Surfski Knowledge Base

fennmako
11/01/09 #7271

I'm surprised no-one has ventured a post-mortem of Saturday's chaos. It certainly made me realize that we seem to have learned very little as a group, and technically, we perhaps aren't as capable as we often think we are? I'm concerned that another accident may be in the offing unless we start thinking stuff through a little more than we do.

Simon

Re: Saturday Paddle
Michael Gregory
11/01/09 #7272

Post-mortem? Please, Simon.

Let's break yesterdays little adventure down just a bit, ok?
- Conditions deteriorated rapidly, surprising us all. The westerly flow, unexpectedly, created the biggest gnarliest conditions we've encountered on B'ham Bay, particularly off of “the wall”. Bigass waves EVERYWHERE!!!
- The bunch did not stick together. Some spent time looking for one of our party that never launched. Some of the more perceptive guys in the group headed off from Wildcat Cove early and others hung out surfing near the launch.
- Personally, I failed to wear wetsuit/drysuit and when I got cold my meager boat handling skills went south fast. Eric W. rafted up with me and saved my bacon, for shure. BTW, my ski survived - thanks to Peter and Morris.

So, my little list of notes to myself:
-Dress appropriately in cold weather.
-“The wall” sucks in a westerly!
-Gently remind the group that we need to mind each others backs!

What else guys?

Re: Saturday Paddle
fennmako
11/01/09 #7273

Whoaa, steady there Mike. I'm not trying to criticize, just raising some concerns. And by the way, I wasn't aimlessly surfing at the start; I was waiting to accompany Morris, and by the time we teamed up, everyone else had left.

Re: Saturday Paddle
Michael Gregory
11/01/09 #7274

No worry, Simon. Just pimpin' your sorry old Saffa arse out a bit and gettin'. the guys attention

Re: Saturday Paddle
Larry Goolsby
11/01/09 #7275

I was going to keep quiet about Saturday but it is good that you guys are raising some concerns. From the start, there were 8 paddlers spread outside of Wild cat Cove and pointing their boats in different directions. Rounding up a group like this would be similar to herding cats. I milled about for almost 10 minutes before turning my boat and heading north hoping that this would encourage everyone to do the same.

Before I made it to Governor's, I realized that conditions had gone south and I turned around to count heads. I couldn't find a single paddler. I think the first lesson here is that the group thing doesn't really work. We should have paired up on the shore and stuck with our buddy. The problem with this is: what if your buddy suddenly can't handle the situation and you can. In these conditions, it was very hard to sit still. Every time a wave washed over me and I was forced to brace, it was very hard to get forward motion because other waves would pummel me before I could get a stroke in. So after Governors, I didn't stop to look anymore. Every paddler in the water that day had raced at the USSSC at some time or another or several times. The conditions weren't really any worse than last years race except that the waves on Saturday were hitting us on the beam instead of from behind.

So what do we do next time? Buddy up? Every man for himself unless he is able to assist? Require radios on everyone? I think that if you don't own a radio, seriously consider buying one. I didn't panic simply because I had really good pfd, I was dressed warm, and I had one of those new-fangled radios that not only calls for help for you, it also tells the CG where in the hell you are treading water. This is good discussion material.
LG

dnjacobson79
11/01/09 #7276

I agree there needs to be some discussion as a group on the errors and poor group dynamics which resulted in a ‘risky situation’, or whatever you want to call it when paddlers are spread across Bellingham Bay and Coast Guard are notified of possible missing/ rescue situation. Saying that, we should be able to discuss this situation with the intent of improving the safety factor associated with these group downwind cold weather outings. All of us that loaded our boats on the trailer decided to go on the group paddle instead of tracking our heart rates on Lake Whatcom, therefore we all had some level of inherent group commitment to safety.

Having spent considerable time in creek boats trying to be in the ‘big huck club’, I learned a bit and was humbled a lot having gone to the funerals of three good paddling friends in the last decade. Not bringing this up as anything I’m proud of, but rather to highlight that all action sports have an element of risk and in a sense the risks involved are a statistical reality. By paddling as a group, being prepared, and being smart about these kinds of activity can help reduce the risks involved. Something can be learned about situations that went south in order to prevent them in the future. One paddling accident I was involved in occurred when no one stepped up at the put-in to advice a friend that the usual creek at double flow was too high for his skill level. This increase in volume closed the window on one drop from a five gap to a two foot gap and we had to wait five hours for the water level to come down for body recovery after a lengthy failed rescue. Needless to say after this accident the group I paddled with were far more vocal in telling each other when it was appropriate to stand down.

Looking back on yesterday, here’s my take on some of what went wrong. This opinion is intended to help prevent this situation in the future and not intended pointing fingers or causing hurt feelings.

1. This was a colder weather downwind paddle, not a race. Anyone watching me load my boat on in the morning would have had a good laugh because I first put my Elite on the car, then Kristen’s R, then walked around the truck for five minutes trying to decide which boat to bring. I’ve never dumped off a ski (shit, that means I’m in for it) and have had my Elite in as big conditions during the summer in SanFran and at the Gorge. The R is a more stable boat, easy to get on in big condition AND I’m fairly confident I could help rescue a swimmer on it, which I’m sure I can not do on the Elite. The R is slow and definitely does not have the sex appeal as the Elite, but I decided to latex up and practice safe sex by bringing the R for the group paddle.

2. I think the group failed to have and stick to a firm plan of regrouping and staying together. A couple weeks ago four of us did the same downwind paddle and we agreed on a plan to stay together and regroup at Governors Point. We also decided to stay close to each other, i.e. once you’re done linking a couple rides and find yourself alone, stop and look about. This conversation didn’t happen yesterday, and the result was we were spread across the bay, some of us buddied up, and some the group got in different levels of trouble.

3. I saw a sweet bumper sticker last week that brings up me last lengthy point that is; tight lycra is a privilege, not a right. Everyone likes to paddle hard to not overheat, but it isn’t summer anymore in the PNW and folks doing runs like this need to be ready to spend time in the water. If that means a little over heating and smelling a bit in the shuttle, well shit, that’s OK. Rudders and paddles break, so it would be nice to be dressed so a prolonged dip would be survived. So put the lycra summer gear away, you can still put it on once in awhile this winter for a walk around the house flexing.

I’m know there are plenty of other factors and ideas that need to talked about (and they’re nothing new for any of us) so we avoid acting like a bunch of lemmings. It’s nice to have the coast guard around if we need them, but it’s not a good idea to depend on them and looks poorly for our group and the paddling community when we’re not smart. Yesterdays conditions were by no means the biggest paddling conditions we’ve seen on the bay, probably average storm paddling to tell you the truth, so as a group we owe it to each other to wise up a bit and take better care of each other.

erik.wermus

11/01/09 #7279

Thanks for getting some discussion going Simon. The thing that struck me most was that we (maybe not all, but at least many of us) didn't simply have a 3 minute conversation about forming groups / making a plan for regular check points to stay together / staying within 30-40 ft of each other etc. Pretty simple thing to do, but it also goes to show how easy it is to take your eye off little safety disciplines like that. Its just really foolish and totally unnecessary…

EW

Larry Goolsby
11/02/09 #7281

Erik is right on the button with this one. We didn't take a moment to agree on what we were going to do and where we should re-group. This is probably because we were all experienced paddlers and didn't feel that there was anyone in the group not capable to handle the conditions. The thing about down wind runs is that once you take off from the beach, you are pretty much committed. On more than one occasion, I have seen conditions go downhill very fast once we left Wild cat Cove. Down wind runs in the winter shouldn't be treated as races. Dress warm, take a stable boat if you have one, and be prepared for unpredicted weather changes. Next time I do a down wind run with a group, I plan on starting the discussion about grouping and where we will regroup. I also think it's a good idea if everyone stays on the beach until the group is ready. By the time I got myself outside of Wild Cat Cove, everyone was really spread out and communicating to the group wasn't really possible. I also firmly believe that everyone should have a waterproof VHF radio. Had we been able to talk to the two missing paddlers, we wouldn't have had a need to call the CG. I have been carrying a radio for a few years now and I can't think of a reason why I wouldn't.
LG

Re: Saturday Paddle
Reivers Dustin
11/02/09 #7283

It might be vietnam PTSD, but I tend to be hyper-sensitive to who is in the group. Many years ago four of us did a seventy mile stretch of Vancouver Island coastline around Brooks pennensula. The four of us looked each other over pretty carefully. The next year the team make up changed and I opted out based on concerns over the group make-up. These paddles are small unit operations and if you think that because you are strong in yourself you'll be fine - think again. You are extremely dependant on the weakest member and the serviceability of the equipment. As more surfskiers show up the range of abilities gets wider. This is a good reason not to post news about the more extreme runs. Let's not glamorize things.

1) If you are not willing to leave someone to die - your fate is tied to theirs. If this is a person that panics or does not take proper care of their gear you may not know about it. I've considered how to protect myself from a death partnership with another paddler: thus the VHF radio. I might have to save myself and leave you to the C.G. If you aren't packing a radio, does this sound like a good deal to you? You do not get to ride on my boat: I'll be needing it.

2) Many of us have done some kind of assistance things, but we all really know that mostly you can't do much for somebody in the water. Especially if there is a gear problem. I guess the comfort factor should not be overlooked, but if there's a paddler down, everything starts going to hell very quickly.

3) When you jump out of an airplane you become intimately aware of your dependance on your gear. This is the same, but we float. So we can pretend that we can find a way around problems. You are betting your life on that rudder cable, rubber stopper, leash and paddle. (And probably betting the life of your buddy too.) Be a McGuyver in some other sport.

4) I think we should do pre-meetings. But I'm not sure we'll be able to tell who should not go on a paddle. It's very hard to judge the conditions (like Sat) and compare abilities. It was calm looking from Larrabee put-in. It's probably more realistic if you look at who is in the group and opt yourself out based on what you see. That is, unless everyone is together enough to do an intervention.

My own take on Saturday: not nearly as dangerous as many other times. Those Westerlies make it the shits to paddle in - so it couldn't have been fun. But nobody was likely to get blown off-shore. High marks for the post paddle recovery. We had C.G. on station quickly just in case and had observers in good commo very quickly. We had everyone located and secured in short order - probably within 2 hrs of put-in.

rd

Re: Saturday Paddle
Dale McKinnon
11/02/09 #7284

It was calm looking from Larrabee put-in.

One small point about weather patterns on Bellingham Bay. November and April are reliably our windiest and quirkiest weather months. If you put in at Larrabee just before 10 a.m. it WAS relatively calm. But at 10:05 you started getting WSW wind gusts up to 26mph that lasted for exactly one hour (http://www.bellcold.com/download.txt). Ordinarily we all pay attention to our prevailing weather patterns that combine with the tide to create fun bumps and we can trust our experience and online resources. However, I don't know if these gusts could have been predicted. But I would very gently like to point out that a very similar occurrence was recorded on November 15 at 4:55 p.m., two years ago. What was relatively manageable suddenly blew up. Unfortunately, nightfall was a compounding problem.

Please listen to your own feedback and take the step of organizing yourselves before you go out. And make sure everyone has a VHF strapped to their PFD. Do I dare point out that you are sorely pushing Darwin's envelope by not having a VHF, particularly after everything that has gone down in the past three years?