Surfski Knowledge Base

John Rybczyk
Jan 6 #25821

Some great conversations here over the past several days has got me to thinking about how I might rank the various things we can do to stay safe and alive while surfing in cold water. As a perennial intermediate (thus always on the edge of trouble!), here's my ranking based upon my own experience.

1) Your own head. Know when to go and when not to go. I've made this mistake a few times and made a few promises to Jesus that i did not keep once I got back on dry land.
2) Your boat. Your boat should be fatter than your ego.
3) A solid leash and a solid remount to your tethered boat. I'm good at remounting, but I've messed up with my leash a time or two and when that boat blows way, you ain't catching it.
4) A wetsuit that will keep you warm if 1, 2 and 3 above fail. At least twice, when I was new to the sport, this has saved my bacon.
5) Finally…a way to communicate…radio, phone, whatever works best for you. Interestingly, I have used my radio three times in rescue situations, but never for a self rescue, rather to call in assistance for someone else.

Note that I did not include paddling with a buddy. I'm not sure where that goes. Maybe first, maybe it changes depending upon conditions. I paddle a lot by my self (not in huge conditions) and I enjoy that aspect of the sport (i.e. one with the sea). I'm sure that it would be safer not to paddle alone. Maybe that's part of #1…know your own mind. Also, I didn't include being a good swimmer. Again, know your own mind about that I guess. There is some comfort in knowing that you can swim a mile (with a warm enough wetsuit) if it all goes south. We're not often more than a mile from some shore around here.

The best part about this list is that you don't have to choose or rank, you can do all of them!

See you on the water…and at the film fest this weekend. I'm bringing some kind of salad. Someone bring a sh*tload of deviled eggs.

johnr

Tyler Irwin
Jan 6 #25825

Agreed John. Especially about the wetsuit part. It never fails to amaze me how many people think that some light neoprene pants or even a farmer John will keep you warm if you have to stay immersed (you won’t). You need to prepare for the worst that can happen.

-Tyler

David Hooper

Jan 7 #25830

One other thing about radios: they work best when turned on. I've talked to several people who take radios, but leave them turned off, apparently on the presumption that they'll just use them to call the Coasties when they get in trouble. There are a few issues with that strategy that might be worth discussing with your partners before you get on the water:

• it might work if you're all alone or in such hectic conditions that you're functionally alone (i.e., no one in your group could reasonably help you even if you called them - though there are issues with this as well; see next point).
• if you're in a group, letting others in your group know where you are, that you're in trouble and that you're calling the CG can alert your group to the situation and could allow them to provide useful info if a rescue is needed - even if things are so hectic that they can't help directly. If everyone's radio is off, except the person in trouble, that can't happen. Abundant unnecessary stress from the unknown usually results.
• if you're in a group and conditions are fun big, not scary big, your group is your second line of defense (first line of defense is all the stuff John R. wrote about). Assuming that folks are roughly sticking together and keeping an eye on each other (that's the point of going with partners, right?), they'll be able to get there to help way quicker than the CG. Yelling across the water through wind and waves usually doesn't cut it though. That's where the radio comes in to let partners know what's up.
• if you do need to call the CG (third line of defense) when in a group because someone is in serious condition and the people there can't help them, at least one or two folks sticking around on their boats will make the person in the water a lot easier to find. They can't do that if their radios are off and they're now waiting at Marine Park wondering what the heck is up.

A couple of different strategies could help with this:

1. No matter what, talk to everyone in the group before getting on the water to agree to a radio plan; then
2. Either
   1. All agree to set radios on Ch 16 (which the CG also monitors) to hail each other and have a pre-arranged channel to switch to for talking once you have communication with your partners and want to chat (usually 68, 69, 71, 72, or 78A). If you mainly plan to not use radios except in emergency, this might be best.
   2. All agree to set radios on the talking channel of choice to begin with, so you can chat at will, without having to switch back and forth to 16. If you plan to chat more frequently, this might be easier, but you'd need to switch to 16 if you want to hail the CG.

Just some thoughts for the community safety cookpot.

Dave H.

Reivers Dustin

Jan 7 #25831

I have never yet been able to talk to another paddler via VHF. Kathleen P up on Vancouver Island pushed this hard with her paddle buddies. They had their DSC radios programed with the station to station call numbers so they rang like a telephone. This allowed them to connect, but it's tricky to talk on the radio. (For the casual reader: “Tricky” here means if conditions are rough, just get out of the boat and swim while talking). Back in the day I got MMI numbers for some folks DSC radios (Morris, Debbie, LG, LB, …) So I tried the station-to-station feature and tried the station-tracking feature (shows location of radio). Didn't work because most folks don't turn on their radios.

After some thought, I decided to buy a headset so that I could talk and stay upright on the boat and chat. But wait… nobody else was doing this. I was stoopid. After some more thought, … hmmm. Some of these guys don't much want to listen to my trash even on dry land. Maybe take a hint and, you know, don't be acting like that desperate wallflower I was in High School and just go do my thing.

You are right about this: turn it on before. It takes the GPS a while to lock and arm the DSC. If you are swimming, believe me that is dead time you don't want. Also, these things don't always 100% work, so turn it on before and take a look at the screen to make sure it's functioning.

Excellent discussion. Well. OK. probably most of you quit reading at the first paragraph. But I'll cling to my fantasy that everybody love me.

David Hooper
Jan 7 #25832

Full confession: I haven't been able to successfully talk with other paddlers either - mostly because I haven't tried. When it's calm, we don't think about it, and when it's fun, we're all too amped. I'd love to practice with some folks on this.

I keep coming back to my backcountry skiing analogies. Like with avy beacons, just carrying one doesn't help that much with safety. Everyone (especially the partners you ski with!) need to practice and be competent. 20 years ago, the culture of wearing avy beacons and carrying safety gear was just really taking hold. Now I see the kids getting into the sport routinely checking each other's beacons as they go out of bounds. The culture can change to keep up with the technology.

See you on the water (or in the pow),
Dave H.

Toby Cooper

Jan 7 #25833

I have long thought about the idea of voice-activated headsets, not only for safety but just for the added fun of a group chatting amongst themselves while enjoying a downwind run. You would have to be mindful of not dominating the channel, but otherwise it would be like a group hiking on a trail or something. When I looked into it, the main deterrent was that the headsets were not waterproof. Although, you could wrap them in rigging tape. –Toby.

Michael Medler
Jan 7 #25834

I think radios might be a great tool for group adhesion in moderate conditions, if anyone were interested in that. However, I have called the Coasties twice in full conditions. I have a few thoughts. Pretty much all the rescue situations I have seen in the bay have been in conditions that make a radio ridiculously difficult to use. Maybe Simon would have a different experience with his innate water sense. For me, it was all I could do to grab it a few seconds at a time, yell 5-10 panicked words into it, then throw it out of my hand to grab the paddle again. Your radio needs to be on a short enough leash that you can hear it while it is dangling. The person you call on channel 16 is likely a 20 year old from Iowa, on a repeater in Anecortes, or San Diego for all I could tell. They don't know what Post Point is, and there are several parks in the area with Marine in their name. The radio guy's only interest will be getting GPS coordinates and asking why other boats in the area aren't helping. I recommend saying “sea kayaker overboard,” “no assistance available” etc. Once they are convinced no one else is going to help, then they “might” scramble the help boat. 5-15 minutes later, you may need to talk that boat into your location. You will see them miles away, they might not see you 100 feet away. I think it is a good idea to have good sense of what they see on their maps so you can describe yourself as “due west” from something they see on their chart. You might also want to practice getting a good feel for when you are 1/2 or 1 mile from shore etc. Take a look at all your Strava lines. Bring a GPS on calm days and learn what a mile or a kilometer looks like from your boat. For example, learn how far out the red can is. Also, in nuking conditions, changing channels or reading the GPS coordinates off the screen will be about as easy as taking out your reading glasses and drying them off with the dry tissue you hide behind your ear, (which is probably also necessary for many of us).

MM

John Rybczyk
Jan 7 #25835

It is clear from the testimony here that it's not so easy to use a radio when it all goes to heck and you can't find your reading glasses. And it's hard for rescuers to find us, even if they can talk to us. Which makes me think…why am I not carrying a smoke flare (as Mr. Cryder pointed out here)? Not only would it get you noticed, it would be great fun to make a huge cloud of orange smoke. We could have a flare practice day where we all set off a flare. Maybe on the 4th of July. I have flares in my motorboat…I think that they are WWII surplus. I should probably get those replaced.

See you on the water,

Johnr.

David Hooper
Jan 7 #25836

I think flares sound like a lot of fun. That said, they stop working after a little while. I just decided to invest in the SEE Streamers that Ryan P posted about, for that all-important final location. I've been worried about what might happen to my visibility if my little green hat blows off in a gust.

Dave H.

Morris Arthur

Jan 7 #25837

Mr. Medler makes a good point in support of a DSC-supported panic button :)
… or use the smoke flares after a verbal MayDay from the non-DSC VHF. 50 seconds for a handheld flare in likely windy conditions seems like a small window of opportunity.

I would also like to add that one doesn't need to (or shouldn't wait) for a life-threatening to hail the Coast Guard.
One time, I radioed the Coast Guard to tell them that I would miss an expected return time…. and to not act on potential distress calls from my wife for the next hour.
(I had caught a nice wake and didn't get bumped off until I was close to Guemes: it was a long paddle home.)

Paul Reavley
Jan 7 #25838

I have read and heard a number of reports where someone needing rescue could see or hear would be rescuers quite close only to be passed by because they were not likewise seen or heard. Maybe a flare should be held in reserve until rescuers are known to be close (at least when conditions probably make final location difficult)?

Or maybe the rescue streamer can take care of that final location challenge. I would like to see what it does/looks like in rough conditions on the bay - the video looks good for spotting from the air - how visible is it to boats from various distances in rough water?

Every measure/gadget mentioned needs to be tested, practiced, and maintained or replaced with adequate regularity. (“regular maintenance/replacement” - reminds me of our boot dryer catching on fire recently and my trying to use a fire extinguisher that I had not maintained properly)

Nicholas Cryder
Jan 7 #25839

Yes Paul, the concept of the flair is for signaling when rescue is imminent. I've read of tons of accounts of people being motored right by. It's not foolproof by any stretch of the imagination. For example, if a paddler were past the point of hand + motor function, lighting that flare might not be possible. I've looked into tons of other passive options, like an ultra bright LED - but they didn't convince me that would be bright enough in day time conditions (250 lumen's really doesn't compare to the 20k lumens of a marine flare). I like the ribbon idea, but sometimes in heavy seas the extra dimension of orange smoke is better because it can be seen over the tops of the waves.

Meddler, on your point about needing to let go of the paddle to work a radio - I keep super small NRS paddle leash in my PFD pouch pocket for this exact reason. If I need to go hands free (even to rescue another person), being able to just reach in, clip the paddle and let it drift next to me is a life saver. To connect it I keep a small loop of zip tie at the center point of the paddle to clip to. Never notice it's there unless you look closely. The NRS leash uses a petite, stout gate biner.

When I was doing my Vancouver Island attempts, I was often offshore in very rough, breaking seas (40kts + 5 meter swell) but developed a funny technique so I could use a handheld device with small buttons (like my iphone or a small GPS messenger) or eat with two hands and not be stressed by the water. I hop out of the ski (with a calf leash) when it's beam, position the ski downwind of me and hook my heels on the edge of the cockpit. The buoyancy of my vest combines with the buoyancy of the ski to make a super stable, comfortable way to stretch, eat or text. I looked like an otter, instead of an awkward scared tortoise with my PFD. So I call it the otter float. Every once in a while a breaking wave would whack me from behind, but I could always feel and hear them coming so it wasn't a big deal. Yah, I was wet - but it didn't bother me, and was often a welcome relief to cool off (I forced myself to paddle in thin neoprene, even though the air temps were in the low 60's).

Michael Medler

Jan 7 #25840

Our friend that rides the battery powered surfboard out of Marine Park often wears a helmet with a small strobe on top. I can see his light in full daylight a mile away.

MM

Reivers Dustin
Jan 7 #25841

we need propeller caps!!!

Ryan P.
Jan 8 #25853

I emailed Rob from See Rescue about it being visible by other boats. His response:

“The user can hoist up the streamer with their hands or a paddle if they see a boat looking for them from the horizontal perspective (surface).

Also, the waves take the streamer up and down so you can see it in the swells/waves from another boat.”