If anyone would like to read Nick’s obituary, here it is
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It has taken me a few days to give my condolences. It reminded me too much of the death of my friend Jerry Storrs.
Jerry didn’t die in the waves, he finished a surfski race in Ft Lauderdale, took two steps on the beach and his heart stopped. His doctors told him it would happen, but that didn’t stop him. Paddling was his life.
There was nothing anyone could have done in either situation, those who sponsored the races are in enough pain themselves. They aren’t really to blame, you could have a jet-ski following every paddler and it probably would not have affected the outcome. Conditions, sometimes, are not conducive to a rescue.
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Boats or jet skis would have reduced the risks.
Damn. Thats a hell of an obit. (Edit) 17 years in the AuSable is impressive by itself. He Sounds like a hell of a guy.
Although those waves look bad, once you’re away from the immediate shore crumbly waves like that can be paddled through if you stay perpendicular and maintain momentum. If you lose perp or speed, then you can get washed back to shore.
What you dont want is dumping, barreling waves. Crumbly waves release their energy over a long period of time. Barreling waves release it all at once.
Definitely is a skill to paddle in them though.
But it does surprise me there was no chase boat waiting slightly off shore. Most major races have some chase boat. But if he was in breaking waves, a jetski would likely be required for rescue.
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Some USCG stations where heavy seas and surf are common have jet boats that are designed for it. As I understand it, it’s generally up to the local commandant as to whether or not to supply support for these types of events. Sometime they will do it for free as part of a training exercise. Other times they will want the organizer to pay for the coverage. Most organizers try very hard to minimize expenses.
Ninety minutes is about typical for a helicopter rescue. If someone had a suitable boat standing by in the harbor at Frankfort, about 4 miles away, they could have gotten there a lot faster. The closest USCG Station is nearly 45 miles away.
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He did 17 consecutive AuSable marathons
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As high as 2nd place and many in the top 5….several Texas Water Safari wins also, including this year
Even more impressive! You know the TWS is serious when they require snake bite kits.
It really hits home that this guy was clearly an expert on small water (AuSable, TWS) and was not ignorant to the realities of waves. I wonder how much experience he had on big water in a ski like michigan. The MN group I paddle with has mostly flatwater paddlers. Many expert, but flat water balance does not immediately transfer to big water. There is definitely a learning curve of fully disconnecting your hips from your torso and turning every stroke into a stroke-brace to deal with the instability of confused water.
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One of the toughest parts of the TWS is the crossing of San Antonio Bay to Seadrift, often a night paddle for the fastest teams…He was no stranger to big water. He is also a multi year C1 champion on the Susquehanna which can be very big water, esp below Oneonta on heavy water years( I know he paddled C1 in 2013 when CFS was over 13000)
He looks very thin not helpful in cold water.
The conditions sound like they were just wrong to hold the event. Paddlers want to think we can paddle in anything, but in big, open water with cold air temps, cold water temps and wind with big waves, the voice of reason should have prevailed. If it were my race I would not have put anyone on the water under those conditions. Very sad. Remove the competition aspect and then ask how many of those people would have chosen on their own to go paddling under those conditions that day. Very, very sad. We all hate to lose one of our own on the water. I can’t imagine the pain felt by family and friends.
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And no rescue immediately available. Life is fragile. One bad call in life and you’re gone. Even one bad call by others driving past you.
So many of these tragedies happen and you never get the real truth or circumstances.
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The waves were big and the wind was strong. Nick and many others fell off of there boats multiple times just trying to get out through the surf. Nick wouldn’t quit remounting and managed to make it a couple miles down the shore, but he was in the water as much or more than he was paddling. The race organizers could see him with binoculars and he just kept getting back on on trying again. The coast guard was called when they saw him no longer mounting his boat.
At some point I think he was no longer racing, but was in survival mode. Fatigue from remounting multiple times in cold water, 20mph+ wind chills with minimal cold water protection, should have raised red flags. This should have happened, prior to no longer being able to remount. The race organizers watching him struggle repeatedly, without taking action should be liable. By the time he could no longer remount, it was too late given the conditions.
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Amen.
I think the next steps (if any) are up to Nick’s family/survivors. If they choose to follow a path of forgiveness and “celebrate Nick” then having others telling them that they should do just adds to their burden and pain.
Frankly having lived near Lake Michigan most of my life (and now 15 years on the much-rougher east coast) the conditions in the pic posted by darkstar are not that unusual and those racers look happy as clams launching into the surf (I’ve seen 40 foot powerboats decide to turn around and go home to avoid waves like that). Couple days ago we had 30 mph sustained offshore winds with gusts over 40 (and over 50 nearby). But also calm periods. And as I told my wife, when it’s a very windy day you shouldn’t be surprised if it gets even windier.
I’m joining the celebrate Nick camp (and remembering all the safety incidents I’ve experienced on organized paddles).
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This was a great article on Nick and offers a taste of what he was like as a human being
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A shame as they are useless and can cause more damage.