Surfski Knowledge Base

Reivers Dustin
09/27/13 #14924

It will Become Windy Across Much of the area on Saturday, With The Strongest winds Likely Occurring over the Coast and from About Oak Harbor and Mount Vernon Northward. winds over Areas Are Forecast to Reach 20 to 35 MPH with Gusts in the 45 to 50 MPH Range. Therefore, Expect Brief Power Outages As Well As Some Snapped Tree Limbs. The Sunday storm has the Potential to Produce Similar or Stronger Wind Speeds.

duncanhowat
09/27/13 #14925
To the Group, Our voly ski patrol has a great whistle (very loud, rescue type with clip) for $5.00. The money goes to the patrol. I bought the first 2, the whistle is ear shattering, which is what we need on the water. On sale here at the office, I could bring some to wed nite also. Gale force again coming up, YIIIKS

Reivers Dustin
09/28/13 #14927
Just for something different I put in at Marina this morning around 8:00. It was basically flat. I kept going south hoping some wind would show up. When I got to about even with Chuckanut Island I could see a wind line coming from south. I paddled out mid channel until it overtook me. It was gusty until the wind front went by, then nice waves and steady wind. I didn't see the usual gang until I was about even with the north end of the wall. I was a couple miles offshore, but I could see the group going south as I went north. Doubt you guys could see me. Good rides, nothing special.

As I got into the bay I saw the CG boat with lights flashing heading South. As I was pulling into the Marina I saw CG helecopter going south as well. Must be a story in there somewhere. I had volume on my radio down because I had been programming it at home - missed the radio traffic.

I found a new self-improvement poster. The caption: “Two of life's greatest virtues are Patience and Wisdom”. The photo: a hungry dog sitting - looking at his dog-food being eaten by a skunk.

smdebari@…
09/28/13 #14928
Saw the rescue from someone's window overlooking the bay. Looked like 3 surf skis, someone couldn't get back in, someone else capsized while helping the first.

duncanhowat
09/28/13 #14929
Well boys that was some morning. Hope Mark is OK. Look at Locust wind just as we were going out to the wall. .5mph to gusts over 40 in 5min Partners and radios, name of the game. D

lori & beau whitehead
09/28/13 #14930
Medics say that “paddler X” was about as hypothermic as a person could be and still be conscious. VERY lucky. It was kinda erie seeing his pick up truck sitting all alone in the parking lot hours later when we went out. Hats off to EG who stayed to help “paddler Y.” But hey, now we have something to talk about for another week until it happens again.

David Scherrer
09/28/13 #14931
Just talked to Mark. He's OK. Close call. He will be doing a post soon.
David

Rick Lingbloom
09/28/13 #14932

Just left the hospital. Marc is doing well, is in good spirits, but will spend the night. We're lucky he's still with us.
Rick L.

Tipping Point
lbussinger@…
09/28/13 #14933

I’ve got a thought. You can’t herd cats. You can’t organize cats. Therefore don’t try. But I have what I think is a reasonable solution to our dilemma of group paddles – make the group “two people” and follow the first two rules below.

1. While on shore, pair with a partner of comparable skill level. Two people buddy up. Never do three people unless there is an odd person, and never more than three.
2. Never lose sight of your partner. Keep your partner in your field of vision. If you can’t see him/her, slow down or stop until they catch up. If you are a third, you have to stay with the pair.
3. If possible, the fastest pairs paddle last (just like the Wednesday night race).

Pluses:

• If novices, they will both be willing to turn around early, keeping themselves out of the serious water.
• If of comparable skill level, you have a good chance of staying together comfortably and enjoyably, without trying to keep a third in your group.
• If of comparable skill level, if one person wants to go back then the other one probable does too. You won’t have to try and stay with a group to have the comfort of support.
• If paired, no one gets lost, and it’s easier for others to notice your location.
• If the best people start paddling last, they can not only paddle at the speed they want, but they also increase the probability of stumbling onto a “situation”. They certainly can’t do this if they are ahead of the group.
• If a high skill and low skill “choose” to pair together, then the rules are the same; if the high skill or the low skill feel uncomfortable (albeit for different reasons) then by virtue of Rule 2, you have to turn around.
• Quit thinking about us as “groups”, think of us as “pairs”. The only organization required is to partner up with a person of comparable skills and stay together. The safety happens automatically.
• It’s fast and spontaneous.
• No one has to feel uncomfortable because we’ve left someone in trouble. If Rules 1 and 2 are followed, that can’t happen.

It may be a subtle thing, but while we have may thought we have “kind of, sort of” grouped up, we really haven’t been because we/I can’t keep track of more than one boat and certainly not if the group is of different skill levels.

If the respected and experienced gentlemen of over 50 choose to not leave the beach until you've paired with a partner, then I believe we can quickly reach a Tipping Point in creating a safer sport. I believe everyone will soon follow suit with an appropriate mind set as was accomplished with leashes and radios. This may not be perfect, but no organization is required, which is good because we've never been able to accomplish it anyway, and I think this idea automatically raises the safety level by orders of magnitude.

Larry B

Dennis Mowry
09/28/13 #14934
This is “Y”, Dennis. This morning I was planning on getting wet. On Friday I went to Marine Park to get in some practice before paddling on Sat with the group. I checked out the gear others were wearing and realized I needed to be better prepared. I came this morning figuring I would do laps from the point and practice self rescues. I was wearing 2mm Hydro pants, 5mm booties with a fleece shirt and Gortex paddling jacket. I also had a 5/4/3 wet suit and thicker booties and gloves if that wasn't enough. When I showed up I also had a fatter boat I would of paddled first? with the V10 I was trying out. I've have spent a fair amount of time in rough water but it has been approx. 15 yrs since spending much time in a HPK . I had been trying to get up to speed on the flat water as well as taking the boat out on the chop in the bay, my balance and risk tolerance not what it use to be.

I was a little disappointed it was calm when I showed up so I figured it would give me more time in the V10. The water was calm to the point then turned to some slight wind chop then to 1' ? swell. I was happy with my progress and was looking forward to surfing the return trip. I even thought I was catching up to the guys ahead of me, not realizing they were slowing due to the on coming wind. They had turned around and was heading towards me, when I slowed and was anticipating the turn, to my surprise I fell in. I felt no big deal, the water wasn't that bad, I'd just get back in, I had self rescued in my Vector, and did Wet re-entry and roll in my Phantom and even climbed back in my Orion sprint boat, somewhat confident. The first time failed, then I tried the side mount a couple more times without success. The more times tried the more difficult it was. The difficult part was getting restarted and emptying the boat. At one time I lost the paddle which another paddler retrieved. I had a paddle leash which was in the van. The boat leash was getting tangled on my legs so with the attempts with climbing back on board the knot on the leash pulled out and I lost the boat. I tried to swim for it but it blew away faster than I could swim. Another paddler brought it back, with great difficulty? Another couple attempts, one with a hope of success failed, by this time I was getting stressed due to the cold and swim, Eric told me to climb on the back like a surfboard, it allowed me to rest and even warm up. It was hard to paddle like a surf board. With assistance from a outrigger I was able to get upright again but couldn't get enough of a start to get momentum being still sideways to the waves to clear the foot well. I had a radio thanks to Rievers previous post, I went out and bought one but was reluctant to use it till I knew I was in over my head. When I got to that point someone who knew better than I had already called. I was figuring as long I could still talk I could call. When the CG got there the boat was a drift and I was hanging onto Simon's? bow. The CG boat came in pretty close and after I was out of the water made it difficult for him to maneuver so he ended up in the water but was able to remount and take off in spite of the CG being in the way. I have to say they were pretty helpful and I was glad they were there. Once in the boat we picked up the ski and they took me to Fairhaven. The helicopter was over head saying the rest of others looked good playing in the surf but was going to stick around for awhile. When they dropped me off at the dock and was getting a call for another rescue, a SUP? The paramedics got me in their truck and warmed me up. I was feeling pretty pampered. I got changed and retrieved my van when they were bringing Mark. I believe they found him, tied a PFD on to his ski and let it go, to get him to shore then to the ER. I'll let him tell that story.

After some coffee I went down to Locust Beach to check for Mark's boat which a Kite boarder was able to attach a leash to and pull it into shore. It was quite a ways out and probably would of ended up in Murietta? Thanks to the Kite board community. Larry B showed up and we spent quite a bit of time emptying the water out. It might of sank before reaching shore.
Needless to say I want to thank everyone who assisted in my rescue in the water as well as the whole community. The Coast Guard, and also the Paramedics. I also what to apply the lessons hopefully learned. I will spend time on the self rescues and attention to detail on the gear. I often think how close I've come before in my time alone on the water and else where. It's a challenging sport as well and challenging to stay within in the bounds of safety.
Dennis

PMarcus
09/28/13
#14935

Thanks for sharing your experience, Dennis, and (Thanks to Mike Lee, Eric G and Simon) …..Leash, Radio, right clothes, Partner…Check!

MARC ROBERTA WHITLOCK
09/29/13 #14942
I am greatly thankful to be posting a first-hand accont of “paddler X's” experience. But first, I want to thank you all for your calling and visiting me and just caring that I was okay. I'm especially grateful to LB for retrieving my boat. If anyone knows the kiter who towed it into Locust, please let me know that I can also thank them for their efforts. Amazingly, my only equipment loss was my paddle (still have to check with and thank the Coasties). As far as being conscious when rescued, I really don't remember being pulled from the water or transported to the hospital. My core had dropped to 88 or 89 with my understanding that 85 would mean death. I can only believe that God still has plans for me and kept me calm and determined till the rescue. So…let me know if there is anyone else I need to thank for their efforts on my behalf since it is likely I'm unaware of it :)
Rightly, this near miss has and will remind us all of the risk we assume in this love of adventure in paddling and needed measures we need to take to really care for one another. I'm very much guilty of some careless decisions:
1. leaving my radio on shore.
2. losing close contact with other paddlers.
3. not turning upon recognizing the wind line approaching
4. not wearing enough insulation for the conditions or the boat I was building my ability in.
I mentioned to Simon in discussing this that when I climbed no matter how experienced you were it was a standard protocol to check each other's harness. Perhaps that's something we should consider.
Marc

Eric Grossman
09/29/13 #14943

Good to hear you back on line Marc.
The kiter who saved your boat is David, I can get his contact info for you.
Question, did you have a leash or did it break/slip off?
DJ and I have pretty bomb-proof leashes from body to boat, but you can never be too prepared.
Eric

michael.medler@…
09/29/13 #14944
I had few thoughts to share after yesterday’s adventures. First off, thank you Coast Guard! And I am really glad everyone is OK! Also, thanks to Dennis for getting into trouble so there was a boat and copter in the area to find Mark before we even reported him missing. Another 15-20 minutes would not have been good. There are weeks worth of discussions that I assume we will have about a bunch of topics ranging from the psychology of group paddling to the subtleties of boat and clothing choices. For now, I am just glad to know this great bunch of folks.

I was the first to call the Coast Guard yesterday, and learned some things.

First… Talking on a radio in a fast rising sea is “interesting.” I was really only able to do it while slowly surfing downwind away from Dennis. Each time I headed back upwind, I could not hear over the wind, and I was kind of busy paddling and not falling in. I can’t throw my elephantine legs out of the ski, so I really had to be paddling with one hand while talking on the radio. This is probably something to practice a bit, and I highly recommend a leash even you if you have a floating radio.

Second… The radios actually work, but you are talking to a well-trained central dispatch guy who might as well be in Los Angeles. He does not know where Post Point is, and he does not know where the tunnel is. He does not know what a surfski is, and he sure can’t figure out why you aren’t just pulling your buddy up into your boat. He will call you captain, and he will think you are an idiot if you can’t give your GPS coordinates, and without a GPS he assumes you have no idea where you actually are even if you are a geography professor who has spent the last few years learning exactly how many miles each feature is south of Post Point. Your new friend the dispatch guy will also try to figure out if there are other craft in the area that can help before he scrambles the fighters. He will also be really confused if you tell him there are six other water craft with the man in the water and no one is pulling him out.

If you need to make the call be ready to give the details they need quickly. Call yourself a group of Sea Kayaks, say you have a man in the water, say you can not rescue him without also ending up in the water, and be ready to quickly describe your group. (boat and lifejacket colors etc.).

Know how to describe your location. I started off being too specific yesterday, and we spent some time narrowing things down to Bellingham Bay afterwards. Start out by making it clear you are in Bellingham Bay, then when they ask, give them what you can. I think from now on my little GPS will have one data field displaying Latitude and Longitude on surfing days. Then stay with the person in trouble to talk the Coast Guard in. Yesterday there where surfskis all over the place.
Anyone else have radio wisdom??

Michael

MARC ROBERTA WHITLOCK
09/29/13 #14945
Yes, Eric, I would like to contact David to thank him. He went out of his way for me (which could have been any of us). My leash worked well and was a factor in keeping me alive by keeping me with my boat. The wind was at such force or my strength so low that I had difficulty reeling my boat in to me so I could mount it with each successive attempt. Thanks for your inquiry and concern.

John Rybczyk
09/29/13 #14946

Michael,
My floating, waterproof radio is DSC enabled with GPS. With the push of ONE button, that Coast Guard guy in San Diego knows I'm in trouble, knows who I am, knows I'm in a kayak, and knows my GPS position. You can buy these radios for less than $200 nowadays.
Johnr.

Steve Scoggins
09/29/13 #14947

This may be common knowledge, but also hard to remember at the ultimate moment… so….radio terms like “pan-pan”will get them to pay attention, but is not considered life threatening, whereas the word “mayday” implies life threatening without immediate help. A mayday call is supposed to get the rescue crew to drop everything they are doing and get going immediately. Having never used the mayday, I cannot personally attest to the results. My one pan-pan(not boat/ski)use was successful.

Steve

Dale McKinnon
09/29/13 #14948

Mike, this is valuable feedback. How does (or can) one use DSC to send lat/lon digital data directly to the CG?

Dale McKinnon
9/29/13 #14949

You answered my question, John. Thx.

Reivers Dustin
09/29/13 #14950
I'll try to bring up my old post on this topic. The program is called “Rescue 21” (check wikipedia). Digital Select Calling allows digital code without disturbing voice transmit. VHF radios equiped with DSC and GPS will have one button emergency. If you filed for and received an MMSI number when you bought this radio, then when you push that button the unit will transmit your position and a distress code until the battery dies or the receiving C.G. station acknowledges and turns it off. Because this is a hard wired rescue response false triggers are fined.

In the old days I've found myself talking to Canadian CG (Victoria), then Port Townsend, then finally Bellingham station. As mentioned, they kept me transmitting (at some risk). There are triangulation stations which they use to confirm your unit location, but these are cumbersome. Rescue 21 is a world-wide agenda that is not online everywhere. Not very many handheld portable VHF units have it. I recommend the Standard Horizon version.

You must know that this is a last resort. However, nothing else comes close to voice contact with rescue. Smoke, mirrors, water dye, bright clothing, … Because it's a last resort no one should be without it.
Rd

Morris Arthur
09/29/13 #14951

Hey, John was right. You can get the HX851 for under $200:
http://www.anchorexpress.com/standard-horizon-hx851-vhf-radio/?gclid=CM7Qr_ev8rkCFWXZQgodSnUARA

vhaycock
09/30/13 #14954
I have a “Standard Marine” VHF/ DSC radio that has one button that alerts “May Day” . It has GPS so the CG has my position automatically and my longitude and latitude is on the screen for me to read if i need that too. There is also a strobe light that flashes SOS. Its goof proof and is designed for the non experienced radio user (the CG words not mine) all the user has to do is hold it in their hand and push the button.

Last year i paid $300 at West Marine - they could be cheaper now. ( i got the HX851 model)
Vanessa

swellrider62
09/30/13 #14961

To add to the discussion, a few thoughts on general radio communication.
Think about what you are going to say before you key the mike.

Calm yourself.
Speak in plain English. Speak clearly, be succinct and brief.
Tell them what you need. Convey the urgency. “Mayday, Mayday, Mayday” is recognized as an immediate threat to life.
Identify yourself and group. Again, plain English and brief.

Assume the person you are talking to knows nothing about various paddle craft. “Adult male in the water, rescue attempted without success, patient very hypothermic” should suffice for starters.

GPS coordinates are great. If GPS not available say “GPS not available”, start with a general location description and narrow from there as indicated. For example; “Bellingham Bay, approximately 2 miles south of Fairhaven and 1/2 mile west of shore. When you have a visual on the rescue craft, let them know, for example; “rescue boat sighted”. You may be asked to guide them in verbally.

Dennis Mowry
09/30/13 #14962
Some thoughts going through my head have been that hopefully my event in the water was helpful to the CG being called and saving Mark's life rather than messing around with me causing others to be distracted from attention to Mark's absence, as well as to risking others safety or possible damage to their equipment. It is very reassuring to have Mark's recovery and to learn from the experience.

Thank you Michael for calling the CG and posting the experience. The post is helpful. Time was allusive while I was in the water, I'm guessing 30 mins? for me which I'm thinking you called soon after my dump? equaling 20 min? response time. If I had called it might of been another 30 mins? I would of made the call much earlier if I was alone.

My biggest mistake was allowing my ambition to improve on my paddling without not having a bomb proof remount in the boat I was paddling. I ignored the potential weather warning being lured by the excitement of the moment, the calm or playful water. Maybe relying on having a VHF, warmer gear as well as others in the area. Nailing a Bombproof Remount, as well as being able to assist others, in practice before the need of necessity, would give me more confidence to work on paddling technic.

I have the VHF but have yet to get familiar with it or program it. Thanks Rievers for your continued updates on the VHF. Michael's comments as well as the “Pan, Pan” verses the “May Day” is good to know. I will get a MMSI number and familiarize myself more with the radio. Another thing I experienced is having the VHF in the side front pocket on my PFD was making it more difficult to get over the side of the boat. On Friday Jeff was showing me on Debbie's setup having the VHF on the back pocket on a leash was for that reason. I guess if you needed to communicate to others it would be pulled forward and also stored in the front. Seems worthwhile.

Having a recoiling leash attached to the leg makes more sense that having the nylon strap attached to my vest. It also was getting in the way of the remount. If it recoils it's less likely to get in the way. Steve was telling me it can even wrap around the boat and the legs and still remount. It's on my list. I did have a recoiling paddle leash that at least could of been in my vest pocket to put on at the 1st remount attempt rather than in my van.

I'm still figuring gear also. The info regarding BKB looks interesting. I was wondering about the heated vest: http://www.cleanlinesurf.com/search.php?search_query=heated+vest&x=0&y=0

I've talked to people using them while surfing in winter conditions and they say it works well. It's worn under the wetsuit without much bulk and could be turned on & off as needed. I am wondering if it might work for paddling?

Also having Identification & emergency contact info plainly in view might be helpful not only in case the paddle is left at a launch site. The paramedics were asking who Mark was when they brought him in but didn't wait to find out. An additional number other than our own cell lost or in the vehicle?

Learning as well as risk is part of the adventure. Hopefully more one than the other. All to enhance the fun and comunity.
Like Water,

Dennis

kathleen petereit
10/01/13 #14985

In Canada we must take a 2 day course before we are legally allowed to talk or use a VHF and then you are given an operators\'s license. It was very informative. Maybe they have a similiar course down there, I highly recommend it,

Kathleen

Dale McKinnon
10/02/13 #14990

Kathleen, no, there's no mandatory training for VHF usage. However, the CG Auxiliary occasionally has an evening class. Better yet, whatcompaddlers could have a beer/pizza gathering specifically for educational purposes and, RD could be the instructor… Or Peter!