what if...

[rick stoehrer]

What do you do on a really big day? Really big - 11 foot on average with 30 MPH winds? I mean, besides not leave the beach?

Assume you and your mates have the skill sets to paddle in those conditions.

If you do launch into this, the question is how to rescue someone in those conditions, right? Sure, you aren't swimming now and everyone out in conditions has to be pretty rock solid or you don't leave the beach but part of the decision making to EVERY trip HAS TO BE the “what if” game. Yup, everyone has a roll on a trip like this, to not would be really, really foolhardy, but everybody blows a roll, and paddles break and bad things happen all the time. It’s all about risk assessment. Everyone has swum or will swim - what if someone swims on a day like this? How are we going to rescue them? Where are we going to rescue them? SHOULD we rescue them?

Well, sure, you should probably rescue them but remember the first protocol of the rescue HAS to be, "me, me, the group, the swimmer" sort of thinking. So, look....if there are 11 foot breakers and the swimmer is bobbing along in them and getting trashed....let him bob and get trashed...it doesn't matter what impressive array of skills you possess, what are you going to accomplish by going into those waves? Even assuming a 12 second period, you paddle over, take your hands off and secure your paddle, grab the boat to stabilize it and then ……TIMES UP! Right, now TWO swimmers....

No. Let the swimmer bob along. Make eye contact if you can...let them know that you have an eye on them and that you are waiting for an opportunity to rescue them. It would be good to have worked out signals on the shore BEFORE this contingency so you can make arm/hand motions to communicate as it's going to be too loud in the surf/wind to hear anything. So let them know you are waiting for a safe opportunity. The reassurance to your swimming friend is a huge psychological factor.

And he’s going to need reassurance as he is now nowhere near his boat…in heavy surf and high winds, there is no way he will have held onto that pitching, heaving thing. It left like a rocket on the first wave train they were separated. And that’s perhaps just as well, a boat will bash in your head pretty well even though you should have a helmet on…just remember, get up wave of that thing…if you’re down wave, you are going to get creamed. We’ve all seen it along the shore in little waves as you’ve got out of your boat and some little thing comes along and just tosses it as you get out of it…now imagine that in 11 foot breaking stuff only now the cockpit is probably half full of water…so lets see, say 30 gallons of seawater (that’s 240 pounds of water) being heaved at your head in the guise of a hard, pointy kayak…a head that is btw at an even level with the hard pointy end…right, you see the point (no pun intended)

Back to the rescue of swimmer… now, where is the swimmer going to end up? Where is the water pushing him? Is it safer there? Did you survey and examine the area BEFORE you got into it? Did you discuss the bailout/rescue beforehand? Would be helpful...plan your paddle, paddle your plan (to steal a catch phrase of divers).

Maybe a throw bag? This is gear that I have never carried before but is very popular amongst WW paddlers for the extra reach it gives them in freeing a trapped swimmer. So if the sea is too rough maybe toss in a throw line (you can probably get it close enough that it may drift by or victim can swim to it) and try to paddle/pull the swimmer out of the of it to somewhere that you can put them on your back deck? Someone else will of course have to retrieve the swimmers boat (less than 3 there shall never be and all that) so consider too where that boat is going to end up and don't just rush into the sh%t to go and get it. Wait for it.

So you regroup the swimmer with his boat at some point where rescue is feasible and then you get the man in the boat (the paddler retrieving the boat maybe can sort out emptying said craft of water) and then, given this time of year, all to shore to treat for possible hypothermia.

If the swimmer has been in the water for any time at all, they may be suffering from some degree of hypothermia. The water temp is only 50 and depending on what layers you have on underneath a dry suit (and surely none would go out sans dry suit now), the effects of hypothermia will vary. Even if not hypothermic, the guy was just in big seas with breaking waves...a cuppa tea would offer some psychological solace even as the body drains off that adrenalin and then they are going to be a bit tired....so get to shore. Make it so that it's in your best interest too (and it is) and not something you are doing just for the swimmer - they will feel a stigma about their recent swim and will be shaken up and so you need to minimize that psychological impact, remember, just buds getting to shore in big stuff.

Once on shore, act accordingly. If hypothermic, get outta the wind and strip, dry, dress is warm clothes and stay outta the wind. This is difficult to do sometimes as the first symptom of hypothermia is impaired judgment so the swimmer may tell you that they are fine....riiiggghttt. So your conversation may have to be a bit more forceful than you would normally engage in but bottom line is that you are in charge. So take charge. Be nice about it, but make sure things get squared away. Have a little to drink as most folks suffering from hypothermia can be dehydrated. Have a bit to eat. Settle down and let that adrenalin siphon off and the stress of recent events drain. You can’t be uptight when you go back on that water. If you are, you’re paddling will come back in over the cockpit and you'll be in the drink soon enough unless you can keep it casual as ever. So relax a bit.

If extremely hypothermic...call the coasties. We do what we can on site, but we aren't qualified to treat/transfer on our own and if nothing else, the coasties can walk us through and be a reassuring voice on the other end of the vhf.

Remember, there is no shame in calling the coasties. While they are a resort to which we'd all rather not be pushed, it'd be a worse shame to not use the resources you have if you need them.

Another thing to think about is your kit. Where do you have what you are going to need in an emergency? If it's not on you, you don't really have it, do you? If you come outta your boat and then the boat rockets away in the surf and wind...what resources are you left with if you hit the beach, and your boat has blown away or is lying on some distant shore? Anything? Pfd’s have pockets and some carry hydration packs. Stuff and use them accordingly.

A whole different set of rules and consequences apply in really big conditions. This past weekend 4 went out and 4 came back and while this is not that story, it could have been.

[Suz]

All good things to be thinking about and let's hope that when the proverbial s*** hits the fan, we will have thought out the ins/outs and have a plan. I think that proper planning and advance communication is what I am hearing the most from you.

Thanks for sharing the thought process that you would go through should something like this happen.

Suz

[ccarlson]

Excellent reminder as to the value of planning and constant replanning when things look dicey... or anytime one is on the water for that matter. Thanks for sharing your experience!