Surfski Knowledge Base

Dennis Mowry
May 2 #26627

After paddling down to Whiskey Rock a group of paddlers turned for the return trip. Arriving at Marine Park noticed one was missing and over due, while his vehicle was still there.

Coast Guard was called, directed towards Whisty Rock with paddle and boat description and details of the event.

The Coast Guard has spotted the paddler on shore near the boat launch near Whiskey Rock. They were sending EMS to have him checked out.

This is at 1:30 after launching at 9:00.

Recent update says he paddled to the Coast Guard boat, let them know he was fine, not in distress, just taking a rest, and paddling back to Marine Park on his own.

It's a relief to know we didn't loose another paddler, that there were some watching out for each other. The Coast Guard was great in responding, they said Thank you for calling.

All this took quite a bit of time and confusion. Could of be worse in different situation.
Some lessons to be learned.

:Dennis

Reivers Dustin
May 2 #26628

quite an interesting sequence. The guy was super friendly and well organized with gear. He had a 5mil full wetsuit, PFD, not sure about radio. Conditions were pretty calm when the first wave went out. Probably 7 or 8 mix of OC's and 'skis. The forecast was for big air from the south to come up around mid-day. There was light air from the north at that time. The guy was paddling an Uno Max, a pretty aggressive boat and he admitted to being a little tippy. But with the superweight wetsuit, not really worrisome (I thought). Kirk and Dean noticed that he paced the group really well all the way to Whiskey. They didn't worry until they got back to MP and didn't see him and couldn't find anyone who had.

At the time the second (maybe third) wave headed south, the wind from the north was building. This was not in our crystal ball. Conditions were “chunky” with long wave-length stuff from the South and chop from the north. There was rebound off the wall as well. It would have been ticklish in any skinny boat. Mark W was flying his skinny Elite S and made it a short paddle for this reason.

Michael M, Duncan, Dean, David and some others started working out which car the missing guy had hoping that he may have come in early and drove home. But with some help figured out that his car was still in the parking lot. So, radio call to the coast guard placed. The conditions were chunky for maybe 40 minutes in the middle, but calmed down by 11 or so. The main concern was equipment failure. If perhaps the rudder had come off, then there's a problem. But lots of people were launching and coming back in. Some were touring type “Pudge boats”, some were independent minded paddlers with their own partners. So the thing was kind of a shades of grey thing. Maybe he went long and just didn't want to check in with anyone. The last I heard he refused a ride back in with the coast guard. LG will do a quick check to see if his car is still parked later on. Looking at the timing, this was a loooong time to hang out waiting for the return paddle.

If the guy paced the first wave of Dean, Eric W, Kirk and them, I would not have been able to keep up. So it illustrates a problem with our proposed buddy system. There are such wide range of abilities, it's tough to have a buddy that pairs well. And when I think of all the crazy stuff I did in the early years, kinda hard for me to act righteous about other people's lessons.

rd

Dean Bumstead
May 2 #26629

Got off the phone with him a little bit ago. He said he was overheating in his 5 mill wet suit and a bit uncomfortable in his uno max so pulled into Chuckanut Island to take a breather and let the wind die down. Which it did – so like any young, strong surfski paddler he paddled back down to Whiskey Rock in hopes that the wind would pick back up. Which it didn’t very much. I’m not sure at what point he greeted the Coast Guard. He did express an interest in joining Whatcom Paddlers, and getting a fatter boat. I gave him your email address Reivers and told him you’d take care of him.

Reivers Dustin
May 2 #26630

deano. I'm the one who needs care. Duncan and LB in their new V-9's were ripping it up in that chunky munky. David must be on some high octane stuff and outpaced us all. I was hoping Dmow would show signs of weakness since he hasn't paddled much lately. But nope. oh well.

Dean Bumstead
May 2 #26631

Remember the San Juan Challenge when David was drinking that special juice and left us all in his wake? He must have found some more.

David Hooper
May 2 #26632

Sorry to miss the pack this morning, but decided to wait for the wind to pickup this afternoon. Which it did. Put in just after 3, with several OC's (Dorothy, Gary, Peter M, and others). Had a couple good laps up to the trestle or so. By the second lap, the waves had started to build some more, especially with the outgoing tide. Good times. By the third lap, things had gotten a bit sportier. Couldn't make it much past Post Point with the easterly gusts pushing towards Portage Is, so I just made that a short one. The web data show gusts to just over 40 around then, which is about what it felt like. Most of us paddled in around then, and appreciated each others' help getting boats out and loaded. A couple of brave OC1's were still out as I pulled away. And Vaughn was just putting in in his V8pro as we all got out. Hope they had fun and not too much hecticness!

Dave H.

Justin <eh.haole@…>

May 2 #26636

Hi guys it's me, that drop-in paddler! I just found out about Whatcom Paddlers and jumped on to thank everyone for this high standard of looking out for people. The community of open paddles are a special thing here. Thanks to all the regulars here who keep the community strong. Bellingham has a fantastic S&R crew and system too. Essential and humbling.

As a drop-in I was an unknown, and once not seen I could have been floundering off the back in all kinds of trouble. That's dangerous in 50°F water, even in a thick suit, if mounting or equipment were an issue.

My apologies to this early group for hanging back without successfully communicating it. I joined the turnaround and the guys checked to see that I was sorta keeping up, despite plenty of small/medium mixed chop making it interesting and extra work.

But after finding myself a bit cooked while surfing a couple of south sets into a north wind, I headed over to Chuckanut Island for a breather and a nature walk while things settled down into a more steady southerly as forecasted. I had been planning to check out the island today, but I wasn't able to communicate this to the lead group. I had a family member to chat/inform the schedule but immediately regretted not having asked for phone numbers at the put-in! 🤦‍♂️

I then headed to the Larabee Cove thinking I might find another team of paddlers en route (I didn't though). No T-Mobile coverage at the cove. I may start carrying a marine radio again. (Anyone care to suggest a nice mini model?) The AIS Nautilus LifeLine that I normally use for diving might be a wise thing to carry too, in case of real problems. Seems overkill for a little day paddle until the day you need it, I guess.

I did manage to get a really safe and pleasant paddle back north by about 1:30pm.

Next time I will invest more attention to ensure good communication and continue the high standard of safety here.

gsouthstone
May 2 #26641

Hey Justin;
The VHF radio of choice this winter was the 5 watt Horizon HX40 from West Marine. Due to the popularity among paddlers in Bellingham, West Marine ordered an extra dozen. It is the size of a cigarette pack and with all the rebates and sales coupons, it was going for $80. The Coast Guard prefers radio contact over cell phone. Hope that helps.

It was a refreshing day on the water,
Gary

Kevin Olney

May 2 #26642

Glad you made it back safely Justin. Days like this can be tricky. Small Craft Advisory in effect but flat on the bay. None of the models agree on when the wind will pick up. I paddled with Amber at 1:30 just ahead of the front and we did Marine Park laps as the wind started to build, 10 knots with some gusts to 15. I went back out at 3:00 and it was steady 20s and by 4:00 into the 30s. My point is that conditions can change from “fun surfing” to “oh s#!t” really quickly. If the forecast predicts any conditions you would consider out of your skill/comfort zone just assume it’s going to happen while you are on the water and take the appropriate precautions. Most of the time the best waves are right in front of Marine Park anyway. It’s great to see new paddlers out on the water. Let’s keep on keeping everyone safe!

KO

David Scherrer

May 2 #26643

No worries Justin. In our group of Barnacles a number of us have had experiences with missing paddlers etc so we get a little anxious at times when someone does not show up at the beach in what we assume is a reasonable amount of time. Mike Medlar did have it right when he speculated that the 5 mm wetsuit may have been a real cooker! Very happy to hear you are OK, thats the bottom line….And yes Chuckanut Island is a great place to explore. One of my favorite places in the San Juans.
Looking forward to making your acquaintance.
David S.

Justin <eh.haole@…>
May 2 #26644

Thanks for the welcome and advice and encouragement, yeah I've been in ~20+kts on this ski before, going “20kph” (15 steady), and I've also capsized on it in ~20kts before with some thought provoking work to get on again. My paddling still gets roughed up in weird cross water, which is what was happening around ~10 or 11. Just not that fun, but a required skill. Trying (briefly) to surf waves *into* the wind may be a first too 😅 I tucked my tail into the beach for things to re-tune, while those ahead powered on reliably into micro-gnar.

Wunderground and Ventusky called the ~2pm southerly switch & build pretty well. But I found the early multidirectional chop unexpectedly sporty. A proper hazing!