Tradgety in Pacific kayaking.

https://www.canoekayak.com/news/california-to-hawaii-kayaker-in-critical-stable-condition/

We’ve had a few locally already this spring.

I’ll give Hand credit for not being easily discouraged, but at some point a man just has to know his limitations–as Clint would say.

Tried to find some information about his background. His trip preparation and training seem pretty minimal, lots of gear; no skills. The ocean does not give a f__ if you are an ex-army ranger, if you don’t know what you are doing it will kick your ass and it’s kicked his 4 times. He is currently suffering from brain damage, and family and friends are raising money to pay for him on charity donation sites. Just pulling up the Monterrey buoy it looks like if he had waited 2 days he would have had a nice easy paddle for several days , but we have been getting a lot of south wind and that might mess up his plan. The ocean decides the plan, not a landlocked texan sitting in Colorado thinking they are Ed Gillette. There is such sophisticated weather data available now online that Gillette did not have, hard to believe Hand even knew how to access the right information on winds and currents. Hope he recovers but he should not put himself and others at risk again.

http://cdip.ucsd.edu/?nav=recent&sub=observed&units=english&tz=PST&pub=public&map_stati=1,2,3&stn=185&stream=p1&xitem=compendium

I admit that I don’t personally grasp the kind of persistence it takes to try something like this. But a trip like this, solo, in a boat that can’t be sealed and is not self righting…

Harsh, SeaDart, but Hand’s present reality is even harsher.

“‘It’s never been in the water yet, so I’m not sure how it’s going to handle,’” Hand told C&K the day before to his original planned departure date of April 23. “‘That’s going to be something to figure out.’”

I don’t understand why anyone would attempt a 2,400 mile voyage without getting lots of seat time in a new boat before the official departure.

A sad tale and it sounds like he has a long and difficult road ahead. I hope he makes it.

We read about it on Thursday night, and we cringed. Reading about the prior attempts, and this one, there’s so much to be said that I ended up feeling there’s nothing really to be said. It’s hard to know what motivates any person and how they process things like risk and effort towards preparedness and reward. I wish him well.

Hope he recovers.

It takes a lot of study and preparation to make a 2400 mile paddle. Being a big fat guy is a sign he did not prep properly. We had a coworker that suffered a bad heart attack while running a short marathon a couple weeks ago. He was fat and out of shape. People need to think before acting. Get in shape BEFORE doing something very physically demanding.

@DrowningDave said:
Hope he recovers.

It takes a lot of study and preparation to make a 2400 mile paddle. Being a big fat guy is a sign he did not prep properly. We had a coworker that suffered a bad heart attack while running a short marathon a couple weeks ago. He was fat and out of shape. People need to think before acting. Get in shape BEFORE doing something very physically demanding.

Don’t know where you get the idea he was a “big fat guy.” He might be “big” as in tall, but he’s not fat. You can view photos of him before and after the drowning at https://www.youcaring.com/rodhand-1181803/update/892476

I think he was wearing a PFD under that cag in the cover shot in the article.

I stand corrected. He’s just tall. The article and picture made him look fat. The point is still true though, get in great condition before doing things like this. Thanks Rookie.

I seem to remember from the book “Keep Australia on your Left” (https://amzn.to/2GNhg4N) that the author reported not being able to eat enough calories to offset what he was burning, so he would try to bulk up prior to the start of the trip. And that was on a circumnavigation, where you will hit towns from time to time and be able to restock. In a crossing like this, you don’t have restock options. Push hard and finish earlier (but burn fat, and possibly muscle, as you go) or go slower but have to carry more food for the longer duration. Seems that bulking up prior to this paddle would be good.

Bulking up or stocking up. Reading Ed Gillette’s account, he ran out of food his 60th day at sea:

“On my 60th day at sea, I ran out of food. My school of mahi-mahi had left me a week before. I had eaten my tooth paste two days earlier. There was nothing edible left in the boat, and no fish were biting my lures. Looking up, I watched a line of jet airplanes heading for Hawaii. I thought about the passengers eating from their plastic trays. My food fantasies were so real and so complete that I could recreate every detail of every restaurant I had ever visited. I could remember the taste, texture and smell of meals I had eaten several years ago. I thought about how I should have gone to a grocery store in Monterey and bought fifty cans of Spam, or chili, and stuffed the cans into my boat.”

Tragedy

I feel for his family, but based on the information in the article, this was completely predictable. I don’t know if he had a death wish or not, but this whole endeavor was ill-conceived and just plain stupid.

They raised 20+ grand for him good for two days in hospital in his condition. Feel for him but someone with no choice starving to death has my money first.

Looks like there is a row boat race doing the same route launching in a few weeks:
http://greatpacificrace.com/race/great-pacific-race/

At least that’s a organized event with rules, safety boats and such, It’s not an ill-prepared lunatic on a solo suicide mission.

Sounds like a fool. Sometimes fear is a good thing.

Any update on condition? Tried looking on net found zero.

@PaddleDog52 said:
Any update on condition? Tried looking on net found zero.

Updates are posted regularly on the YouCaring site: https://www.youcaring.com/rodhand-1181803/update/892476

Poignant that his intent to help Wounded Warriors has resulted in such a personally devastating result.