The search for extreme kayak angler and fishing influencer Mikey Rijavec ended Sunday, when his body was found at sea on Tuesday, according to an update from his family. They did not disclose a cause of death. Rijavec, who lived in San Diego and was best known for his YouTube channel SD Fish and Sips, had been missing for five days off the coast of Baja California.
Rijavec has been described by those who knew him as an adventurer who liked to push the envelope, and as a force of positivity in the world of extreme offshore kayak fishing.
Rijavec’s brother, Gregory, said in a GoFundMe post Sunday that his body was found in the water near San Cristobal, Mexico. This capped off an exhaustive search that involved both U.S. and Mexican authorities, as well as many local fishermen and other volunteers.
“It is time for the countless people involved in the search for Mikey to finally rest and begin to find peace,” Gregory wrote on the GoFundMe page that was set up to fund the search effort. “Everyone has been extremely selfless during this time, and selflessness is one of the greatest acts of love. We were united in the search and we are united in love.”
Gregory added that while the family is grateful for the search to be over, there are still many unanswered questions “and missing pieces” surrounding his brother’s disappearance. Gregory provided a summary of the known facts in his recent GoFundMe post — facts that mostly align with local news reports that came out during the search last week.
According to Gregory’s summary, Rijavec was fishing 8 miles offshore on Nov. 11 when he called in a mayday around 3 p.m. Rijavec had been fishing alone from a Solo Skiff, a 14-foot motorized vessel that’s a hybrid between a skiff, a paddle board, and a kayak. His last known position was roughly 8 miles out from San Roque near Bahía Asuncion, according to one of his friends in Mexico, Shari Bondy, who provided several updates during the search on social media.
Rijavec said during his distress call that he was having engine troubles with the six-horsepower outboard mounted on his skiff, according to NBC San Diego. The local outlet reports that Rijavec was talking with some local anglers about his engine troubles when the call suddenly ended.
“While trying to fix the issue, his motor dislodged causing his skiff to flip,” Gregory explained in his update on Sunday. “He was able to upright the skiff and begin paddling, but his skiff had taken on water. We know nothing about what happened to Mikey after that.”
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The U.S. Coast Guard and the Mexican Navy were notified that same day, Nov. 11, and they searched for Rijavec late into the night. More boats and aircraft joined the search the following day along with local fishermen and community members.
Sometime around 4 p.m. Wednesday, roughly 25 hours after the initial mayday call, searchers located Rijavec’s overturned skiff with no motor attached. They found the upside-down Solo Skiff drifting north of San Pablo, which lies up the coast from San Roque. Although the skiff’s location aligned with the strong northerly currents there, as Bondy pointed out in an Instagram post, the discovery also spurred some speculation about what could have happened to Rijavec.
Gregory mentioned this “speculative information” in a GoFundMe update on Nov. 14, two days after Rijavec’s skiff was found. He said the family had received additional details from the Mexican Navy, which said it was now shifting its attention from the open water to local beaches.
Although Gregory did not specify where in the water Rijavec’s body was found, the village San Cristobal is located on the Baja peninsula to the north of San Roque. Gregory said that while many people are still grasping for details about what happened to his brother, “speculation robs us of what is important” and does not change what could have happened.
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“Right now more than ever we need to remember Mikey’s lessons … to practice mindfulness, positivity, and most importantly to recognize the things we can’t control,” Gregory writes. “Mikey practiced gratitude, and we do the same. Today and everyday, stay positive.”
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