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-==== Lost ski and in the water ====
-**kathleen petereit** \\
-/26/08  #4426
-Shiela from Vic sent me this post fron the San Fran area.\\
- \\
-Kathleen
-Posted by: "surfskidude"\\
-Sun May 25, 2008 8:29 am (PDT)
-First of all, I'd like to say...THANKS to all of you for the support and the feeling of ALOHA I\\
-got from everyone after hearing of my little ordeal last week in the water.
-Many of you have been asking me to give a more detailed account of what went on that\\
-day and in the hopes of helping anyone else in that situation I'm putting down what I\\
-think I might have done right or wrong..... I am hoping this will open a little conversation\\
-or even criticism that can help other paddlers. Please don't hold back on the criticism if\\
-you think it may help or bring an important oversight on my part out in the open.
-To summarize....I went into the water about 5pm about a third of a mile north of the SMB\\
-close to mid channel. Winds were in the mid-20s WNW at launch time...they would pick up\\
-to about 40mph during the time we were out. The EBB had begun\\
-slightly before we launched. WE'VE BEEN USING RADIOS IN OUR GROUP FOR AWHILE AS A\\
-PADDLER TO PADDLER FORM OF COMMUNICATIONS TO KEEP ANYONE IN THE GROUP\\
-FROM GETTING LOST....... MISTAKE...I LEFT MINE IN THE TRUCK THAT DAY AS I 'KNEW' WE\\
-WOULDN'T NEED TO TALK TO EACH OTHER IN THIS GROUP.... IT COULD HAVE MADE MY\\
-UPCOMING SWIM MUCH SHORTER IN DURATION. RESCUE IS ONLY A CHANNEL 16/9 CALL\\
-AWAY!
-Three of us were out there and having a blast....speeds on the GPS were 9-12+mph. I was\\
-riding to the right down a wave and was trying to really slice it, over steered a little and\\
-started slightly back up and into the wave, my speed stalled, the wave slammed over my\\
-ride side and I rolled to the left. So far, normal procedure for getting dumped. I was\\
-anxious to get going going again as the rides were alot of fun. While under\\
-water I could feel the leash sort of tightening against my left shoulder, another large wave\\
-was lifting my ski ( and myself ) up and put the boat in a perfect high position for a big\\
-guest to get at it and just chuck it out and away from me.....that force was where I lost the\\
-grip on my paddle. In what seemed like an instant, while lifting my arm to start the best\\
-Mark Spitz sprint imitation possible to get to my ski, was when another wave lifted the ski\\
-and a wind that I could feel at the back of my head tossed the boat up in the air..boat\\
-AND my paddle were in the air for a second and now the ski was 30+ yards from me....the\\
-boat was now moving away from me very quickly and the thought of catching it was gone\\
-with it. THAT'S WHEN SOMETHING CLICKED AND I JUST WENT INTO A SURVIVAL\\
-MODE...THE FIRST THING I DID WAS TO DO WHATEVER I COULD TO MAKE SURE I COULD\\
-STAY AS WARM AS POSSIBLE IN CASE THIS TURNED INTO A LONGER THAN PLANNED\\
-DEAL...tighten up the PFD, made sure the neck and wrist gussets on my wind jacket were\\
-tight, neoprene hat was tight. I had a 5 serving Hammer Gel bottle in my PFD pocket, so I\\
-took a hit on that to keep the calories coming in.
-I had total faith in the other paddlers to do what they felt needed to be done when and if\\
-necessary, but I also knew that it could be awhile before they could do anything, so my\\
-best bet in my opinion was to get to shore? I took into account the tide direction, wave\\
-direction ( which was going against the ebb and the more predominant speed ), picked out\\
-ELEVATED landmarks for an exit spot incase it did get dark...low ones, unless lit up may\\
-disappear at darkness, where I DID NOT WANT TO COME ASHORE, what can I do to make\\
-myself seen maybe by someone on shore ( or the other paddlers ). The exit I was hoping\\
-for was the small beach where the kite-surfers launch from just north of the SMB?
-The swim begins. I was going parallel to the SMB ( it was to my left ), ebbing tide on the\\
-left and the waves were hitting me from the right. Quite a few of the waves were\\
-slamming over my head and I remembered from rough water swims with experienced\\
-swimmers to turn your head as you lift your arm and sort grab a breath under your\\
-armpit...worked great. Every now and then I'd watch for a large wave to come by and at\\
-the second it would lift me up, I would try and launch myself up and wave my\\
-arms...hoping the added height and the bright red sleeves of my jacket would catch\\
-someone's eyes on shore? DO EVERYTHING TO MAKE YOURSELF SEEN CAME BACK TO ME\\
-FROM A FEW OTHER THINGS I HAVE DONE OVER THE YEARS.
-After 45 minutes in the water, I was halfway between the middle of the SMB and shore and\\
-losing ground on my exit spot...I was getting pushed to the spot I DID NOT want to exit\\
-from...right where the bridge meets the shore...lots of rocks and big funky wave action\\
-wouldn't have been a fun thing I thought....at this time, the best thing was for ME to try\\
-and choose where I'd have to shoot under the new AND the old SMB, and not let the waves\\
-make that decision for me. Now I turned with the waves to my back and started an angel\\
-of swimming that would time it so hopefully when I got to the bridge, I'd be right in the\\
-middle of the concrete feet of the SMB...I was trying not to have deal with keeping my\\
-body off that concrete by pushing at them with my arms and legs.
-Within about 30 yards from the bridge, the standing waves were getting huge and I was\\
-getting lifted pretty high. As I was going under the bridge, I would yell as loud as I could,\\
-a pretty good echo was going on and if the other paddlers were close by, maybe they\\
-could hear something...I also tried blowing my safety whistle during this as well earlier in\\
-swim from time to time. Luckily I hit the new bridge feet right in the center of two of\\
-them, but now the thing that probably had my attention more than anything after deciding\\
-to shoot the bridge...getting past the pilings of the OLD SMB...I have been near them alot\\
-before, in the direction I was going, the pilings are lined up on your right and left sides, a\\
-wall of pilings and only giving me a 'channel' between them of about 10 yards...I had to be\\
-able to get cleanly through this channel because of two major things.....the pilings on the\\
-left and right are a row and each one in the row is fairly close together, maybe three\\
-feet...very important NOT to get tossed INTO that row and the fact they were covered with\\
-all kinds of barnacles just made it look like a bunch of razor blades to me....this was about\\
-the only time I really thought I may have physical contact with the bridge. I had gloves on\\
-which could help a little if I had to push off, booties on the feet would help too, long 2mm\\
-neoprene pants might help the legs a little and I lifted my PFD up high on my chest to\\
-protect that area as that would be what would hit the pilings if I couldn't keep the waves\\
-from pushing me into them? I watched as the waves went under the old bridge and they\\
-would go up maybe 3-4 feet and that still gave me maybe four feet over my head, looked\\
-like I was okay with my head not hitting anything under the bridge...but I scanned under\\
-the bridge just incase there was any old stuff hanging down....my thought was to keep the\\
-pilings lined up in my peripheral vision and constantly looking up in case a wave lifted me\\
-higher than I thought it would and put me in any danger of hititng my head. My plan was\\
-to dive as hard as possible if that happened and hopefully not hit my head. As it turned\\
-out a wave came rolling through and while it was a little spooky how high it lifted me, I\\
-just kicked as hard as I could and sort of rode it right under the bridge and popped out on\\
-the other side...no worries. I might have had a wider than usual smile on my face for a\\
-moment..
-I could see the beach at Foster City ahead that was our original exit\\
-spot for the paddle.....maybe 1.5 miles...so...just kept swimming. As I got closer, I could a\\
-crowd, the other paddlers and the fireman that were called. They apologized for not\\
-launching thier Zodiac because they said it was too rough. I'm guessing the Coast Guard\\
-helo was about to be called when they finally saw the sleeves of my red jacket going up\\
-and down in the air. The tide was out far enough that the last hundred yards or so I could\\
-crawl out on the mud and my friends helped me get to the more solid ground as my legs\\
-were a little wobbly standing in the mud. The fireman checked to make sure I was okay\\
-and took down some info, I thanked them very much for their time and they left.
-Total time in the water...1:40+, distance swam about 4 miles. I was dressed for the\\
-'swim', so I was a little over dressed for just a paddle, but it payed off...I only got chilled\\
-once, but I kept the calories going in and kept moving and cold never seemed to be a\\
-factor....
-Final thoughts....\\
--in water that rough, I'm not sure you can be helped by another ski? It would be nice to\\
-have another ski as a floatation device with you, but then you have two or more people\\
-in the water instead of one.\\
--ANYTIME I'm in rough water from now on..I will carry a flare gun of some kind...(FYI...I\\
-hear those little flare 'tubes' like at REI don't work well....) colder waters and/or a later in\\
-the day incident could have made the outcome different here.\\
--leg leash instead of paddle leash...still not sure on this one..I hear bigger waters with a\\
-leg leash can have you being dragged right under the surface? Maybe the wrist attachment\\
-Elaine mentioned might be a good way to good as extra insurance?\\
--ALWAYS have a plan with the other paddlers in case things change...\\
--TAKE THE RADIO TAKE THE RADIO...one more time TAKE THE RADIO!!!\\
--Be prepared guys, it's when you're not that something usually happens.
-Cheers - Roger

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