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Long Post Alert: Important Safety Idea
Nicholas Cryder
03/17/18 #22644
Hey team Whatcom,
We all love a good romp in the windy frosty waters. Today was no exception. Fun small bumps that were just big enough to surf and easy, fast rides. Everyone had a great time and I heard “that was way better than I expected!” over and over again.
In terms of the not good kind of unexpected and cold water safety; we have talked endlessly about marine radio vs. cell phone, high visibility clothing, leashes, paddling buddies and more leashes. But there is an aspect that is easily overlooked that occurred to me on a demo-gone-wrong last spring.
Last year I was doing a paddle with a local college kid with a white water background who was getting into surfski and swore he was soon to be God's gift to downwind (honest, wasn't actually me). We choose a super modest day, and put in at MP for laps in the lee with the idea that we'd grab rides he could handle and then commit to deeper lines as he got the hang of it. When I say super modest, that is exactly 50% smaller then today (10 to 15mph) and temps in the low 60's. He was dressed in 1.5 mil neoprene farmer john and owned a V8 Performance, and I was in a V8 Pro. After his fourth or fifth swim in 16“ or so chop, he was starting to fatigue and we rafted up to get him collected and work on not falling in. Two more swims and it was time to bail as the wind picked up unexpectedly and he was a bit rattled and it was getting much harder to remount. He was now in no mood to paddle swim any longer, a small fishing boat rolled by at that exact moment and offered him a ride to shore. Nice. Had that boat not been there, I could have done a footwell raft and paddled together to get him in - but it would have taken a long time and probably wounded the boats from bouncing together. It reminded me that one of the biggest aspects of safety is time in the water, and that every second counts.
You never know when you might come upon someone in trouble - say a dislocated shoulder, snapped rudder or a lost paddle - and they are unable to be in their boat. So borrowing from the SeaKayaker's tool kit, I have started to carry a small 20 foot pull line that is with me on every paddle that can be deployed with one hand, and easily clipped to the other person's boat (or a footboard strap if they don't have handles) for a tow. See pics attached. They only need to hold on to their footboard strap and either drape themselves over the boat or just hold on and go limp for this to work. If the paddler were unable to hold on to their boat; casting off their boat and running a simple loop under the arms (back float position) will accomplish the same thing, but it will be a lot more work without the buoyancy aid of their boat. The pull line can clip to either my waste or a redundant leash loop I have placed in the cockpit of my ski (for whatever reason, it's easier to balance with it clipped to the ski than on my waste). I practiced this technique last summer with my 13 year old daughter on Lake Chelan, and it worked incredibly well in all kinds of water. A ten minute kilometer is entirely feasible, and brings home the point that in many scenarios it is feasible to pull someone to shore much faster then a radio rescue could take place (assuming we're talking our usual paddling spots locally).
As a side benefit for those who run a cockpit leash (I don't care for stern leashes and find the remounts much slower, and prefer to remount in beam position), this line is handy in the event you break a rudder line and need to swim to the back of the ski to attach a rudder saver.
Finally, if it's your day to need help, this line offers you a lot more options should you need to work with a small boat or other paddlers to get to shore quickly.
I use a noose knot so the carabiner stays in place and is easy to handle. The noose is also well known for being quite strong under load as it tends to reinforce itself as it tightens. I also choose gate style biners verses locking biners for ease of operation with gloves or cold fingers. Backclipping is unlikely in this use scenario because the rope should never twist back on itself. It it did occurs, the line is still easy to retrieve because the paddler in the water is anchoring their boat.
By using a climbers coil and a simple rubber band, I can use my mouth and one hand to completely open the rope and not have any knots or loops. This takes up very little room in my PFD pocket.
Attaching directly to the ski makes pulling far more comfortable, stable and easier to rig. Your footboard strap is also a good choice. If you attach here and also fall in, you may need to unclip the pull rope to keep your leash from tangling (just put it in your mouth or clip to your vest and then reclip once under way).
Cheers,
Nicholas Cryder
Re: Long Post Alert: Important Safety Idea
Larry Bussinger
03/18/18 #22647
It is a good idea except I would use a longer line. With two 20' boats together and tying from lead paddler to foot strap (worst case), you've used up the 20' ft. And it doesn't have room for waves between the boats.
(…)
Larry B
