Surfski Knowledge Base

Pmarcus
05/22/08 #4406

Just for your info……..yesterday about 3:30 I noticed two paddlers crossing the bay about 1/4 mile outside Squalicum Harbor (where I work). The wind was building out of the SE and they were paddling in the trough very slowly…..when I headed up the dock from our work boats about 30 minutes later I thought I would peek across the bay to see where they had ended up and whether “Hilburn and Wermus” were yet again sprinting around the course……I saw two boats and one upper body, thinking that they were experienced, I gave them the benefit of the doubt and waited to see if the other “upper body” appeared, all I saw was the one boat trying to right and still only one upper body (sharks???).

I ran back down to our work boat grabbed one of my fellow work mates and booked out of the harbor in our high speed 42 foot work boat, okay maybe we exceeded the 4 knot speed limit. We arrived about half way out to the outfall buoy….needless to say he was happy to see us….. being in the water for (I am not sure) approx. from when I started to watch to the time we got there 7 to 8 + minutes, he was wearing a “tank top”, shorts and sandals, life jacket and surprisingly suffering from only a few hypothermic symptoms….we threw him in the cabin (we didn't throw him hard)… and watched and escorted his (a her, I might add who didn't capsize) paddling mate back to the harbor……to make a short story longer……no we didn't get a million dollar reward, bummer, the Coast Guard had not been notified before I called in, even though it was a sunny day and a fair number of other boaters were on the water they had not been seen, they did not have a whistle or vhf, and yes the guy was trying to impress his girlfriend….whoooops……SO be careful when you are trying to set up your friend in a sea kayak for “Ski to Sea,” and they say “yeah, I have been in a kayak before!” (your mother with a trained eye on the water is not always watching………) Peter

Re: Rescued Kayaker……..
Jeff Hegedus <jhegedus@…>
05/22/08 #4407

Nice job being heads up Peter. He's a lucky paddler, as in, lucky you didn't throw him in the cabin harder.

Hey on this note, with the new rule about ski's and OC-1's using a leash, I assume everyone is going to play fair, and not rig up some hokey dokey non-leash velcro look-alike contraption, to gain a few seconds? Not that I thought about doing this, nope, not at all. Seems like we get to demonstrate as a group how we practice safety… and huli at the finish trying to disconnect quickly as the legs try to wake up…

Re: Rescued Kayaker……..
Dale McKinnon
05/22/08 #4408

Peter- You get my official endorsement as a hero. These two people are going to have a lovely Memorial Day weekend, rather than an unhappy one, thanks to your awareness. Excellent move, dude! Excellent!

Re: Rescued Kayaker……..
Larry Bussinger <lbussing@…>
05/22/08 #4410

Peter, I can't communicate properly with memories in my heart and tears in my eyes, but you did good. Thanks.
Larry B.