On a dark and stormy morning off the coast of Pompano, Florida, Sean Lawless was kayak fishing in a tournament when the weather turned, sending him into the water. What followed was one of the most harrowing kayaking close calls caught on camera.
A kayak fishing tournament off to a stormy start in Pompano, Florida
Before the kayakers launched, each competitor’s kayak was examined by the Coast Guard for PFDs (lifejackets), signalling devices and visual distress symbols. Lawless opted for an inflatable PFD which can be seen secured around his waist.
“It’s looking pretty sporty out there right now,” said Lawless in the video before the surf launch at 6:45 a.m.
Lawless initially caught two fish within his first two hours of kayak fishing and kept a close eye on the radar, reporting that though the weather continued to appear threatening, the forecast had predicted the storm cell building to the south would dissipate. Despite the promise of the forecast, no such thing occurred and it wasn’t long before Lawless found himself in worsening conditions.
“Well, it didn’t dissipate,” narrated Lawless in the video. “It just got bigger and stronger. Looking at the radar now I decided it’s time to pack up and head in.”
Just as Lawless made the choice to head into shore, still about two miles from the beach and safety, conditions on the water began to deteriorate. Initially, Lawless planned to make a slow return to shore, trolling along the way.
“All that changed when I felt this big swell come up from behind, and I decided no more trolling, let’s get in,” narrated Lawless as in the video a large wave swept beneath his fishing kayak.
Caught in a worsening storm at sea
The conditions on the water worsened within minutes, with the waves and sky escalating from somewhat threatening to downright scary with whitecaps, foaming waves, wind and large rollers. Lawless estimated he had made it about a quarter-mile closer to shore – still well over a mile from the nearest landing point.
“This is where everything started to unravel,” said Lawless.
As Lawless was hit with a large wave, his kayak came down on the surface of the water with enough force that it broke one side of his seat. With the seat now broken, Lawless could no longer sit up straight and balance easily.
“In case you were wondering, I am wearing a lifejacket,” Lawless explained in the video. “It’s an auto-inflate around my waist.”
From behind Lawless, large swells built clashing with cross swells from the wind. All thoughts of trolling and placing in the competition had abandoned Lawless. Now, his goal was to make it back to shore unscathed.
“You really get an idea of the wind speed here when you see the spray from the kayak go completely sideways through the air,” narrated Lawless.
Moments later, a muffled voice sounded over the VHF marine radio: “Get your butt in”.
The first capsize
With the message from the radio hanging in the air and Lawless’s center of gravity compromised by his broken seat, a wave hit Lawless. With a slight lean Lawless found himself in the water clinging to his overturned kayak.
Drawing on his significant self-rescue practice in a variety of conditions, Lawless successfully and quickly recovered, crawling back into the kayak and keeping his center of gravity low to the boat. In the capsize, Lawless lost two important things. The first was his bag of fish, leaving him with no chance of competing in the tournament. The second was Lawless VHF marine radio, for which he had removed the tether earlier to make a call after finding it too short to reach his mouth.
Still over a mile from shore, the waves and wind continued to build and Lawless continued to lean into the swells to keep from capsizing.
“It just felt like every thirty seconds the swells were getting bigger and the wind was getting stronger,” narrated Lawless.
It wasn’t long before another swell from the side upset Lawless’ balance and threw him back into the ocean.
A second capsize and second self-rescue
Fortunately for Lawless, his self-rescue practice paid off and he was able to successfully recover back into his kayak a second time. Now back in his kayak, Lawless realized he had lost his VHF radio leaving him with no way to contact other vessels in the area for assistance.
“This is the first time that I’ve been on the water and I’ve actually been scared and worried that I wasn’t going to make it back to shore,” shared Lawless.
Back upright in his kayak for the second time, visibility began to decrease as wind and waves continued to rise. After two self-rescues and fighting the wind and waves, Lawless was exhausted.
“My stamina was waning,” explained Lawless. “The only thought in my head was ‘please don’t flip again,’ but it was inevitable.”
Lawless leaned his weight into a wave hoping to prevent the next capsize, but ultimately he went over a third time. Lawless had a paddle on board his kayak, which can provide additional stability and help brace into the waves in conditions like these, but he did not use it and opted to pedal instead. Now in the ocean water a third time, Lawless began his third self-rescue.
A third and fourth self-rescue attempt after capsize at sea
Lawless’s third attempt was initially successful, but before he could regain his balance another wave sent him back into the water.
“I was just about to the point that I was going to activate my inflatable life vest,” said Lawless.
Lawless did not activate the inflatable PFD and began his four self-rescue, this time successful. before his fourth self-rescue. From his kayak, Lawless watched as a motorized fishing boat passed in front of him—Lawless waved, trying to contact the boat, but went unseen.
“In my extreme state of exhaustion I forgot about my airhorn that I had to signal them,” shared Lawless. “At this point it became clear to me that it was going to be 100% up to me to get back to shore.”
Eventually, Lawless made it back to the beach. He was the second to last kayak angler in the tournament to return.
“I learned several lessons that day,” Lawless shared in the conclusion of the video. “I should have never untethered my radio. Those portable radios, when they get water and splashed you gotta hold them right up next to your mouth to talk so anybody can hear you… So I need to get a longer tether.”
Caught in a storm near Pompano, Florida Lawless capsizes and finds himself in the water next to his boat. | Feature image: Sean Lawless/YouTube
