User Tools
Sidebar
Safety (rescue swimmer with surfski or OC?)
Larry Bussinger
12/05/16 #20331
My thoughts.
1. If you are just worried about retrieving the boat, don't. There is enough wave action that it puts the rescuers boat in jeopardy from damage and getting very cold paddlers from trying to wrestle the boat that you are putting more people and boats at risk. Don't worsen the problem by unnecessary exposure. Maybe, if you felt safe, you could follow the boat to see where it went.
2. The rear deck carry option on an OC-2 was a good one.
3. With a surfski, doubling up and waiting for the CG or drifting to the lee shore may be be best option as both paddlers are out of the water.
4. If the boat is gone, then a rear deck maneuver is very risky but possible.
Larry B
Reivers Dustin
12/05/16 #20333
I still remember when we did the person carry excersize. I think Brandon was the catalyst for this drill. The plan was to get two paddlers with one single surfski around Post Point Buoy. Yes, it was winter. So we called it The Shrinkage Regatta. (You remember the Seinfeld episode where Elaine saw George's peepee and laughed. George was trying to explain that he had been in cold water … oh well, never explain).
One criteria was that one paddler powered the boat out, the other paddler powered the boat back. So there was a midway exchange. Most of us dressed very heavy. We weren't sure it would be possible, but turned out that the person on the back deck had radical control over direction and speed. It really worked. Best positioning was for carried person to lay flat on the back deck with arms around paddler's waist & feet as high in the water as possible. (Sitting upright was a disaster.)
This was one of those eye-opening events for me. I realized how fragile you become when anyone climbs on your boat. The skill, awareness and compliance of the rider is critical. Sure we could all practice and get better. But no matter how good you become, the rider is the variable that swamps the equation. My suggestion: don't do it unless you are in an OC. As LB said, very risky.
So I'm not the one pushing for another shrinkage regatta.
