re: Missing Kayaker in the gulf

Always keep a couple of bottles of water in your ditch bag (depending on the size of your bag) and throw some small energy bars & sunscreen/lip balm in there as well.

Personally the larger the ditch bag the better. The ditch bag I have on my boat also has a pair of flippers attached on the outside of the bag.

An event like this also highlights the importance of always having your life jacket on no matter how good of a swimmer you are. 3 miles in the open ocean against waves & currents is