

Smalley said wetsuits are vital to have when paddling on Superior.

“With no wetsuit and only a PFD, things can get hairy quickly,” he said.

He also suggests carrying a small marine band radio, which can be used to call for help and to monitor weather broadcasts.

Hofstedt and Yox were not carrying a radio, flares or a cell phone, Spritka said.

Both the Coast Guard and Smalley recommend that boaters tell other people where they are going and when they expect to be back.

And don’t overestimate your skills or condition, Smalley said.

“Make sure you know your limitations and don’t stretch it,” he said. “Because if the wind comes up and you have to paddle against it all of a sudden, it can turn into a life or death situation pretty quickly.”

Chicago_Mark wrote: I forgot to ask, Joel or Mark, did you see the posting by Tom Eckels in the CASKA Yahoo group about the WMCKA Kayak Symposium (first in a series of four articles)? Interesting article, and it never occurred to me that you could get your foot stuck in a SOF kayak while trying to do a wet exit, although I suspect the problem was due to a design flaw in his kayak that doesn't apply to your kayak designs. Still, it's a safety issue worth keeping in mind as you design and build your kayaks.