Farther up the northeast from me, interesting surf rescue in the surf conditions of the previous week. Always appreciate these types of videos, as it provides learning and future prep.
-sing
SHARK!!
WTH was that 3rd “rescuer” doing? Stay the heck away.
EDIT: this site finally let me post again after 8 months when it wouldn’t let me.
Welcome back!
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It’s great that the person ended up back in their kayak. It’s great that they were able to just allow the person to slowly get pushed into calmer water before attempting assistance. It’s great that it never gave the impression of panic or that something terribly unexpected was happening. It’s great that it’s shared to discuss. It’s really great that they’re all out there enjoying some rough water!
If a person is able, I believe that the first thing they do is give an “I’m ok” communication to would-be rescuers, and then attempt that while the others safely stand watch. The observers can communicate with one another quickly at this time, identifying potential hazards, who’s going to do what, and positioning. I think we can figure here that self-recovery was not in the cards.
Given that, my first suggestion is that as a swimmer in rough conditions, I suggest a very deliberate effort at maintaining the bow of the kayak aiming directly into the waves. Far less water will get into the cockpit aiming the bow into the waves, and most importantly, perpendicular gives the waves far less to work on. As a rescuer, exactly what I want is to pull along side of you with both boats perpendicular to the waves. There are things that can make this difficult. So if I see a failed very deliberate effort to do so, and they cannot, move on to the next available approach. But I don’t believe this step should ever be passively skipped over. It adds significant risk to the entire process to not come together in this way when it’s rough, and especially when circumstances aren’t moving you into calmer water, or maybe even the opposite. I believe things were rough enough that rough water procedure is advisable here.
I could make a list of discussion points, but this seemed a good place to start.
Watching it again I now see that the “third rescuer” was just trying to surf on by, and didn’t know that sea kayaks in surf become magnetically attracted. In bigger waves, coming that close while riding a wave could have gone bad.