An Interesting Day - Limitations can real consequences
Matthew Arrott 10/30/22 #32626
Edited 10/30/22
Today was my first downwinder at scale. All is well that end wells but that was not an obvious outcome in the critical moments this morning.
I have been in exposed situations involving the ocean enough times to know the importance of individual responsibility and perseverance - this morning they were both tested. It was not what I anticipated when I left to paddle this morning. In retrospect, there were enough clues that I should have heeded my and others' concerns that this was not necessarily the best day for my first downwinder
We were four ocs and four skis - everyone buddied up. I had not remembered my radio so Kim lent me hers as she was in a double with Julie. Everyone was focused on safety for the group and individually before launching - nothing more was forgotten.
The initial stretch was encouraging things well going, enjoyed the size of the waves. It reminded me of surf kayaking the waves in San Diego. I was very aware that the scale of the water and wind was much greater than I had experienced in a wave ski.
Popped out at one point and nailed the mount the first time which was very encouraging. Dan had circled back to check on me. No small feat in its own right given the headwind. I caught a couple more waves. - It is on the second that things went sideways literally. Broached on the wave - unable to turn downwind and Dan was now right in front of me. I should have bailed immediately if I had had the presence of mind, but broadside him we were now both in with skis wiping around in the wind - hitting me until we could get things untangled.
Mounted on the second try, but significantly rattled. Dan was not back up in his ski for a notable period. I am concerned I breached his hull and I am now the rescuer. But he returns happy and laughing that I just hit his new ski with his old one. It is a 6“ vertical crack in the glass and he assesses he is not taking on water. We continue - My head is out of the game and I am in defense - not good.
I am back in the water again. I am warm but now aware of the finite energy I have to get back in. The first three remounts were successful but coordinating paddle and wind were the challenge now. The fifth remount was unfocused and half-hearted - not encouraging. I am thinking of swimming but as the ski is yanking on my leg with the force of the wind it is clear the ski is the only thing that floats and can get me out of the water. I get up and lay across the ski and work on making progress toward the shore - it is somewhat successful.
With renewed confidence of survival, I mount and am back headed downwind. Dan leads us toward Governor's Point. We tucked in out of the wind. We sync all is good. Dan continues on downwind - I follow the coast into Chuckanut Bay and come ashore below Yacht Club rd. The rest is logistics and thanks to the good graces of Sarah and her girls I returned to Squalicum Beach cold but very thankful for this outcome.
My main takeaway is that once we leave the shore we are each solely responsible. I was not prepared for the power on display today and should have been more circumspect about the experience required. The deepest of gratitude to Dan for remaining on-site at great effort to him to ensure we can laugh about me getting him a new ski.
Kimberly Reeves 10/30/22 #32627
Thanks for the DW report Matthew. From my perspective, I should’ve have been more forceful about asking if this was a good idea on Matthew’s first DW. I hedged and then deferred to others.
As JV and I paddled out of WC, a number of gusts lifted the ama and I said I wanted to go back in.
I wasn’t stronger in my convictions and we turned and headed north. The first bits were good, but the easterlies outta Chuck bay had me doing a lot of paddle steering from seat two and I was feeling it to keep the Gem upright. There were at least 5 times I was almost thrown from the stern and 4-5 times that were close to huli… not the most fun ever.
We made it to MP, but to what end. Next time, I’m gonna trust my experience and call it good for me or the other less experienced paddlers.
I was a lemming today :/
Kim
Dan Mayhew 10/30/22 #32628
I am thankful that the only injuries were to egos and boats, and that no humans were hurt during this paddle.
There were good decisions made today and bad ones.
Good decisions included:
Bad decisions included:
Takeways for me include:
Thank you to Kim and the rest of the shivering bodies that kept me warm in the bed of the truck that drove us soaking wet from MP to Wildcat. The sauna at Prime never felt so good!
Dan
Duncan Howat 10/30/22 #32629
Well the thing about the weather and wind forecast is kinda this: when noaa is calling for Gale Warning , (34-47 knots,or 39-54 miles per hr) SE, or even S,makes it a little strong and difficult to get away from the cove, and then the mix up out of Chuckanut Bay for a mile or two makes for a very challenging run, except for those who have done it many times or other similar runs. That 40 + wind can get you, particularly in a surfski in winter like conditions. Gale Warning = 5-6 foot seas ,mixed even without much tide, Mix in a big ebb, then it can get big.Still sitting by the fire. D
Denise Weeks 10/30/22 #32630
Thanks Matt, Kim, and Dan for your perspectives. Now I have the full story of what went on today! It’s hard to know what’s what in howling wind and incomplete radio communication. Dennis and I continued on to Squalicum after learning that Dan and Matt were safe. It was a fun paddle for me, with little bits of challenge navigating the easterlies going into the new beach at Squalicum.
Everything on Dan’s “bad decisions” list is helpful for future paddles. I would add, just to be redundant, that any person who quits the paddle needs to make sure to call or radio the people who might already be on land, and wondering. Of course, if you’re hypothermic or in great distress, it might be impossible to do this. That happened to me at the Gorge once. I knew I should call the rest of our group to let them know that my 6 hulis were slowing me down quite a bit, but by the time I got to a rocky bit of shore to make the call, I was completely frazzled and cold and unable to do much with my hands or voice. Luckily my trusty buddy Paul was with me and we made our calls and Carter was able to come pick us up in a wonderfully heated vehicle. Ah…
About knowing one’s limits. One time when Paul and I did a Lake Whatcom downwinder the conditions started out very mild and easy. I said to Paul and myself, This would have been a great day for X to come out and do a first lengthy downwind. But then, somewhere past the island, things picked up and got super dicey. I said, OMG, what if we had invited X!? After that I have been hesitant to extend invitations. It’s just very hard to know what other people will feel comfortable with. What is a learning day? What is a dangerous, discouraging day?
Lucky for me I have been paddling with the same few people for a while in medium to big conditions and we seem to be on fairly solid ground as paddle partners. I appreciate this community very much for looking out for each other and for being flexible and creative in how we group up, but also being safety minded.
Denise
Duncan Howat 10/30/22 #32632
Looking ahead to fri-sat , another chance of some wind, only perhaps more than today, that would make for a speed run, along with serious rain. D
Paul Reavley 10/31/22 #32634
Re: upcoming Fri-Sat - the timing of the wind may still shift, but with SE, don't forget - Lake Whatcom can be a decent option on high wind days…
Tatum Nolan 11/01/22 #32638
Matthew writes about the exhaustion of remounting in big wind. My own experience is from windsurfing, when the wind was too light or too strong for a waterstart, and it was a ton of wrangling in the water. That part was much more exhausting than the windsurfing itself and I occasionally wondered about my ability to get back in.
It made me wonder–has anyone come across good physical training for this? It seems like greco roman wrestling in 5 feet of water would approximate it. I'm intrigued by the Laird Hamilton 'underwater with weights' thing, but not sure how to safely recreate it here.
I know the goal is to get past this stage, but in the case of equipment failure or other emergencies, it seems good to have some fitness in these situations.
Stacey Wenger 11/01/22 #32639
Matthew and Dan,
Thank you for sharing. I certainly have felt similarly during that fateful stretch of river when wind/wave conditions increased beyond my expectations (ie comfort level). I can only presume that most of us downwind paddlers have had similar experiences— as we reflect on our similar experiences I really take Dan’s “good” and “bad” decisions to heart.
Dressing for total immersion— especially as the air and water cool off— is key— as are all of Dan’s “Takeaways”. I’d love to hear what you discuss regarding “ when someone has trouble remounting in rough conditions .”
Thank you both again for sharing. So glad you are both safe!
Stacey C in Underwood
Paul Reavley 11/02/22 #32640
Tatum,
“goal is to get past this stage” - for many or most of us I suspect there is never a complete “getting past”. We get reports from time to time from experienced paddlers we know who rarely fall in, who discover they have neglected their remount technique and/or their remount related fitness to the point that they get shocked by their own incompetence when they happen to fall in in difficult conditions. There is no doubt that there is a very important fitness component in remounts. But I believe that regular practice and graduated (ramping up over time with safety support or easy self rescue) experience in rough conditions are more important. Ultimately what better way will you have to assess your level of fitness than some kind of challenging practice that you can perform with more control, easy self rescue or safety support from others? Slop test practice is not limited to assessing your paddling through rough water, it is just as good for practicing and assessing your self-rescue techniques.
Stuff happens that is hard to anticipate, but I believe to the degree you can get familiar with and not be surprised by what happens and have some almost automatic technique responses you can avoid compounding your problems and you can reduce the fear and shock that might shake your confidence and more quickly sap your energy reserves. Remounts are not the only important self-rescue or rescue avoidance technique. Remember how valuable Ivan Lawler found the 2 stroke then brace mantra when he was getting hypothermic in Scotland? Matt just learned that his quick stop response is not automatic enough - we all should almost reflexively be able to slow down or stop by throwing our legs out or by falling in the water (if you are about to run into a swimmer you better be able to stop quickly without having to put too much thought into it).
Dan Mayhew 11/02/22 #32641
Stacy,
We were chatting about this last night and some of the thoughts included the following.
Rescuing someone in rough water depends primarily on two things. The first is how rough the water is, and the second is the skill of the rescuer.
In very rough water, for 99.99 percent of paddlers, all a rescuer can do is keep an eye on the paddler in trouble and call for help when the situation reaches a critical point. Being able to do these things will require circling around both up and downwind, and being able to use your radio or phone. Anyone who has tried using their radio in high winds and waves knows how difficult this is. One solution is to carry a radio that has DSC. With DSC you only have to hit one key and a distress signal is sent to the Coast Guard with your GPS coordinates. Using a phone is even more tricky.
There are stories of top paddlers rescuing others by paddling out of danger with the rescuee on their back deck, but this is nothing anyone should count on. Most paddlers attempting this will likely end up with two paddlers in the water.
OC-1 and OC-2 are great boats to aid in a rescue, but again it's highly dependent on the conditions and skill of the paddlers.
I, and many paddlers, carry tow ropes with us. I have pulled a paddler in a disabled ski to the shore in the Gorge, but the conditions were nothing like the Bay this last weekend. If a paddler is exhausted and can't get vertical in the ski, getting their torso out of the water over the ski might give you a shot at getting to shore. Depending on the ski and the condition of the rescuee, you might have to get into the water to attach the tow rope further endangering the rescuer.
In addition to the roughness of the water and the skill of the rescuer, many other factors can come into play, including the mental and physical condition of the rescuee, distance to a safe takeout, water temperature, condition of the boat, etc. Many variables make it a complex situation requiring calm, appropriate action. That is why what others have said about picking your partners and days to paddle is so important. The bottom line is that each paddler has to have the skills to self-rescue.
These are just my opinions and I am not speaking for the community as a whole. We have professional lifesavers and paddlers with a lot more experience than myself in our group. I am happy to be corrected or expanded upon by anyone of them.
Dan
Kimberly Reeves 11/02/22 #32642
There is a running joke that everyone loves to have an oc-2 in the water in big days because it is perceived as the perfect rescue boat. As an outrigger paddler that has performed rescues more than a few times in biggish conditions, the success of the rescue is dependent on many factors:
Hypothermia: can the rescue actually get on the rear deck and hold on
Distance from shore: I’ve completed rescues from a 1/4 mile out and it is brutal on the body. In really big water it may be near impossible
Experience of rescuer and rescuee: if an oc paddler has never rescued before, they may not have the mindset to rescue safely or keep the canoe upright
If the rescuee has the drowning person fear, the rescuer may be at risk too.
There are so many factors that need to be considered in cold water conditions.
I would agree with most statements. Know your limits, paddle with folks you know and paddle with folks that will never question you if you wanna stay on shore.
My last 2 cents
Kim
Reivers Dustin 11/02/22 #32643
Great write up by Ivan. I had not seen this before. My own experience of “seeing God” was falling a dozen times on a run from Point Zanuk park out toward Post Point and back. LB and dMow were along. If memory serves dMow was in a Necky Phantom (cockpit boat). This was before leashes, neoprene, pogies etc. I was wearing some spandex workout pants. I don't remember LB going over. But dMow did and he put on a hell of a show climbing out of his cockpit upside down, righting the boat, then cowboy style hiking slowly up the back deck until he could work his way into the cockpit. We were a little over matched by conditions, but not too bad. I think LB and I were in the old Valhalla surfskis.
As I kept falling in I became exhausted, and I think I was the one who said we must turn back. A few more times and I realized that this could not happen again. I remember thinking about it and totally changed my focus. I put all my energy into staying perfectly in the middle of the boat. Forward progress was secondary. Being so cold meant I could not make muscles work. But I noticed that this mental focus on staying in the middle worked. If I was attentive to using my paddle to adjust my weight so that I never got shifted to the side, I could ride okay. Over the years that has served me well. i've learned to apply power, but always, always keep weighted over the middle of the boat.
Back then we did warm up coffees at Tony's in Fairhaven. I was in bad enough shape as to lose my way a few times driving from the marina to fairhaven. When I see the conversations, you may notice that I do not think any the less of anyone going for a swim. I do not think there is any way to get better except to stretch your exposure. We try to pick our conditions wisely, but there is no book, no podcast, no expert who can teach your reflexes. You must do this for yourself. It does not involve the reasoning mind, it must come from practice. Maybe you've noticed, a really arrogant paddler is a damn rare thing.
rd