In short:

I strongly discourage fishing/diving alone (especially from a boat).

Check weather and wave conditions.

Wear a life vest while on a boat.

Longer story:

April 6th, I came home from work and started suiting up to go for a run with my dog. As I open the door to leave the landline phone starts to ring and the caller ID says its from a Boat towing company. A pit starts to develop in my stomach. I don’t answer and let it go to voicemail. The message left says they found a boat which they believed belonged to us, upturned in the surf near Moss Landing and they wanted to know if we would like them to get it.

I call my father (who owns the boat) and let him know about the message and asked him if he knew if my uncle took the boat out today (the boat is stored at my uncle’s house and lately he has been taking the boat out by himself…). My dad doesn’t know and calls my uncle. No answer. We finally get ahold of my aunt who was on her way to the hospital.

As you might have guessed; the boat was ours, my uncle did take it out that day (solo and without telling anyone) and he was caught by a wave which flipped the boat. He was not wearing a life vest, was in full cold-gear clothing (at least 3 layers of clothing on his chest), had on boating bib pants (the plastic suspender type keep you dry while boating) and spent the next +/- 30 minutes fighting for his life trying to keep his head above water, unable to remove any clothing besides his boots.

We were later told a lifeguard saw what happened and immediately started to make his way out to save him. Thankfully the lifeguard did reach him in time. When he got to the hospital his core temperature was below 88 degrees Fahrenheit (which was after the ambulance ride which started heat treatment immediately, so God only knows what his minimum temp was in the water). He was awake (in the only most fundamental sense) completely unresponsive and not oriented to person, place, or time. After spending the rest of the day and night in the hospital, he was released to go home and recover.

Thankfully we only lost a boat this week.

Please be safe everyone. I share this story for the sole purpose to emphasize the importance of practicing safe boating and diving.

I wish everyone the best.