Waders can be potentially life-threatening if you go in if they happen to fill with water. Many a wading fisherman has had this happen so while you did have a PFD, the waders could have offset some of the effectiveness. Plus, if they fill with water, getting back in the kayak just became much more difficult. Glad to hear that you were all right. As someone else mentioned, a farmer john bottom coupled with your dry top would probably have been a better combo.

Bill

here's a write up and some photos from a old "how to fish and camp" book about the waders filling with water issue...

Given a water temperature at or around 54F the standard chart gives you an "Expected Time Before Exhaustion or Unconsciousness" of 1 to 2 hours and an "Expected Time of Survival" of 1 to 6 hours. :

http://www.seagrant.umn.edu/coastal_communities/hypothermia

The range is 50F to 60F and 54F is certainly close to the lower end so it suggest both will end up on the low end of the range. Add in a degree of physical exhaustion, what seems to have caused the dunking, and those figures might be optimistic.

Then again our man wasn't completely unprotected so a bit longer makes sense. But, here again, he doesn't, by my eye, look overly plump and well insulated by fat. So that would suggest a figure more on the low side. Point being it is a hard call to make. I'm pretty sure even the same individual and identical conditions will vary in their survival times.

What scares me is that figure of one hour on the "Expected Time of Survival". As I read it that means that dead in an hour is not out of the question. An hour waiting for help is a long time. An hour left to live is always going to feel like too fleeting a moment.

If you have the time spend some time perusing that Seagrant site. Lots of good information. Things that bear repeating and being reminded of even if you have heard them before.

Another site with some interesting tidbits:

http://www.shipwrite.bc.ca/coldwater.htm

Here in the Channel Islands, it is very simple. If you go into the water wearing a wetsuit, you have a chance to survive. One gent drifted for two days until he fetched out on an oil rig (summer conditions - water temp in the 60s). If you are not wearing a wet suit you will die. A PFD just makes it easier to find and recover your corpse.

There was an instance a few years back where a fishing boat sank with something like eight or so people on board. The survival was as outlined above; all the survivors were wet suited. One fiance, in a wet suit, clung to his fiancee, unwetsuited, until she slipped from his arms into the depths. The ocean is very unforgiving.

Anybody got something more cheerful to discuss?

Turns out the manufacturer has added both some outriggers and better seat pegs since I last looked. I intend to add both to my kayak outfit.

You can survive embarrassment, and I'm very glad you did come out of it okay.

What would have been REALLY embarrassing is having Doug Ritter explaining on national TV how one of his forum regulars, who knew better, croaked from hypothermia!

I'm glad you're still on the green side of the grass!

Sue

Thanks, Sue!

I believe I was in the early stages of hypothermia. But I was not alone or without resources. If there had been need there was a lot of standing and downed tree wood on the small island, we had some food and tea, stove, etcetera. [And I was carrying an American Medical DR PSK with full, recently refreshed contents.]

We were not in the wilderness, so we refrained from doing things we would have jumped to in those circumstances. My route was just off the small island, which was down tide and downwind of me so I would have "washed up" on the island even without any help.

Still, I made mistakes and the experience was a wake-up call to even better preparedness.

On this bright sunny day I was not able to flag down any passing boats with paddle or jacket waving. After a few minutes I was too busy being cold to think about doing anything but trying to get and stay warm.

But as I listened to my buddy concentrate on his 911 conversations, I clearly recall two sailboats coming close by that he did not try to flag down and that I, sitting wrapped up and clearly a bit out of it, also let go. I still have not sorted all that out.

But I am going to be carrying some pocket flares when I go out next, and will try to figure out how to afford a PLB. I want more survival options!

Edit: I did not think to try my signal mirror. In fact I did not want to open my PSK because it did not feel like an emergency or survival situation.

Okay, now I am going to assemble a hypothermia kit, including some instructions on when and how to deploy it aimed at me as I slip into hypothermia [no big words, etcetera].

Thoughts, oh mighty brain trust?

Edit: I am going to start a new thread for this discussion.