My Brush With Death

By Jeffrey Hopkins

May 15th- 16th 2017

First, I’d like to preface this story with stating the fact that I am aware that I joke around a lot and for that reason, people may think I don’t take safety anywhere near as seriously as I do. But let me assure you I go through 15 to 30 minutes of safety checking before every kayak trip. I am very aware of the forces of God through nature and how they can change quite quickly. I am always fully aware of everything happening around me just about every second of every trip I make. This applies to my boating as well.

It’s my Birthday today May 15th, 2017, and I plan on going out to the Captree Bridge tonight with my kayak. High tide and outgoing water should be around 3:30 AM. This is usually how I choose when to fish at night. I believe the action is better with the outgoing tide than the incoming. It’s around 11:00 pm and the only problem is I don’t have any bait (fresh Bunker that is) and though I do plan on fishing with lures I want to dead stick a baited rod as well with a baitrunner reel.

But I do know where to get some bait. My friends Eddie and Mike are fishing pretty close to my home in Great River, NY and I know they have fresh bunker; I think I’ll go steal some from them. So, I drive about 10 minutes from my home to a local South Shore Dock where I know they are and bam, I get 2 bunker from them and another guy tosses me one as an added bonus. These fish were snagged with a weighted treble hook only a few hours before, by Mike.

OK Guys, I’m heading out to the Fire Island Inlet area for a trophy striped bass, 40 pounds or bigger, have a good one and thanks for the bait.

Fast forward to 2:30 am May 16th 2017, as I pull up to the Captree boat ramp and start my safety ritual.

(Captree Boat Ramp)

But something is not right. I actually have the willies tonight. I don’t ever remember having the willies like this before fishing. I have the feeling something is going to go wrong tonight but I don’t believe in ESP and try to bury the bad feelings away from the forefront of my mind.

I’ve been out in the inlet so many times at this hour with my boat (which was destroyed in a storm by a giant tree in my yard about 2 months ago) but not with the kayak - from this location. I took an extra half hour to check over everything totally taking my time. I was waiting for the tide to pick up as well. The tide was slack high when I arrived and is just starting to move out now.

Included with my kayak is an outrigger system that I designed and built with my best friend John Weiss. John really did the designing and the actual building and I supervised (yea right). But after flipping my kayak twice, I vowed never to go in it again until it has an outrigger system on it. Once I added the electric trolling motor (Minn Kota) and the main deep cycle battery to run it along with the spare battery, the balance became very precarious once I was on board. The only way I would feel safe is to have this outrigger system added.

After the outriggers, I added a Ray Marine GPS Fish Finder and a few other goodies. It has two pole holders, each with its own pole, one for bait fishing and the other for artificial baits. The bait fishing pole was 7’ with a Shimano 6000D Baitrunner reel. The pole for lures was a 6’ stick with a Penn” I forgot the name” reel, but it was a good one. Both reels were new.

Like I said the tide is just starting to go out and I pick up a nice cruising speed of about 3 ½ - 4 knots. I cast out a tube lure that stripers like to hit and start making my way towards the Inlet where I plan on fishing different areas of the Captree bridge. The Captree bridge is about a ½ mile long and spans across the entire Fire Island Inlet. I’ve been out there with my kayak several times during the day but not at night until this night and I launched from the beach, not the boat ramp.

So, I’m cruising and trolling the tube parallel to the fishing pier when my lure gets snagged on something near the bottom. I don’t want the line to snap, so I loosen the drag and start to turn around to pull the lure up and out of whatever it’s snagged on -- that’s precisely when it all started.

(The Captree Fishing Pier)

As I’m turning around, the current which is really picking up, starts pushing the kayak towards the fishing pier. As not to smack hard into the pier with the yak, I put my hand out to push off against the pier when we hit to break the impact. Just as I’m pushing the pier with my hand the current instantly pushes the kayak directly under the fishing pier. It takes me a second to realize what just happened but things now are happening so fast it’s starting to terrify me. I start hearing the poles hitting the underneath of the pier and it sounds like they are snapping in half its so loud, and the water, the water kept pushing the kayak hard and before I knew what hit me, I was sitting vertical, the kayak was pointing straight up and sinking down. I had no choice but to bail out.

(This is just about the exact spot where it happened)

But before I could bail I realized there was fishing line wrapped around my legs and I knew I had to get it off or once I was in the water I would not be able to move correctly enough to be in control. I remember being a little surprised that I got untangled from the line, I did not expect it to untangle from me as soon as it did. I was half in the water and half holding on to the dock beams under the dock. I don’t even remember what was happening with the kayak I was trying to hold on to the beams under the pier but I was extremely uncomfortable and new I would not be able to hold this position much longer.

I remembered from years ago, I learned that if you ever get caught in an undertow you should never fight it, you will lose the battle and drown from exhaustion. Your supposed to swim with the current slowly steering yourself to land, but letting the water do most of the work. I was hoping this current was going to behave just like an undertow. I let go of the beams and splashed into the water trying to stay clear of the now “out of control” kayak.

This current was not just like an undertow! Instead it was pulling me out further into the inlet. I knew enough not to fight the current, but I could only swim on my back. The life jacket I had on would not allow me to float forward. This meant that I could not see which direction I was swimming in unless I forced myself into an upright position which was next to impossible without swallowing a mouthful of water.

I remember thinking that I am going to die out here. It’s a few hours after my 58th birthday and I’m going to die. I was not afraid of dying; but I was not ready to go just yet. I also remember thinking, God had other plans for me and I think he might want me now. Many times, I had to stop swimming and just drift because I had to rest. It was now about 4:30 am and there was not a sole around anywhere. Not a single boat in sight for the entire time so far.

This can’t be happening! There must be a way out for me, there always is. All my life whenever I got up against something that was extremely difficult or dangerous, I always confidently managed to get out of a bad situation. But this! This is not looking good.

I was wearing my full set of neoprene chest waders which of course were full of water; but this might also have helped save my life because the waders acted like a wetsuit keeping the water warmer from my body heat, it was the upper part of me that was in the most vulnerable. (I wore the waders because you get quite wet no matter what when you kayak, and getting in and out keeps you much dryer.) My arms were freezing and aching. The water temperature was about 58-60 degrees according to the GPS unit on the kayak I noticed earlier. I had on a tee-shirt, a long sleeve heavy fabric shirt, another long sleeve heavy fabric shirt on top of that, a fleece jacket, a leather flight jacket and my life vest. Quite a bit of clothing but it was pretty cold for May 16th, and I could always take something off if I had to, if things were working out correctly… but they were not. Not even close. After about another ½ hour of total astonishment that this was actually happening and continuing to struggle to see if I was heading towards the shore, I saw the 2nd fishing pier at the pavilion beach opposite the boat basin, coming up slowly in the direction I was drifting. If I could swim/drift over to it I would hopefully be able to grab hold of it and somehow make my way to shore. I tried to focus on the pier and tried to steer myself as much in that direction as I could. This pier protruded several hundred feet into the inlet and I was pretty sure I could get close to the beach when I make contact with it.

A light at the end of the tunnel? That’s what I thought. I could tell I was getting closer to the pier and at the same time closer to the beach. I kept feeling for the bottom but never made any contact. Just as I was thinking it was only a matter of minutes to make contact with the pier, the current rapidly increased to the South which immediately pushed me much father into the inlet, away from the pier! And I mean much farther away. In a matter of 30 seconds all my chances of survival seemed to vanish!

Dear Father in Heaven, please help me out of this terrible mess. Send a boat by or perhaps a fisherman on the beach, which was barely within shouting distance. I did not want to die on this day. It would be terrible for my loved ones if every time my birthday came around it was also the day I died. I can’t have that but man, it sure looks like it’s going to be that way.

There used to be a crane on a barge moored out here not far from where I am. They left the buoys that it moored up to in place, three of them. I remembered how much I hated those buoys. Every time I took my motorboat out at night to the bridge I had to watch out for them, they were very hard to see in the dark and should have had lights on them. I almost called the coastguard a few times to see if any progress could be made in having them removed, they were a total bad boating accident just waiting to happen. But maybe I will drift close enough to them to grab on to one and have something to keep me on the surface without much of a fight. That would be something anyway.

I was really beginning to freeze. I was so cold that I remember the cold feeling was starting to be replaced by a steady shiver. I knew that if I were going to die it would be from hyperthermia and not drowning. They are going to find my body floating near the mouth of the inlet right around sunrise. What a shame the weather was not a little warmer than it was, my chances would have been much better at surviving if the water was not so cold.

Is that what I think it is coming up on my left quite fast? Yes, it’s one of the mooring buoys from the crane and I’m heading right for it. As I hit the buoy I can’t find anything to grab in the split second that I had to do it in. As I drifted away from it I could see the hardware used for it securing it to the bottom was on the opposite side of the buoy. There were three out here and I should be close to another one, yes, there it is, it’s not in my path but I’m swimming towards it at the same time the current is pulling me if I can just get close enough to grab it, knowing the hardware is on the other side of it will increase my odds of holding on to it. Here it comes and… yes, I’ve got it! Oh my God I can’t believe it! I actually have something to hold on to that is stationary.

A glimmer of hope? No, more than that, a good chance I can make it until daylight if I can keep from freezing. I had to use all my strength to keep pulling myself up on the buoy, but there was no way to stay in the upper position without anything else to grab on to. The higher up I could go the warmer my arms would be, but I had to keep dropping back down into the water because I could not hold myself up for more than a few seconds.

Wait a second. Was that a voice I just heard? I was not sure if I was hallucinating or if I really did hear a voice until I heard it again. It sounded like it must be a couple of surf fisherman on the beach about 1/8 of a mile away to the North. Help me! I yelled but heard nothing back. Help! I screamed at the top of my lungs and still nothing. I was starting to think I was definitely hallucinating. Suddenly I hear, OK buddy, we got you, we’re calling EMS they will be here shortly. Oh my God I screamed, Thank you, Thank you so much! I can’t hang on much longer. Don’t let go he said, hang in there they are on their way. Then it seemed like an eternity. I think it took about 20 minutes until I saw any sign of help and it looked like the fire department but they were on the beach, not in the water.

Mind you it’s still dark out and I realize I’m going to be waiting longer. My hands were freezing now even more because I was holding this giant cold steel ball. I closed my eyes and just listened for the sound of a boat or a helicopter in the distance but nothing. It must have been another 20 minutes until the coastguard got there and it seemed like forever.

I can remember screaming again a few times to the guy on the beach telling him I not gonna be able to hang on much longer, where are they? It was the most frustrating thing having expected them right away, after all the coastguard station is only a couple of minutes South of where I was. What’s taking so long I screamed (as if me complaining was gonna make things happen faster) with the reply “their almost here, hang on.”

Yes, I can hear a boat coming but oh no, it’s a private boat, it’s cruising too fast, too far away and never going to see me. It’s the first boat I’ve seen since I got in this mess and it’s never going to see me, it’s too far away. More waiting and yes, another boat, that’s got to be them, it’s heading this way. And I can hear a siren too! I cannot believe I’m going to be rescued. I’m gonna make it.

The coastguard boat was about a 21-footer with quite a few people on board. I remember a woman telling me to grab on to what she has in her hands that she is going to throw to me. I comply, she throws and it’s just a little short of me. She pulls the sack (that’s what it looked like, a small yellow sack attached to a line) back in and tries again. Here’s the throw and bam, it hits me square in the face, but I could care less, I grab on and let go of the buoy, they pulled me through the water to the side of the boat. I told them it’s going to be difficult to pick me up because I’m wearing waders and I’m full of water; but they assured me not to worry. 1,2, 3, lift! With the woman pulling one side and a gentleman pulling the other I am lifted into the boat with just a little difficulty it seemed.

I was so cold as they began undressing me. I have no idea how they got the waders off without cutting them up but they did. They had to cut off the life vest and my leather flight jacket which I consented to. Then they removed the rest of my clothing without damaging anything else. I was moaning uncontrollably as they worked on me getting some warm objects onto my body which felt good. The uncontrollable moan was probably joy mixed with hyperthermia. My eyes were closed most of the time, when I opened them it was very comforting seeing all the concerned guardsmen and guardswomen making sure I was comfortable.

They brought me back to the coastguard station where an ambulance was waiting. After transferring me to the ambulance I was taken to Good Samaritan Hospital in West Islip. Besides hyperthermia it turns out that the EKG showed I had a minor heart attack as well while in the water. I think I arrived at Good Sam about 7:00 am. I slept the entire day and don’t remember anything from the hospital except taking some medication at one point and Trish arriving very soon after me. The harbor police came to our home to tell her what happened.

They wanted to keep me overnight at the hospital but I insisted on being discharged because I had a very important Doctors appointment the next morning at 7:40 that I could not miss. I was discharged at about 11 pm. I did not want to make Trish come back for me, she just got home after a long taxing day, so I called a cab and had it take me to my car and trailer back at the Captree Boat Basin which is only a few minutes away from the hospital. But it still cost me $30 plus a $5 tip. The cab driver was very cool. Sometime during the day, Trish called the coastguard station to ask about the kayak, if it was found. They said the Suffolk County Harbor Patrol picked it up and brought it to the Police Harbor in Great River, which is where I happen to live. It was literally 4 minutes from my home.

I had everything so well fastened to the kayak that just about the only thing I lost were the 2 most excellent rod and reels that I told you about earlier. My GPS unit intact. I lost a couple of sinkers that were loose on the yak and the extra backup deep cycle battery that was fastened to the back end of the yak. An officer, John Kelly at the harbor precinct gave me the guys number, Larry, Larry Berton; he’s the guy that heard my cries for help and contacted the Coastguard.

I called him today. I got his voice mail and proceeded to thank him for saving my life and I broke out into tears while leaving the message. I also told him in my message that this was the first time I shed a tear throughout the entire ordeal, which it was. It’s funny, just writing this part caused me to shed a tear again. He called me back a couple of hours later and it turns out he is only a couple years older than me and lives in Islip Terrace, only a few minutes from my house. We had a wonderful conversation and I got his email address so I could stay in contact with him through the internet.

By the way it was picked up nationally on the News and the story appeared in Newsday.

I still must do follow-up cardiac appointments for my heart, but I’m just so thankful for this wonderful second chance at life that God has given me.