Surfski Knowledge Base

Pmarcus
05/22/08 #4406

Just for your info……..yesterday about 3:30 I noticed two paddlers crossing the bay about
1/4 mile outside Squalicum Harbor (where I work). The wind was building out of the SE and
they were paddling in the trough very slowly…..when I headed up the dock from our work
boats about 30 minutes later I thought I would peek across the bay to see where they had
ended up and whether “Hilburn and Wermus” were yet again sprinting around the
course……I saw two boats and one upper body, thinking that they were experienced, I
gave them the benefit of the doubt and waited to see if the other “upper body” appeared,
all I saw was the one boat trying to right and still only one upper body (sharks???). I ran
back down to our work boat grabbed one of my fellow work mates and booked out of the
harbor in our high speed 42 foot work boat, okay maybe we exceeded the 4 knot speed
limit. We arrived about half way out to the outfall buoy….needless to say he was happy to
see us….. being in the water for (I am not sure) approx. from when I started to watch to
the time we got there 7 to 8 + minutes, he was wearing a “tank top”, shorts and sandals,
life jacket and surprisingly suffering from only a few hypothermic symptoms….we threw
him in the cabin (we didn't throw him hard)… and watched and escorted his (a her, I might
add who didn't capsize) paddling mate back to the harbor……to make a short story
longer……no we didn't get a million dollar reward, bummer, the Coast Guard had not been
notified before I called in, even though it was a sunny day and a fair number of other
boaters were on the water they had not been seen, they did not have a whistle or vhf, and
yes the guy was trying to impress his girlfriend….whoooops……SO be careful when you
are trying to set up your friend in a sea kayak for “Ski to Sea,” and they say “yeah, I have
been in a kayak before!” (your mother with a trained eye on the water is not always
watching………) Peter