Abalone diver rescued

[DandyDon]

After more than half an hour holding onto a capsized kayak, rescuers arrive to remove his weight belt for him...

From: Ab diver rescued at Caspar Beach - Mendocino Beacon

"They saved my life," said Mendocino resident Michael Kagley, who was very thankful Monday morning for the efforts of the Mendocino Volunteer Fire Department water rescue team that pulled him out of the water.
Kagley was diving for abalone on the northern end of Caspar Cove when his kayak flipped and he couldn't get back in.
"I forgot to take off my weight belt and the boat was high center. Then I couldn't get back in, because I didn't have my fins on," explained Kagley.
Once he realized he was in distress, he began shouting for help. After approximately half an hour, some men fishing off the Headlands heard his cries and alerted authorities at about 10:30 a.m.
MVFD firefighters were the first to arrive on scene and began trying to locate Kagley. An urchin boat had either heard the call over the radio, or saw Kagley in distress, also came to his aid.
When MVFD rescuers arrived, one water rescue team member jumped into the ocean to get Kagley's weight belt off, the other two crew members pulled him onto Rescue Boat 8497.
Ultimately, Kagley, and all of his gear, reached land without injury.

 

[fisheater]

Un-Freakin' Believable !!

 

[DandyDon]

Un-Freakin' Believable !!

Nah, a lot of diver bodies are found with weights still attached - scuba and free divers...

 

[Peter_C]

Un-Freakin' Believable !!

I agree!

It is one thing to be panicked and forget to drop your weight belt in the first few seconds. It is a whole other thing to spend an hour and a half and not find a way to self rescue. He should hang up his fins...or at least learn to put them on to get back onboard a kayak Maybe a strap with a clip for attaching the fins to the kayak is in order to, so they don't get lost.

 

[Ayisha]

I don't know if the kayak flipped when he was about to jump off or if he wore it for the ride, but it might be a good idea to not put a weight belt on until you're about to jump in. Just a thought...

 

[cmburch]

This makes no sense. Maybe he was hypothermic and not thinking.

Should not have ever been in the ocean if he can not get his own butt back to shore. Or requires fins to climb in his own kayak.

Lucky someone heard him.

Everyone should practice getting back in their kayak and pumping it out without the use of fins. There are classes available for self rescue. If he had a sit-on-top, it is even more unbelievable. Too weak from cold? Learn how to lay on the deck and hand paddle.

 

[fdog]

Just a thought...

Most abalone divers and spearos have never had a class. (Why should I? It's so simple and it would make me look like a- well- less than a manly man)

Hence they dive horribly overweighted. We routinely have ab divers come into the shop and ask for 30 pounds of lead on a weight belt. If this gentleman had been weighted correctly (for a well trained freediver) he'd have just let go of his kayak and floated there.

If he was the norm for ab divers, no wonder he was afraid to let go, even with one hand to ditch the weight belt. He would have disappeared with a glug noise.


All the best, James

 

[cmburch]

California SCUBA divers may overweight themselves to be able to freedive for abalone at shallow depths.

Freedivers weight themselves to be neutral at about 30' or slightly more. So it can be hard to freedive less than 15'. Carry an extra 2 lb weight on board or kayak for shallow depths.

Dive shops have abalone outings for SCUBA divers. Freedivers sign up on SpearBoard California section or DeeperBlue and hook up with a buddy.

Very important to learn and practice self rescue. I have seen free clinics at Folsom Sacramento, Santa Cruz, Monterey, Half Moon Bay, Campbell perc ponds, etc. Maybe check kayak websites.

Possible problems with situation:
1. No Buddy.
2. Kayak self rescue skills.
3. Unfamiliar with ocean even though resident of Mendocino.

 

[The Chairman]

It's amazing to me how many divers simply reject "wasting money", so they waste their life instead. Perhaps we should change the title to "All baloney diver..." I'm glad it had a happy ending, but not so much that all of his gear made it ashore.