At 44,000 surface acres, Clear Lake is the largest natural lake in California. Whereas the lake is a great place to boat and fish most of the time, it can turn deadly on occasion as illustrated last week when two canoeists had to be rescued and a kayaker went missing. Down through the years a number of boaters have drowned during the cold winter months.
Make no mistake, the waters of Clear Lake can be very cold during the winter months and with the water temperatures currently holding at 45-48 degrees, the survival time for someone tossed into Clear Lake is less than 30 minutes. After that hypothermia sets in and drowning may occur.
For that reason, it”s amazing the number of fishermen and boaters who don”t wear a life vest when out on the water. More than once I have seen fishermen head out onto the lake in a small boat and not a life vest to be found on the boat.
It”s not just the small boaters who can get into trouble. A lone fisherman fishing from the front of a bass boat can easily slip and fall into the water. If he/she isn”t wearing a life vest it could spell real trouble. In fact, wearing a life vest is so important that all the bass tournament organizations have a rule requiring fishermen to wear life vests whenever the big motor is running. If you don”t follow the rule, you can be disqualified from the tournament.
Statistics have shown that more than 70 percent of drowning victims weren”t wearing a life vest. This is amazing because winter storms are common, especially on Clear Lake. We are fortunate we have very few drownings on Clear Lake despite the fact it”s a very large lake and at times there are dozens of speed boats on the lake, especially during a bass tournament. There have been some close calls. A few years ago a well-known local duck hunter fell out of his boat and he wasn”t wearing a life vest. Luckily for him the unmanned boat made a large circle and he managed to grab the boat as it went by. He climbed back into the boat and was saved. If the boat hadn”t circled back to him he would have certainly drowned.
Fishing guide Bob Myskey is out on the lake at least four days a week and he constantly sees boaters sans life vests. He said a couple of years ago he was fishing with a buddy and they were going across the lake at high speed when the lower unit of his outboard motor came off. The boat made a sudden lurch to the left, tossing him and his partner into the lake. It occurred in early March and the water temperature was only 50 degrees. According to Myskey, the impact of his body hitting the water was so hard that it tore the shoes off his feet. Myskey said what saved their lives were the automatically inflating life vests they were wearing. The vests inflated and they managed to flag down a passing bass boat and were rescued. He said that within 10 minutes of being in the water he already was starting to suffer from hypothermia.
A boat can capsize in minutes. I know because 40 years ago I was duck hunting with two companions when our boat went down and we had to be rescued after spending more than eight hours in the frigid water in the Yolo Bypass, which is located near Sacramento. On that particular day two other hunters drowned in the flooded bypass. We were extremely lucky.
That episode taught me a valuable lesson. I never go out in a boat unless I am wearing a life vest and know the weather forecast.
Many people don”t like to wear a life vest because they can be bulky and uncomfortable. That has all changed with the new inflatable vests. One of the most popular life vests on the market is one that automatically inflates if you”re tossed in the water. That way even if you”re knocked unconscious you will float. These are lightweight vests and can be worn throughout the day in comfort. They cost about $150 and are well worth the price. They are Coast Guard approved and most of the bass fishermen use these type of vests. There are other types of approved life vests that are also effective, but none of them will work unless you wear them.
