Yup, I found out today that you DON'T drown if you fall in while wearing waders.. Stupid silly little error on the edge of a sandbank. With a very strong tidal outflow, I found myself on the wrong side of a sandbar, with the prospect of being swept under a nearby bridge, unfortunately where clearance is less that my 5 metre mast.
So I made the simple decision to pull into the sandbank, and walk the Tandem Island about 50 metres to where the current would send me round an through the higher spans.
So I was "walking the dog" in the shallows, pulling the kayak behind me on my 10 metre anchor line. Next thing there was a bed of seagrass, and all of a sudden the bottom went ridiculously muddy, as well as sloping at something like 45 degrees. Oops!
Over I went, and lost the line to the kayak! First thought was imagining the kayak being swept under the bridge and ripping the expensive carbon mast off, so I swam like a lunatic until I grabbed hold of the kayak.
I could swim quite easily really, and my waist belt seemed to keep most of the water out of my legs (probably a litre of water down each leg, despite being fully immersed at one point). When I stood up on the sandbar and leant forward a torrent of water poured out of the >top< of my waders, and I tipped forward to help, and I swear I had about 10 litres of water in the top half of the waders, trapped by the belt. Bewdy.
I was wearing an inflatable PFD1, which wasn't inflated, plus just a normal polo shirt (no special top)and I was very impressed with how easy it was to move around in the water.
10 out of 10 for waders in kayaks! Thoroughly recommend the Caddis breathables. In the summer, I am confident enough to for for a 50 metre swim