# Missing Yakker, Lake HUme...



## Chilli (Jul 2, 2011)

As im going to do a lot of impoundment fishing in my yak as well im just wondering how bad does the danger get and what kind of conditions should be ringing the alarm bells? I know a lot of this will come back to common sense but i have this blaize attitude to impoundment fishing, i mean in my head im thinking how bad can it actually be in a freshwater dam? Obviously i dont know the guts of whats happened(ing) on Lake Hume and i hope that Gavin Fisher is hanging on somewhere but what made the other yakker stay on shore and sit it out? Im worried cos im inherently the kind of bloke in that environment who would say lets give it a go and would appreciate a bit more consideration to the potential dangers.
Have only had one bad experience at Hinze Dam when the wind came up something terrible out of nowhere on the home stretch and spent a good hour battling my way back to ramp but in that scenario i just dug in and went for it. Is it as simple as yak fills up with water and hypothermia sets in or is there something other more experienced blokes can make me aware of? How to avoid, danger signs and gear required? Do you guys always have some waterproof matches and a waterproof thermal blanket in your yak in case you have to camp out in bad weather etc etc.


----------



## Chilli (Jul 2, 2011)

Fair Dinkum? So what did you do mate? I guess what im asking is if you are confronted with this environment, and im assuming in this terrain its all wind based and can happen without a lot of notice, do you turn your back on the wind and chop and try and guide your yak to nearest landpoint to camp it out using the wind or do you kinda face it and angle as best you can into it so you can see whats coming... from say a fit novice paddler point of view?


----------



## RedPhoenix (Jun 13, 2006)

Unfortunately, due to the change in ownership of this web site and the lack of response by the owners to my requests to remove my email address from all administrative-level notifications and functionality, I have decided to remove my posts on AKFF. Thank you for the great times, the fantastic learning experiences and the many many fish. If you are desperate for the old content of this particular post, it is available below base64 encoded and bzip2 compressed.

Red.

----

QlpoOTFBWSZTWVpFs6IAABRfgAAQQIWAgJY2EKo/7d+wIACJEU9MiT9U9ENPU9RsQhtQ8UGqeIEyn6o0ZGRgmgeSG5QRTzOUhUDfkRNwmwyRnCuwrKaqptqbOsvDwiLxHvfxSIaF2ONuzmNmD6l7Ij5uL5SCUEzmPv51oWAeFVlWhWZSpIazIPrlJUFyBPJg3NHbejA8WEIpCOBCkCWBniRAnYLDQINDpkrkj2E23538XckU4UJBaRbOiA==


----------



## Barrabundy (Sep 29, 2008)

patwah said:


> RedPhoenix said:
> 
> 
> > Does anyone have a picture of the guy surfing on Jindabyne? I had a copy yonks ago, but can't find it now.
> ...


If that photo is for real, that's bad! Much worse than I would have ever expected :shock:


----------



## yakbait (Apr 12, 2010)

Funnily enough even the Murray gets decent waves... Spent 2 weeks on a house boat for our honeymoon in Feb, se one day out got caught in a storm with 1m+ waves, and caught again a weeks later and they were whippin up to 1.5m+ ...
I'd heard it happened but never believed it really...
Will throw a pic up when I'm home ...


----------



## ELM (Jul 14, 2008)

I was told that fresh water waves build quicker because fresh water is lighter than salt water, the fluctuations in the underlying topography also tend to vary quicker than salt, making reading the waves a lot harder as they roll from deeper sections and stand higher in the shallower sections.

Fresh water is inherently colder as well, where the risks of hypothermia and cold shock are greater.

One should always dress for an extended immersion and wear a PFD.

As for which way to "travel", a lot will depend on the style of kayak, personal training, ability, and where you need to get to, if in doubt, wait it out. IMHO, it is always safer to face a wave and paddel / pedal / sail into it, than go across a waves path, heading down wind / wave, I believe is the worst position to be in.


----------



## simonsrat (Feb 13, 2009)

We got in a storm on Borumba Dam and had to run to shore to hide in the tinny. I recon the waves were about 1m high and the tops were folding over in the middle of the dam. It was pretty scary. It also came on really quick. We were looking up the Borumba Valley noticed some dark clouds and about 5 minutes later the wind hit us, waves came up really fast.

Would have been terrifying in the canoe or yak if we were in the middle of the dam at that instant.

I recon always run to shore and wait it out.

I have a emergency container in my yak which has space blankets, fire starter, some snacks and first aid kit.
cheers,

S


----------



## spider25160 (Jun 20, 2011)

I spent 7 years on the shores of Lake Eildon. For some of that time I operated a fleet of houseboats for hire. I have had to swim to a house boat that had broken free in a storm and the water was too rough to risk launching the tinnie. On that occasion I had to ride out the storm on the house boat driving at full noise against the wind. At times I was going backwards, most of the time I was not making way at all until the winds eased about 3 hours later...There were times during that storm that I thought I had lost.
Moral of the story.... Weather you are at sea or in an impoundment, mother nature is all powerful. Treat her with the respect she deserves or she will get you when you least expect it.


----------

