George Nicula
Member
Let me shed some light on the subject. In March of this year, I capsized my Kayak in a Northern Michigan lake. The ice from the south end of the lake had slid underneath the north end ice during overnight winds. My brother called me that morning to tell me that the ice was off of the lake. I'm going top skip the details of how we ended up out there inadvertantly, but I wanted to set the tone for the temperature of the water which was about 34 degrees.
Caught in a surprise storm front with high winds and 2'-3' waves I was underwater in a matter of two minutes. Many people die within a couple minutes of this point because the shock of the cold water may cause a person to gasp and suck in water, providing your head is submerged. Hence you drown. Many others die within the next fifteen minutes at this temerature. The causes often resulting from shock or exertion from swimming, causing rapid heat loss(as if submersion wasn't enough). If you've made it this far at this temperature, your doing something right and you've got a chance. After about 20 minutes or so, the burning goes away and the numbness and stiffness starts to set in. Of course you've lost your finger movement in about ten minutes or less. Now, nobody on this forum has brought up what this Baker fellow was wearing. I was wearing a T-shirt and a pair of Blue jeans, and just my luck, I was going commando(no briefs) that day. No one seems to know if Baker had a full stomach. Apparently his hair was not wet. That makes a huge difference. I was fighting waves that were submerging my head every eighth wave or so. I struggled for 30 minutes trying to get the nose of my yellow Kayak above water so that I could be seen. I had to get my life jacket from my bulk head and struggle for ten minutes to get the damn thing on and buckled, which is no easy task when your also trying to keep your back to the waves and your boat by your side. After being in the water for about 45 minutes, I was losing my ability to process information. That includes sight, sound, and thought.
After 50 minutes I could no longer see the rescue vehicles nor thier flashing lights on shore that had been there for over 30 minutes. The truth is, They were there all along, I just couldn't process what I was seeing. It's not like tracers at that point, it's more like lagging still frames.
I told myself that the rescuers didn't see us(yes I said us), and that they had gone, assuming that there were in fact no kayakers. Since I had drifted nearly a 1/4 mile from my brother, who had capsized ten minutes after myself, and could no longer see him, I decided that the only chance I had now was to swim the mile to shore. I chose what I thought was the closest shore, abandoned my submerged kayak, and started a very slow and sloppy swim against the waves towards the shore. I made it about 100 yards, beofre I stopped to turn around to check my progress, relative to my yellow kayak. At that point I realized that I was barely breathing. I was taking in small amounts of air, and very slowly. I wasn't exhausted, I just couldn't get my diaphram moving any faster or farther. I could hardly makes sense of what I was seeing, but I knew that I had only a few minutes until I was going to become unconcious. And that swim was a twenty minute swim in warm water going with the wind. I knew there was no chance. I had been in the water for one hour now. I was floating. I was numb with no pain. I was increasingly delerious. I couldn't see very well. I couldn't think very well. And my breathing was shutting down, which meant my core temp was low enough to effect the muscles in my torso.
This was the hard part. I wanted to keep swimming. Mostly because I had a two year old boy and a pregnant wife at home, who had no idea what was happening. But I knew that I had only a couple of minutes of conciousness left. This is when I decide to speak my peace with God, and ask that my wife and children not be put through such a disaster. After that I conceeded. There was no way in the world anyone was going to get to me in the next couple of minutes. I just sat there afloat. Everything went silent, even the crashing waves. I could only see what was in my mind. I figured my brother must be dead by now since he is forty pounds lighter than I. Even though he was in the water ten minutes less.
When in self preservation mode, it's not that you don't care about others, you simply can't concern yourself with it.
After a couple of minutes I heard the sweet sound of a Mercury outboard motor. Suddenly I could focus a little, though I could'nt see the boat. I could again hear the crashing waves and wind. I was even able to throw both arms in the air and take in enough breath to let out a low and short yell. My brother, who says he was above himself looking down, heard the scream, and couldn't even turn his head to look. He was absolutely amazed that I was still alive, and proud of me, even though he thought that my scream was my goodbye. Twenty seconds later, I managed another yell. This is where my brother kind of snapped out of his "dying" and realized that something else may be happening. He then heard the outboard motor and raaised one arm. The rescuers spotted him and proceeded to him. I still could not see them until they were trying to get him into the boat. (This has nothing to do with hypothermia, but I must tell you this because my brother has earned it. When the rescuers approached him he muttered that they should get me first since I was in the water longer, and pointed in my direction. That's a brother for you.) I remember thinking that they were taking too long and that I wasn't going to make it. That's when I reached deep and started swimming towards the rescue boat. They spotted my kayak and then me. I was rescued after being in the water for an hour and six minutes.
Our core temperatures were around 85 degrees. We had equalized because he was wearing more clothing and had less time in the water, while I was 40 lbs heavier.
I gained minutes from putting my vest on when I did and keeping my neck from being constantly submerged. I gained minutes from having a full stomach which held heat in my stomach longer. However, I lost minutes from exerting myself excessively by trying to make my kayak noticeable, by trying to board my kayak several times, by swimming for shore, and by getting dunked every minute or so. Yet I made it over an hour in 34 degree water. I suspect that if I had a dry head, more layers of clothing, my vest on when I went in, a full stomach, kept my arms to my side, remained still in calm water, and some shear will power, that I could have survived longer than two hours and maybe as much as three.
Bakers circumstances may have allowed him to survive for nearly or more than three hours. Especially if his clothing was layered and fit tight around his ankles, waist, wrists, and neck. That coupled with determination. Heck, the fit of his life vest could have preserved heat.
George
Caught in a surprise storm front with high winds and 2'-3' waves I was underwater in a matter of two minutes. Many people die within a couple minutes of this point because the shock of the cold water may cause a person to gasp and suck in water, providing your head is submerged. Hence you drown. Many others die within the next fifteen minutes at this temerature. The causes often resulting from shock or exertion from swimming, causing rapid heat loss(as if submersion wasn't enough). If you've made it this far at this temperature, your doing something right and you've got a chance. After about 20 minutes or so, the burning goes away and the numbness and stiffness starts to set in. Of course you've lost your finger movement in about ten minutes or less. Now, nobody on this forum has brought up what this Baker fellow was wearing. I was wearing a T-shirt and a pair of Blue jeans, and just my luck, I was going commando(no briefs) that day. No one seems to know if Baker had a full stomach. Apparently his hair was not wet. That makes a huge difference. I was fighting waves that were submerging my head every eighth wave or so. I struggled for 30 minutes trying to get the nose of my yellow Kayak above water so that I could be seen. I had to get my life jacket from my bulk head and struggle for ten minutes to get the damn thing on and buckled, which is no easy task when your also trying to keep your back to the waves and your boat by your side. After being in the water for about 45 minutes, I was losing my ability to process information. That includes sight, sound, and thought.
After 50 minutes I could no longer see the rescue vehicles nor thier flashing lights on shore that had been there for over 30 minutes. The truth is, They were there all along, I just couldn't process what I was seeing. It's not like tracers at that point, it's more like lagging still frames.
I told myself that the rescuers didn't see us(yes I said us), and that they had gone, assuming that there were in fact no kayakers. Since I had drifted nearly a 1/4 mile from my brother, who had capsized ten minutes after myself, and could no longer see him, I decided that the only chance I had now was to swim the mile to shore. I chose what I thought was the closest shore, abandoned my submerged kayak, and started a very slow and sloppy swim against the waves towards the shore. I made it about 100 yards, beofre I stopped to turn around to check my progress, relative to my yellow kayak. At that point I realized that I was barely breathing. I was taking in small amounts of air, and very slowly. I wasn't exhausted, I just couldn't get my diaphram moving any faster or farther. I could hardly makes sense of what I was seeing, but I knew that I had only a few minutes until I was going to become unconcious. And that swim was a twenty minute swim in warm water going with the wind. I knew there was no chance. I had been in the water for one hour now. I was floating. I was numb with no pain. I was increasingly delerious. I couldn't see very well. I couldn't think very well. And my breathing was shutting down, which meant my core temp was low enough to effect the muscles in my torso.
This was the hard part. I wanted to keep swimming. Mostly because I had a two year old boy and a pregnant wife at home, who had no idea what was happening. But I knew that I had only a couple of minutes of conciousness left. This is when I decide to speak my peace with God, and ask that my wife and children not be put through such a disaster. After that I conceeded. There was no way in the world anyone was going to get to me in the next couple of minutes. I just sat there afloat. Everything went silent, even the crashing waves. I could only see what was in my mind. I figured my brother must be dead by now since he is forty pounds lighter than I. Even though he was in the water ten minutes less.
When in self preservation mode, it's not that you don't care about others, you simply can't concern yourself with it.
After a couple of minutes I heard the sweet sound of a Mercury outboard motor. Suddenly I could focus a little, though I could'nt see the boat. I could again hear the crashing waves and wind. I was even able to throw both arms in the air and take in enough breath to let out a low and short yell. My brother, who says he was above himself looking down, heard the scream, and couldn't even turn his head to look. He was absolutely amazed that I was still alive, and proud of me, even though he thought that my scream was my goodbye. Twenty seconds later, I managed another yell. This is where my brother kind of snapped out of his "dying" and realized that something else may be happening. He then heard the outboard motor and raaised one arm. The rescuers spotted him and proceeded to him. I still could not see them until they were trying to get him into the boat. (This has nothing to do with hypothermia, but I must tell you this because my brother has earned it. When the rescuers approached him he muttered that they should get me first since I was in the water longer, and pointed in my direction. That's a brother for you.) I remember thinking that they were taking too long and that I wasn't going to make it. That's when I reached deep and started swimming towards the rescue boat. They spotted my kayak and then me. I was rescued after being in the water for an hour and six minutes.
Our core temperatures were around 85 degrees. We had equalized because he was wearing more clothing and had less time in the water, while I was 40 lbs heavier.
I gained minutes from putting my vest on when I did and keeping my neck from being constantly submerged. I gained minutes from having a full stomach which held heat in my stomach longer. However, I lost minutes from exerting myself excessively by trying to make my kayak noticeable, by trying to board my kayak several times, by swimming for shore, and by getting dunked every minute or so. Yet I made it over an hour in 34 degree water. I suspect that if I had a dry head, more layers of clothing, my vest on when I went in, a full stomach, kept my arms to my side, remained still in calm water, and some shear will power, that I could have survived longer than two hours and maybe as much as three.
Bakers circumstances may have allowed him to survive for nearly or more than three hours. Especially if his clothing was layered and fit tight around his ankles, waist, wrists, and neck. That coupled with determination. Heck, the fit of his life vest could have preserved heat.
George
