Solo Kayak - Capsize and Swim

With no loss of life - all good. The video subject mentioned “lessons learnt” at the end. No specifics provided. So I guess the viewers are left to figure what these “lessons” were.

sing

Well, the tide state should not have been a surprise.They have charts for that. Some wind neither, though I did not see the extensive white capping that indicates 12.5 knots or more.

I don’t quite get the heroic sound track for a trip that looks like it was pretty fun granted, but was cancelled by not checking the tide state. But maybe I am old and cranky.

1 Like
  • stay off the ocean until you at least have a confident self-rescue and preferably a solid roll
  • stick to smaller lakes and streams - close to shore, while building skills
4 Likes

And/or paddle with others who have demonstrably more advanced knowledge and paddling/rescue skills and are willing to guide and provide a protective layer.

sing

4 Likes

Looked like a beautiful place for a nice coastal paddle.
He needed some more skill building before heading out though.

1 Like

GoPro and YouTube have democratized bad story telling. Made worse by people who list the equipment in the title, as if this video is made more significant by the boat he was paddling.

Most of the video is boring. Except for the last minute. Not sure why he didn’t try to flip the boat and re-enter. He’d be effed if he was farther from land. I wish people didn’t upload this stuff.

3 Likes

With the video title, I assume someone is generously sharing a bad experience as a learning vehicle for others. (There are such useful videos.) He offered, “some lessons learnt” as an on-the-screen note at the end. (shrug)

sing

1 Like

Looks like a calm day on the ocean to me. (although it looks like he found a shoal at the same time as an outlier wave passed, crumbled, hit him, and swam. Not uncommon really)

Have a plan for when you swim!

Pretty coast. I would love to kayak there

2 Likes

Think one or two things might have happened. One, he wanted to stay near shore as a “safety” contingency. Two, lacking familarity with waves and how these interact with and reflect bottom contour, he ended up being at the “wrong” place at the “right” time (for the wave).

So, my own contribution to YouTube mundane videos is this one where I was out scouting a local southshore point for possible longboat surfing spots. I was specifically looking at bottom composition and contour and hints of where waves would stack and break on a bigger wave day. I found such a shoal and tried to surf it, beginning at 2:45 of this video:

I Googled for a bit afterwards and finally came across a video of some surfing this point and shoal on a wave day. Discussion of this spot has not been found in my perusal of different board surfing sites and forums.

The challenge of this spot is lack of parking (town keeps it that way) and access to the water as the shore is lined with big expensive homes.

sing

That comes from trying to follow Youtube’s rules for guiding their algorythm to viewers for which videos might be relevant. I think most of us democratized bad youtube storytellers do it fairly often.

For example …

2 Likes

Without a musical fiber in my body, I am amazed and grateful for those with with that ability. Thanks for sharing that.

sing

I cannot resist and don’t intend this to be mean…my next youtube video will be titled “Going for a paddle in my 17’9” 62 pound orange and grey Romany, wearing my Kokatat XL Drysuit, NRS booties and hauling a Jiffy PB&J Sandwich"

I’m going to annotate it with all sorts of graphics, like “Waves,” “boaters” “Lighthouse” … I just think a lot of content is overdone, people trying too hard to be social media famous for doing things that are quite normal, like going for a paddle and hitting some waves. Tell a story. The video in the OP would be 100% better and more helpful to the world if he spun the camera around and took 30 seconds to say “It turns out I was beyond my abilities there. I should learn to re-enter and roll” or something like that.

1 Like

…people in general want to share their experiences, not everything has to be a tutorial. He admitted he should have accepted help when help was offered. He did some things right as well as wrong. He held onto the the boat, was able to swim it in. However, a roll would have made things much easier. Sometimes we want to figure things out for ourselves. I don’t really have a problem with that as long as you accept the consequences and don’t inconvenience or harm others.

As somebody that lacks ocean skills, I would seek out more protective areas and all of sings suggestions seem spot on to me. In the whitewater world we refer to the guy in the video as a “beater boater”.

1 Like

I think folks post youtube videos like how folks used to just post photos on Facebook or Flickr-- for their own and that their social circle’s memories and enjoyment. The alalgorithm of YouTube does end up bringing these to a possible broader audience (folks still choose whether they hit the view button or not).

I find YouTube immensely useful. It helped me decide to purchase a Delphin 150 when I wanted to re-engage with longboat surfing. It introduced and convinced me to order a Sterling Progression (which I subjectively rate as one of the better surfing sea kayaks). And, it helped me decide on a Dagger Stratos for a rockplay boat. The decisions were based on watching folks do what I aspire do with those respective boats. Granted I had to wade through a bunch of vids that were not as helpful.

I am also putting videos on YouTube as well. It is for myself so i can see what I am actually doing as opposed to what I think I am doing, e.g, I am still trying to clean up a very lazy bow rudder technique. It is also for sharing with others as I’ve had a few beginner waveskiers and surf kayakers asking for video. I am sure my videos get fed to the way more advanced surf paddlers out there. I am sure many will look and think, “meh…” But that should be expected and accepted for anything put into the public arena.

sing

By cramming likely search terms - including brand names - into the title, aren’t they just trying to attract enough followers so the companies will pay them for posting their drivel?

Unless you only paddle small warm lakes, figure out a system to self rescue and practice all the time. Go out in the wind and practice. Go out in cold water and practice.

1 Like

Good question! Think I heard/read somewhere that it’s a bit of a “pyramid scheme” used by YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, to have content providers “believe” that they can make $$$ of their postings. Content providers need thousands of subscribers before any company or the social medium would be interested in offering monetary rewards. So, some of the really early, skillful content providers got such returns. The majority of us so-so content providers, with a few hundred subscribers and less, should fouget about it. But, for some, just like the lottery, the monetarily rewarded folks offer the “dream” of making it big while just doing something that is less than work.

With inserting product names, i started to do that in more recent videos because these help others researching a product find my videos more readily. (I also try to give a short description of the venue/context.) I know this makes it easier for others than going through a bunch of videos of longboat surfing when they (like me) really wanted to see specifically how a Sterling Progression surfs on good ocean waves.

sing

No, youtube no longer uses keyword tags, they rely on the title to give the information to people who are searching to see what a certain kayak is like, in a format that is not an advertisement or video paid by the manufacturer. I’ve learned from posting “meh” videos that people want to know what waveski or paddleboard you are using or which exact model of guitar you playing etc etc. When I joined youtube it was about making video content for your small audience of friends and others interested in your hobby etc… Monetization came later.
Only a very small percentage of people who post on youtube monetize their videos, and an even smaller percentage make money. Showing your boobs seems to be a good way to get followers and video watches,.

1 Like

Actually, SeaDart is right with this. I happen to come across a guy surfing a Sterling Reflection and Gearlab GP - two pieces of equipment I am interested in and recognized immediately in the video. But if you search for Sterling Reflection and/or Gearlab, you won’t find this video because those names aren’t on the video title:

In contrast, if you seach for Sterling Progression and Gearlab, you’ll quickly come across my video which has those name tags on the video title:

sing

1 Like

A YouTube video hyping up an actually hum-drum experience? Say it ain’t so! :wink:

Anything for clicks.