I did a short bike ride to Corea
Found the boat launch found the chain of islands that were the destination (they are lovely)
It was lowing tide and that area is incredibly shoaly . Shoals make great dumping waved
The islands are about half a mile offshore in a string of four so the farthest island is about three miles from the launch beach but barely off shore
There was a 20 mph breeze from the south. Past the islands is all open ocean. If you miss the islands you are done
Today was a bike day. Did not paddle
Corea is a working harbor. Those folks when they went in were within sight of fifty houses and maybe 200 boats but when there is a storm you can’t be seen . Without a radio you can’t be heard That is the heartbreak
We will see if there are more requirements put out by IF&W requiring wetsuits etc
I suspect that would affect many small operations
Yes I would have gone to Sally today without a wetsuit
Tide is incoming wind blowing on shore and sky is clear and NOAA weather radio is unremarkable save the usual afternoon nice day SW sting breezes
I have pics of the area but they are on my camera that needs a computer I’ll post link later for anybody still interested
Have you ever worn a wetsuit
or paddled a surfboard in breaking surf. Your comments show a profound lack of experience with wetsuits and the environment of surfing.
And the point is who has the greater chance of survival. Somebody wearing a decent wetsuit or someone wearing cotton t-shirt and shorts in 50 water.
weather
from what I hear here the weather can change rapidly in that area unfortunately. I still say one radio is not enough, shirts and shorts are not proper gear for an ocean crossing at those water temps. Look what it takes to survive even what we think is warm water at 70*. People can be certified to the hilt and it is great better than no regs. People in many instances may get complacent in many things in life. You do something many times and it's OK and once your get bit. Trouble is it's your life your talking about here. Yes Monday QB'ing but it will keep me on edge too and my guard up. If I can't survive in the water temps of the ocean 6 or even 8 hr. I don't feel properly prepared. Try handling two people in trouble that don't have great skills or stamina for recovery in a squall and see how you make out. What were the skills of the customers with the guide? I have been doing kayaking since 2008 and started with a 15 Ocean Trident SOT, cell in a drypack and a bottle of water. Expert? Far from it but I do try to learn and plan. I respect the water and it's power. I even keep some fear in the back of my mind.
Like other things I have done I crave to learn as much as possible fast. Raced offshore boats for years and saw many tragedies for simple reasons. I saw people with multitudes of millions of dollars die for no real reason. Even right in the harbor of Key West at a raced where money was no object. Due to being complacent and not going with the latest safety precautions they easily could of had.
In construction I see accidents all the time as people get complacent. Blink for a second and you have an accident. 40 years in business and I have had two accidents one guy cut his hand bad on masonry saw and one guy injured on a step ladder. I have had from 0-90 employees in the masonry business. May be I was just lucky, may be I am a pessimist.
They were dressed improperly for an open water crossing. That was the biggest mistake just like the North Face fatality tons of experience but ill prepared for the worst. People even my wife use to laugh as I gear up especially when water is cold. I tell them no stores out there to get any thing I may need, probably no second chance in the winter.
Who here thinks an open water ocean crossing with even 62* temps is good with shorts and a shirt? It's tempting on a nice sunny day isn't it?
Looking forward
I don’t know what happened in this incident, and I want to be clear that I am not suggesting measures that Ed should have taken, because I didn’t know Ed, and I wasn’t there. I know his loss is felt deeply in Gouldsboro, and i understand he was a good man.
I’d like the paddling community to look forward from this incident and consider our own behavior, rather than Ed’s. The goal of sea kayakers is to be self-sufficient and take care of themselves. The point of wetsuits is not to last 4 hours floating in 50 degree water after a capsize. The point is to prepare, train, and dress so that you can self-rescue and rescue the others in your group. When I train guides, I commonly see cold water cause capable paddlers to forget how to do a self-rescue. The wetsuit isn’t for long-term passive survival, it’s for short-term active self-rescue, and that equipment is there to support the necessary training and skills.
Seek training in the environments you might encounter. Practice rescues in rough water where you have a safety net (with an instructor, or at the very least getting blown towards a safe shore nearby). Dress so that you can function for a little while in cold water. Have viable emergency plans for when things go wrong despite all of the above.
I don’t know enough about Ed Brackett’s incident to comment on how these guidelines applied to last week’s deaths. Instead of trying to figure out what we can never know, we should instead use this moment to reflect on how well we are preparing ourselves to stay safe on the water. I think too many paddlers and guides are vulnerable to the same sort of incident particularly because of how they dress and how infrequently they train for rescues in rough water.
Be safe, remember those who have died, and prepare yourself for the conditions in which you may end up paddling.
Best post yet
Thank you for stressing that the ultimate responsibility lies with each participant. Nature acts unpredictably, forecasters and other “warner” professionals make mistakes, and equipment fails.
Thank you also to Grayhawk for saying what should ingrained in every outdoorsperson.
Making a scapegoat out of a guide won’t prevent more of these kinds of deaths. They are part of the risk that is part of the whole package of outdoor recreation in natural settings.
you’re still armchair QBing
…when you insist that they didn’t drown but died from immersion. Particularly when there was a survivor who was immersed in the same water.
clarification
Thanks pikabike.
I wouldn't say that every participant on a paid trip is responsible for their own safety. That's not the take-away that I'm intending. Quite the contrary - any guide has a very high burden of responsibility for those who have hired them, precisely because the clients do not have the skills or preparation to take care of themselves.
Guides, and those taking less-skilled friends on the water therefore need to be particularly prepared and cautious, because if the most-skilled person on the water is unable to stay upright, self-rescue or make an emergency call, then the people who are under his/her care are in a lot of trouble. That's the point that I want us all to think about going forward - Are you as a paddler doing everything you should do to train and prepare for what you might encounter in your paddling area?
I have been sea kayaking longer
than you. Every year for a few weeks in coastal Maine waters, a couple of hours driving away from where this happened. And I have paddled Downeast in four symposiums.
In sum, while not a year round resident I know a good bit more about how weather can come up and how tide can impact things in the area where this happened. In fact earlier on my husband and I did get caught by storms that came through way earlier than expected. As did a pile of people on a bird watching trip from the Audubon, they and we spent nearly three hours on a small island waiting for a window to launch for home.
I am extremely familiar with the water temps in these areas. I have spent a fair amount of time in them during training sessions, some expected and some not.
As a number of people here have said, it is awfully easy to while talk about things that could have been done differently after the event. You are being callous and uncaring in how you are dealing with this.
…and that is why
…I don’t care for these threads. Although Nate wrote a good post.
better to not learn some lessons
the hard way. So we try to make sense of what happened. Learn from it and move on. Monday morning quarterbacking is an attempt to "make sense" and learn from a tragedy. We apply our own frame of reference to the events because we lack the details and actual experience of the event.
I don't do much open water, total novice in anything tidal, and am just learning about "sea kayaks". The only coastal paddling in Maine I've done is the reversing blue hill falls- a totally different experience than this scenario. So I won't delve into the specifics of this situation because I simply don't know enough. I have paddled a couple thousand miles of Maine's inland waterways.
I do know about cold water and that it makes everything "harder" and zaps you pretty quick. I mostly paddle rivers and creeks and believe you should dress for the swim. I ww boat in wv in the winter. A while back someone posted a video about cold water immersion being 5x more dangerous as I recall. That sounds about right.
I don't know if the outcome would have been different in this case but I believe you should be dressed for the water conditions even when paddling near shore. I also believe you should wear a pfd. You don't have to believe the way I do, that's okay, its your life not mine but that's me and my approach and its kept me alive to this point. I'm not a Maine guide, have no experience sea kayaking in Maine but I would not venture out without at least a farmer john wetsuit and paddling jacket in a sheltered area- that's me- and I don't know much- but that water is damned cold to swim in.
Experienced and well trained people make mistakes too. I tried to make armchair sense of the North Face Founders death and learn from it as well. Having the skills is an important part of the equation but not all of it. A couple of the fatalities that were my friends were "better" paddlers than me.
The water doesn't care who you are, what your reputation is, what you've done in the past, or how much training or certification you've had. It's 100% about the conditions and decisions you make right in the moment and your ability to manage the situation.
I'm not saying experience isn't important, or training, or certification. I'm just saying there are certain times when your survival depends upon your ability to perform- knowing when to pull the plug on the day or trip is important as well. When you're the guide you need to realize the less experienced are looking for you to make good decisions. However, We all need to judge our own physical limitations and accept some personal responsibility.
Stuff happens. It happens quickly and unexpectedly. How well you recognize and deal with it are the only things you can control. That may not be enough. People weren't designed to live in cold rough water. That much I do know. There is some inherent risk in all paddling. That's not to say that the risks are the same for everyone, on different days and different environments, in different conditions. Tons of variables.
Some days nobody has any business being on the water at all.
Over time I've had the unfortunate experience of either knowing, witnessing, or managing the aftermath of paddling fatalities. Its not fun. In fact it sucks. It sucks for the survivors, the family and friends, and the "rescuers".
My boat is heavy- with a throw rope, pin kit (for ww), spare paddle, extra food and water, good footwear on my feet. Better a heavy boat than a heavy heart. I'm more conservative in my decisions than I used to be. I know there are risks, I've dialed it down a notch or two. Yet I still go and have a great time. I don't judge what I paddle by my current skill level. I judge it by my capacity to help rescue others in that environment.
My monday morning quarter back report reads like this-
underdressed for cold water immersion
group lacked the skill, physical conditioning needed to adapt to unexpected rough conditions, including long term immersion
experienced trained guide who was unable to successfully assist others-
what I wonder about but don't know about is:
did they started in a sheltered environment and then unexpectedly encounter much rougher conditions? Was this due to a change in shore topography (paddling into a more exposed zone) and then a sudden unexpected shift in the weather (wind) possibly from an unusual direction?
I also wonder if the conditions were highly unusual for the area? Sometimes familiarity leads to complacency. You get used to a certain weather pattern and a certain area and begin to assume that's how it's always going to be.
I wonder about these things because I've got blown off a few lakes before. Not the same as the ocean but my frame of reference.
As far as the whole concept of someone coming to rescue me- totally out of my frame of reference- if you need to carry a device to activate others to come save you then I wonder is this something you should be doing in the first place?
I like cleaning up my own mess but I guess it never hurts to be prepared for the unexpected so taking along something that will activate the coast guard at the click of a button couldn't hurt and seems like a reasonable precaution for someone "guiding" others.
to give you some perspective
the launch is from a beach in a Sand Cove ( there are two in the area) about 3/4 mile west of the first picture which is of Corea Harbor. There are a string of seven islands off shore. The first picture is of one of the islands off Corea( Bar I think). Its a busy little harbor on calm days and still working on stormy days.
http://i238.photobucket.com/albums/ff298/littleredcanoe/IMG_6247_8_9_tonemapped_zpsqoacstza.jpg
about 400 feet east down the road the usual destination island is visible. Sally Island.
http://i238.photobucket.com/albums/ff298/littleredcanoe/IMG_6292_3_4_tonemapped_zpshuypnzwg.jpg
So yes usually very sheltered with lots of houses on the mainland. But it is not hard to miss an island when you get washed out… And all these working boat owners got on the ball once they knew there was a problem … which unfortunately took time . Time means further out with the outgoing tide.
These pics were taken with an incoming wind and tide
And I am not sure this was a guided trip… It was a guide and perhaps two old friends. Not sure.
pretty spot
that helps and makes a lot of sense
sometimes its just incredibly hard to know firsthand what the conditions are like until it is too late. So going from a sheltered area- that blocks the wind into an unprotected space is the scenario that played out in my mind. In other words really hard to judge from the launch- everything seems fine and you “turn the corner” “pass the point” or “make the move into the open space” and all hell suddenly breaks loose. I can relate to that. Outgoing tides- been on the coast of Maine just enough to know I don’t know much and to respect it!
some of my own thinking
and experience creeping in with my comments before, but perhaps the sudden squall hits the sheltered area enough to capsize and outgoing tide just sucks them out- harder for me to relate to that but I can visualize it. They didn’t even have to intentionally go out into a more exposed area to get sucked out into the open ocean if the weather was severe and sudden enough. Outgoing tide does the dirty work of sending them out.
I find it interesting that someone reported that many coastal guided trips don’t dress guests for immersion. A big red flag to me even if it wouldn’t have changed the individual outcomes of this particular situation.
The “add on” fees for a wetsuit is a poor practice. As the outfitter you want your guests in the safest and most enjoyable position for the trip. Bottom line, if I take you out I want you dressed appropriately. All TLs and guides should feel the same way. When the s@@t hits the fan you want your folks dressed appropriately and with pfds that are secured.
If its just two or three individuals showing up to paddle together that’s different- to each his own but just known that their decisions also affect your own safety. If they aren’t properly dressed will they be able to assist you if you need help?
I get that in some places it is really difficult to dress appropriately- grand canyon- hot air temperatures and cold water temperatures make it impossible to get guests comfortable (so they don’t suffer from heat stroke) yet still dress for the water temp. Fortunately while immersion may be violent it is also usually very short in duration.
The coast of Maine doesn’t seem all that difficult for dress- I would think one could wear at least a farmer john in summer and not risk overheating? No free pass on that one unless there is something I’m just not understanding. The industry is setting a poor example with that. What you’re really saying is
“You probably won’t flip, we can get by with it most of the time, so its your choice. If you go out later on, in a more demanding situation, on your own, and don’t know better and freeze to death, that’s on you as well. It ain’t our job to teach you.”
Realize that customers are in no position to evaluate the risk to begin with. They are paying you to do that for them. Include that in the basic cost of the trip. Add ons are bad because they put the customer in charge of a decision they know little about and an expense they didn’t plan on.
When I started boating we had a rule- you don’t boat what your not willing to swim. I kind of found my way back to that point after a number of years of thinking and believing “I won’t swim” and boating harder water. That mentality actually worked for me pretty well when I was younger. Wouldn’t work for me at all now.
Sea kayaking kind of departs from that safety point and literally goes further out where it is deeper and where help is further away. So I guess I can see where the radios and signaling units are essential.
I’m not intentionally dissing. Just trying to understand how not dressing for the water temp, paddling where there is a strong outflowing or ebbing tide flowing into open ocean, and doing this with a couple of less experienced folks is equated to “something that can happen to anybody.”
Another way to look at it is to say the whole thing is predicated on having good weather and the ability to stay in a sheltered location and not capsizing. If we have all that then we stay safe.
I guess I look at this whole thing a lot more critically when the term “guide” is used. I’ve spent quite a bit of time around the commercial ww rafting industry here in wv, unfortunately been on the river when there were fatalities and done “trip leading” on inland waterways in Maine where someone got hurt and can honestly say I’d do some things differently.
If you truly believe it would or could or should have happened to anyone I again ask why do you think its okay to do it at all? Can we not collectively learn from this?
There are some inherent risks to paddling we all must assume but do we really understand what they are?
The Maine coast with its coves seems seductively alluring but perhaps it is also deceptively dangerous- given the water temps, currents, tidal changes, and fickle weather.
I have more questions than answers but something went very wrong when three go out and only one comes home from a day paddle in a protected area.
Obviously, having someone who is highly experienced, who is a guide, wasn’t enough to stay safe. So I’m trying to understand the whys.
Is the margin of safety that thin? a squall rolls into a protective cove, creates chop, with an out flowing tide and the result is that two perish. Perhaps there is a big difference between the perceived danger (low) and the actual danger (high) for this environment.
I don’t know the exact speed of tidal
current there. We paddled in Mt Desert Narrows and it runs 2mph.
Some areas between islands run 5 knots or better in some areas and to the east Cobscook is famous for 15 knot currents with fierce eddy lines.
The area in the pictures is very shoaly and can kick up even higher seas.
The current is not smooth either. Whirlpools and boils form just as in moving river water but they disappear and reappear as the current direction constantly changes with depth. Islands and points and shoals make what we call squirrely seas even in calm conditons. Clapotis is the correct term. its worse much worse in a storm.. confused seas. In calm times people in any sort of craft if relaxed can go with the flow as long as they stay centered in the boat even as eddy lines come and go.
Two of us got caught in Long Island Sound in a similarly shallow shoaly area in mid summer in a squall that kicked up high seas..about eight feet and tossed us out of the boat. LIS is not too cold and we kept trying to get in the boat.. it was a canoe and the second person could not ever get in.
This was pre radio days and PLB. We did set off flares so passing boat traffic would notice.
It was embarrassing but no big harm coming back on a Bayliner.
yes
I’ve not only worn a wetsuit–I bought my first one when I was 13 (just about 50 years ago) to go snorkeling off the coast of Maine–about 30 miles from where the accident in the story happened–after an hour, water was still awfully cold and that was with a full body wetsuit, long sleeves and all–warmer than a farmer john but no good for paddling. it was the first of three wetsuits I’ve owned-the last was a farmer John style I got in the late 90s–
like you said, better than nothing and I would prefer them to bare skin but nowhere near as much protection as the drysuit I got 10 years ago—I wore the wetsuit because I didn’t want to spend the money for a drysuit, like I didn’t want to spend the money for the PLB I just brought–but I was fooling myself–I often went out in March and April with just the wetsuit and a paddle jacket—and I was lucky enough never to have flipped–If I had and missed my roll I might not be typing this now.
My point in my original post is that what happened to those folks could have happened to anyone of us here-including you, wetsuit or not. Or me, despite the drysuit and PLB.
callous is
how you need to be when two people lost their life and another closely escaped death. I will pull no punches in discussing this tragedy. Death is callous. Going for a paddle should not end in death. Should we just sweep it all under the rug or discuss the mistakes made to save others the next time? I have probably been on the water floating in somehing by myself water longer than you. Half a century plus a tad. :>)
There is some good discussion here.
The guide couldnt roll WTF
Your telling me there are guides out there that cant roll in 6 foot waves. Really seems like there are crappy guides out there then. The guide shouldn’t have come out of his boat. Having the VHF on your PFD is the ONLY way its useful. Any other way is just wrong period.
Iam sorry but if you call your self a guide and get paid money you should have a bullet proof roll or not be a paid guide. A cowboy scramble is not reliable in big breaking waves. Reenter and roll or put paddle float on paddle and reenter and roll. That’s reliable in big waves.
I can see having trouble getting beginners back into there boats in bad conditions but the guide shouldn’t have had much trouble. Then radio for help.
Iam out in the Great Lakes in 6 foot waves just for fun. Wetsuits should have been worn at 50F water temp, I just roll to cool off, they could have just kept dunking there hats in the water to stay cool. I was out on a 80F air temp day in my drysuit when the water was still in the low 50’s but had to roll ALOT to stay cool. BUT could have just kept dunking my hat and dumping water on me if I couldn’t roll.