More rescue experience

From: Edward Wilson (edwils@ix.netcom.com-DeleteThis)
Date: Sat Apr 12 1997 - 13:44:18 PDT


Received: from hplms26.hpl.hp.com by opus.hpl.hp.com with ESMTP (1.37.109.18/15.5+ECS 3.3+HPL1.1) id AA183628495; Sat, 12 Apr 1997 13:54:55 -0700
Return-Path: <edwils@ix.netcom.com-DeleteThis>
Received: from dfw-ix3.ix.netcom.com by hplms26.hpl.hp.com with ESMTP (1.37.109.16/15.5+ECS 3.3+HPL1.1S) id AA219328495; Sat, 12 Apr 1997 13:54:55 -0700
Received: (from smap@localhost) by dfw-ix3.ix.netcom.com (8.8.4/8.8.4) id PAA24594; Sat, 12 Apr 1997 15:44:54 -0500 (CDT)
Received: from smx-ca1-05.ix.netcom.com(205.186.78.37) by dfw-ix3.ix.netcom.com via smap (V1.3) id sma024586; Sat Apr 12 15:44:31 1997
Message-Id: <2.2.32.19970412204418.006b27fc@popd.ix.netcom.com-DeleteThis>
X-Sender: edwils@popd.ix.netcom.com-DeleteThis
X-Mailer: Windows Eudora Pro Version 2.2 (32)
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
Date: Sat, 12 Apr 1997 13:44:18 -0700
To: wind_talk@opus.hpl.hp.com-DeleteThis
From: Edward Wilson <edwils@ix.netcom.com-DeleteThis>
Subject: More rescue experience
Cc: sunspark@sun-valley.stanford.edu-DeleteThis, glen@sun-valley.stanford.edu-DeleteThis

Hi WindTalkers,
I'm glad to see that a lot of constructive information is being communicated
following Tuesday's adventures at 3rd. I was flying in to SFO at the time
and the pilot announced the 38 knot gusts before landing.

Following is a discussion of a rescue about 7 weeks ago (Feb 22, 1997) at
3rd that may also help in figuring out what to do and what not to do. I have
been busy until yesterday, but given how people are learning from Tuesday's
rescues, I thought I should post this. It might help.

Short summary for those of us who are time-challenged:
 - Sat. Feb 22, 3rd avenue, about 5 sailors total.
 - Early spring day - mild 5.5-6.0, sunny but very cold, ebb.
 - Novice windsurfer sails out 2 miles, unable to sail
   in. Clueless about how to stay alive. Loses board.
 - I stay with him and eventually tow in near Coyote
   at 9PM (sunset around 5:30).
 - Coast Guard does not see my Firefly II strobe.
 - I'm getting a radio!!!

Full story:

I launch around 3:30 from 3rd with 9'0" 105l, 6.0, 170# - well powered,
great conditions (the wind was steady all afternoon, gradually declining -
none of the problems were weather related).

About 4:00 I notice this guy has been trying to get going in the same place,
not making any progress (later found out that he did not really know how to
waterstart, could sail well on port, but not on starboard, so he couldn't
get himself back in after sailing out about 2 miles - well into the
channel). He is trying to uphaul with not much success.

MISTAKE 1 - he was not skilled enough to be where he was, and his friend did
not stay with him.

I sail so that I keep an eye on him, offer help, but he wants to keep
trying. Around 5:00, he says he's going to self-rescue. Good. I sail about
100 yards away and when I return, his board is gone. He yells to me in a
panic, "Have you seen part of my mast around here?! Things got away from me."

MISTAKE 2 - He was valuing equipment in terms of $$$ rather than live-saving
capability - board, an old O'Brien Pro-Am, vs. some new carbon mast.

After making sure he's not going to sink (no PFD, but full wetsuit), I see
his board about 50 yards downwind. Big decision here - he is virtually
invisible, with just a head bobbing up and down. I would need to chase down
the board, and tow it back upwind to him. Every second deciding meant more
drift. If it were flooding instead of ebbing, I would not have done it, but
I did get the board and towed it to him. At one point it was almost
impossible to see him - from a distance, his head looked just like those
black birds that sit on the water out there. I found him by guessing right
and knowing that he would be directly upwind of the board. Good thing I was
able to tack and make upwind progress. When I returned the board to him he
yelled "I lost half of my boom!" (I was expecting something like "Thanks for
the board, now maybe I'll live to see another day") I'm serious - this guy
had no concept what he was facing.

MISTAKE ? - Maybe I got lucky in being able to find him - it was a quick
decision that needed to be made. I sometimes wonder what would have happened
if I had been either unable to find him or unable to make upwind progress
towing a 9'4" board. Maybe I should have just stayed with him?

Realizing we were in rescue mode, we exchanged first and last names, and he
told me he was there with a friend in a white pickup.

After giving him the board, I suggested he tie himself to it. He said that
was a good idea, but I don't know if he actually did it - it was getting
dark. He was upset at losing his new sail, half a mast, and half a boom, but
was going to try to paddle in. I was honestly a little worried for my own
safety at this point - since he appeared so clueless, I wanted to be
absolutely sure that there was nothing he could do to take me down with him.
I kept nearby. After a while, he was making hardly any progress and I
noticed a problem with his paddling:

MISTAKE 3 - when paddling, he was TOWING his mast + boom! - unaware that
this was increasing his drag immensely.

He complained that he was making no progress. I suggested either getting his
stuff on the board or ditching it (I don't think he believed my judgement,
but about .5 hour later, he did take my advice, and began making slow
progress).

As it started to get dark, I got out my Firefly II strobe (Christmas present
that year from my parents - didn't think I'd be using it that soon). I did
not know where I would attach it, but figured out a good solution: I tied it
to the wetsuit zipper strap, near the top. This way, I could shift it to my
front or back, depending where I thought the rescuers would be.

The wind was still fairly strong at this point, and since his board did not
have a tow attachment point, I did not want to try towing him (I had towed
it backwards, back footstrap to back footstrap earlier when he lost the
board). I said we would just take it easy and wait for the CG (playing it
safe, in my mind). He was getting impatient, and told me I should go in to
get help. I knew it would be virtually impossible to find him, so this was
not an option. I considered leaving him with the strobe, but the instinct of
sticking together (just like sticking with your board) made me decide to not
do this. I decided to wait at least until it was fully dark - figuring my
strobe would be most visible then. We saw a CG boat out in the channel (we
were slightly in from the channel at this point). I was later told that the
CG boat has to stay in the channel since it would run aground if not.

After an hour or so, the wind had died down to a perfect-for-towing steady
8-10 knots. Giving up on the CG finding us at this point, I decided to try
towing. He held on to one end of the 30 foot 4mm line, other end tied to my
back footstrap. Fortunately, the wind stayed steady and not-too-strong until
we made it to shore just south of Coyote Point around 9PM. Very exhausting
for me, especially the wade through the mud at the end.

MISTAKE ? - believing the CG would see the strobe. They did not. At one
point, while I was towing him, with the strobe going off, the CG Helo had
their search light right on us, with my 6.0 monofilm sail fully illuminated,
etc. Then they continued on their search. My conclusion is that you should
NOT COUNT ON THE CG EVER FINDING YOU - you've got to try to take care of
yourself - e.g. Harry's self rescuing all the way to Coyote, rather than
waiting to get picked up. Ironically, I had just talked to him a couple of
weeks ago about this rescue. We discussed what to do in case of a broken
mast, and he said he would not screw around trying to jury-rig a broken
mast, just self rescue in (what he did). He was aware that a full suit would
get you through the night.

When I talked to the CG Aux and FC PD on shore, they suggested that a
combination of flares + strobe would have worked - use the flare to give
them an idea (my wife told me they were looking from the SM bridge to Coyote
- a big area) where you are, then the strobe to give continuous feedback
while they zero in on you.

Conclusions:

OBVIOUS ONES:
 - Understand the risks, and don't sail somewhere unless you know
   what you're doing
 - If you break down, the board is your life - don't lose it.
   Tying yourself to it early on is a good idea. Consider ditching
   your rig.
 - You're invisible out there - leaving someone should be a last
   resort, even if all you can do is just sail around.
 - If you break down, give people your full name. If possible, have
   one person stay with you, sailing around, send another in to get
   help.

NON-OBVIOUS (at least I did not know these):
 - Don't count on the CG to find you - have a backup plan
   to save yourself.
 - CG told my wife that with a full wetsuit you can survive the
   night on the bay.

For me, the biggest harm that came from this was the trauma my wife and
family went through for those 3 hours or so. Preventing this alone is enough
reason for me to get a marine radio. With a full suit and staying with my
board, I think I could survive anything - except a physical injury that
would prevent me from paddling. Another reason for a radio.

I think public discussion of what went right and wrong with situations like
this will help us all.

See you out there (big deadline passed yesterday),

Ed Wilson
8'6" Forsythe, 9'0" Energy, Windwings, Brown Vanagon, 3rd Avenue



This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Mon Dec 10 2001 - 02:31:38 PST