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| - | ==== An unfortunate accident...... ==== | ||
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| - | **Larry Goolsby** \\ | ||
| - | 01/31/08 #4043 (November 15, 2007 incident) | ||
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| - | As some of you heard through the grapevine, the paddling community in\\ | ||
| - | Bellingham suffered a loss this last November. Out of respect for the\\ | ||
| - | family and friends of our comrade, we circled our wagons and delayed\\ | ||
| - | allowing new members to join our group. Now it's time to tell the\\ | ||
| - | story so that others may benefit from this turn of events.\\ | ||
| - | An unfortunate accident….\\ | ||
| - | It is with much regret that I write this posting because seldom do\\ | ||
| - | we hear of an incident that the paddler does not just walk away after\\ | ||
| - | the event. On Thursday, Nov. 15th, Lanny `Bip' Sokol, a local paddler\\ | ||
| - | here in Bellingham WA, headed out onto Bellingham Bay just before\\ | ||
| - | dark by himself in order to exercise. Bip was a local emergency room\\ | ||
| - | physician and a devoted father. He had been paddling a surfski for\\ | ||
| - | almost 4 years but was unable to join us on most of our scheduled\\ | ||
| - | events because of his work and his family. Instead, he often paddled\\ | ||
| - | alone and periodically; one or more of us would bump into him on the\\ | ||
| - | water and paddle with him. Bip was 48 years old but he looked more\\ | ||
| - | like he was 35. He was very lean and very fit. I was fortunate enough\\ | ||
| - | to work with Bip at our local hospital so I probably knew him as well\\ | ||
| - | or better than most of the local paddlers.\\ | ||
| - | When Bip headed out, the wind was about 10 knots or less from the\\ | ||
| - | south. The sky was heavily overcast. Just before sunset, Bip\\ | ||
| - | encountered another surfski paddler and the two of them headed south\\ | ||
| - | towards Post Point Buoy. Before they made it all the way to the\\ | ||
| - | Point, the wind went from a steady 10 mph to 30-35 mph with no\\ | ||
| - | warning. The water turned choppy and steep, with high winds against\\ | ||
| - | an ebbing tide, and it started to rain. Bip let the other paddler\\ | ||
| - | know that he was out of his comfort range and that he was turning\\ | ||
| - | around. Bip turned and headed north. The other paddler also turned\\ | ||
| - | and was following him by about 100 feet. Bip either fell from his\\ | ||
| - | boat or was blown off by a strong gust of wind. The other paddler saw\\ | ||
| - | him in the water with one hand on his paddle and the other on his\\ | ||
| - | boat; but only a second or two later, Bip's boat was tumbling across\\ | ||
| - | the water. The other paddler dashed for Bip's boat and caught it, but\\ | ||
| - | the high winds rolled Bip's boat over his and knocked him into the\\ | ||
| - | water also. It took him 5 or 6 attempts to remount because of the\\ | ||
| - | wind and steep waves. After being in the water for 5 – 10 minutes, he\\ | ||
| - | had been blown far enough away from Bip and it was now dark, so he\\ | ||
| - | couldn't see where Bip was. The second paddler couldn't take his\\ | ||
| - | hands off his paddle to use his VHF and still stay upright. He chose\\ | ||
| - | to paddle the ½ mile to shore and get the Coast Guard to initiate a\\ | ||
| - | rescue mission for Bip. The last time that Bip was seen was about 5\\ | ||
| - | pm and was recovered by the Coast Guard approximately 8 pm.\\ | ||
| - | Bip was wearing a headlamp, a dry suit and a PFD when he headed\\ | ||
| - | out that evening. His headlamp was knocked off when he fell in (the\\ | ||
| - | police said it was detached from his battery pack which was inside\\ | ||
| - | the drysuit). He had lightweight polypro clothing under his dry suit\\ | ||
| - | so he wouldn't overheat while exercising, but the protection it gave\\ | ||
| - | him was only good as long as he was above water. When the Coast Guard\\ | ||
| - | found him, he was face down in the water with no pulse. They began\\ | ||
| - | CPR and rushed him to the local hospital. Never have I seen such\\ | ||
| - | heroic efforts to revive someone. The cardio-thoracic team was\\ | ||
| - | alerted before Bip was off the water and was standing by to put him\\ | ||
| - | on cardiac bypass to warm his core. He was cold without a pulse so\\ | ||
| - | there was a chance that he could be revived. Despite the best efforts\\ | ||
| - | put forth by the numerous persons involved in the rescue and\\ | ||
| - | resuscitation, Bip was not able to survive this incident.\\ | ||
| - | As they say, hindsight is 20/20, but in this instance, there are\\ | ||
| - | more than a couple of factors that led to Bip's death. First, the\\ | ||
| - | lack of a leash (there was no evidence of one on the body, boat, or\\ | ||
| - | paddle which were recovered); here in the northwest, most all of us\\ | ||
| - | use them. With these colder water temperatures, it's important to\\ | ||
| - | keep your boat leashed to your body. Another factor was the time of\\ | ||
| - | day; a search after dark is much harder to do than during daylight.\\ | ||
| - | Bip was wearing a headlamp so he obviously was expecting to be out\\ | ||
| - | after dark. The wind was blowing north against an ebbing tide: this\\ | ||
| - | would inhibit even the strongest swimmer from making it to shore.\\ | ||
| - | These facts, plus the lack of insulation under the dry suit, probably\\ | ||
| - | amounted to Bip succumbing to the cold water and becoming\\ | ||
| - | hypothermic. It was hard for me to fathom that someone wearing a dry\\ | ||
| - | suit and a PFD could die in our local waters in only a few hours.\\ | ||
| - | Bip was a swimmer, a cross country skier, and a triathete. His lean\\ | ||
| - | body offered little or no protection against the elements.\\ | ||
| - | Bip will be missed by many people besides those in the heath care\\ | ||
| - | and paddling communities. His death is an opportunity for all of us\\ | ||
| - | to focus on our safety and determine if we are truly safe or if we\\ | ||
| - | just have the perception of safety. If you call for help, can the\\ | ||
| - | Coast Guard or private vessel get to you within an hour? Can they see\\ | ||
| - | you if it's dark or stormy? How good is your leash? How good are your\\ | ||
| - | skills if the winds kick up above your comfort zone? Are you dressed\\ | ||
| - | well enough to spend up to an hour in the water? Can you actually be\\ | ||
| - | rescued by another surfski in rough weather if you are separated from\\ | ||
| - | your boat?\\ | ||
| - | Paddle on and be safe.\\ | ||
| - | Larry Goolsby | ||
| - | |||
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