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
1 Like
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.
1 Like
Welcome back!
2 Likes
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 to do a self recovery, 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.
2 Likes
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.
2 Likes
It’s been a long time since I hit the surf zone with paddling partners. Back when I did, we were all in low volume surf kayaks. There is so little freeboard with these crafts, I would say then it is almost impossible to do a surf zone “assisted rescue” (therefore none of us were carrying bilge pumps). The primary goal was to get the “swimmer” in, sometimes through rip currents, and then to corral the swamped boat and any gear back in if and once the swimmer is taken care of. In these situations, we always approach from the side to avoid surfing over the swimmer (remember out surf kayaks have fins which act like knives if surfed over a swimmer).
I have only started to surf longboats again in the past few years, again mostly solo. So I constantly work my rolls and bracing whenever I am out on the water, even though there really is no fail-proof combat rolls and I know I am “in between swims” (so it is essential and an incentive for me to stay in shape and be in surf ready condition!). So, I find these surf rescue videos useful and personally informative about what is challenging possible or not with “assisted rescues.” Looking at that video, I wonder whether the swimmer has a roll and, if so, why not attempt an a reenter and roll and the then have a rescuer immediately move in to help stabilize while the pumping begins?
-sing
The rescuers did a good job with the situation they were dealt. The “double raft” of the rescuers provided them an extra degree of stability and almost certainly speeded the rescue. Missing, and what would have been helpful if they’d been on hand, were any tow lines. Clipping in a tow line as far forward as possible to deck lines, or if unavoidable to the forward toggle, then, while the "swimmer holds on to the stern of the empty boat, towing boat & swimmer out past the break, can make the rescue a lot easier. The (relatively small) size of the breaking waves in this situation suggest that would have worked well. Obviously this is tougher, and may not be possible, as the size of the breaking waves increases.
1 Like
I will disagree with this. It doesn’t mean I’m right. I’m just disagreeing.
I will start by saying that I see a surf zone here. The waves may not be large, but they demonstrate that there is enough to push kayaks around some, even with a paddler in the kayak.
As before, start with self recovery. The biggest chance of injury is person on boat or person on person. Don’t introduce unnecessary risk.
From there, assisted rescue. Leading up to 1:16, the rescuer appeared to struggle in efforts to come up alongside the kayak. This ended in the person crossing the T. This is risky in surf zones and should not be done. I would suggest being more deliberate and aggressive with safer approaches. We can argue that a safer approach isn’t necessary given the wave size. But what I see is a person momentarily considering safer approaches and then giving up with that and taking a risk. I will simply say that if you can’t do it in smaller waves, you won’t succeed in rougher stuff. So I would suggest using safest practices even where they may not prove necessary.
By 1:28 everything was positioned perfectly. If prepared for surf rescues, what we should see there is an immediate, deliberate, quick move by the swimmer up, on, and into the kayak. Introducing another kayak increases risk far more than it mitigates it. We saw emptying of the boat just to have successive waves wash back into it even in these sized waves - just don’t do it. It adds unnecessary risk.
So go back to 1:28. Assume the person climbs in. You ask if they’re feeling confident about staying upright. If so, paddle your kayak out of the surf zone and then we’ll empty your boat. If not, can we confidently and safely remain rafted together, the rescued swimmer maintaining hold on the raft, and the rescuer guiding the backsurf to calmer water or paddle out or over to calmer water as the situation dictates.
If you managed a surf rescue without deploying tow lines, you did the right thing. Never deploy tow lines in a surf zone unless there’s very good call for it. It’s added risk. I did not see a good reason in this situation.
We didn’t see the moment of capsize, but what we did see was over 4 minutes for the swimmer to be back in the kayak. Speed was not part of this rescue, which in some situations - such as washing into calmer water before executing a re-entry, is a good thing. I saw the introduction of the 3rd kayak as simply added risk and an extension of time. If I were assisting someone in surf, I would ask that you to please not enter the situation unless we call upon you to assist in some way. I want you to move to a safe position where you will not capsize, you will not run upon us, we will not run upon you, but you are ready to assist if called upon.
Now we can sit and argue all day and night whether this particular situation warranted that kind of care, or how risky you think things really were or weren’t here. In a situation just like this, how many times do we suppose kayak 4 can literally surf in and collide with the raft without ill consequences? I still think safe surf rescue technique should be employed here, including the ability for rapid execution between wave sets while your kayaks remain pointed into the waves. That can be a quickly fleeting moment. If you can’t execute it, then you learned something about the conditions you can handle, and pertinent training.
I think this is a great video to learn from. But I don’t see it at all as a “how to” video.
2 Likes
This was from a few years ago, at Matanzas Inlet Florida. At the 20 second mark the yellow Romany crosses the T, with the white Explorer. The glancing blow knocked a quarter sized hole , in the Romany. You can see it in the hull, about where the foot braces mount. This was a chaotic rescue , at a symposium for that scenario. I was on the beach watching it unfold. My father took the video.
2 Likes
Thanks for sharing the video. I am shocked the Romany got puncture by what seemed like a small hit. But, the surf zone is very dynamic place. Have to say, it could have been avoided if the swimmer (who was standing) just walked her way in. The boat would have been pushed to shore by the waves without any help at some point.
-sing
2 Likes
Yep. The instructors where attempting to use the capsize, as a teaching opportunity . But things kind of went side ways. Bad things can happen, when you cross the T. The Romany crossed the T, and paid the price. I noticed that it in your video last night.
Ooops. Lessons learned though, i hope? Sea kayaks are dangerous projectiles in surf, whether someone is in them or not.
1 Like
To be honest, I run into occasional kayakers (mostly folks I am not familiar with) out at my home breaks. If observation tells me, they don’t know/practice surf etiquette and/or can’t quite control their ride, I will paddle at least several hundred yards away if not more. I don’t want to get hit by them (or to be associated if they run a surfer or swimmer over with their kayak). Yup, admittedly, I just selfishly want to have fun and not have to worry about some other paddler out there.
-sing
1 Like
That enviroment was not a dangerous one. The higher chance of injury was the rescuers potentially causing a injury by trying to perform a rescue in the breaking waves. Everyone will have an opinion as the best way. If it was me , I would have had one kayaker tow the swimmer out of the break zone and after the swimmer was being taken out, another kayaker would tow the kayak out of the zone. In calmer water ,I would now get the paddler back in their kayak. The more time spent in the breaking waves with a boat that you have no control of, the more chance of injury and damage occuring. That is how I would do it. Not saying it is the only way just what I was thought. First , don’t make matters worst, second take care of the swimmer, third take care of the boat and the equipment.
2 Likes
And if this (the first video) was on Lake Superior i would just say swim to shore because the period would be much shorter and waves steeper and you’d have a heck of a time trying to get an inexperienced paddler back in.
But shore looked pretty far away in this video.
I am truly a novice at this. Done some touring in good size swells, done some rock gardening, but have yet to get out in the surf. I know if someone swims in the rocks, you put a tow line on the boat and tow them both out to safer water. Why don’t you do the same in the surf - to tough to get over breaking waves?
I can’t answer for CapeFear, but here’s my answer to your question.
The water dynamics in a rock garden and in breaking surf differ in an important way. In general (always exceptions…), the water movement in rock gardens is that of swells, refracted and reflected by the rocks into a turbulent and irregular pattern. Other than in the channels between rocks, where the water will flow from higher to lower as the waves come in, most of the water movement is up and down with the swells, not back & forth. This means that the rescuer’s kayak is less likely to be shoved in a direction where entanglement with the tow rope becomes likely. In contrast, in breaking surf, the break will push the kayaks away, often hard & fast. If you have a tow line deployed, your boat can be pushed behind the tow line, and entanglement with it can easily occur, especially if you capsize. Obviously you should have a quick release on your towline, but if you get entangled in a loop, even releasing the towline’s attachment may still leave you entangled. At that point you better have immediate access to a knife–and that introduces another set of risks.
If you look at the original poster’s video, you can see that the breaking waves are about 12-18 inches tall–they consistently come in under the armpits of the kayakers. The problem for the swimmer was that they were very fast. This is why I think that a towline would have worked in that situation–bow into the waves and paddling, the rescuing kayaker would have punched through the break without much difficulty, and the risk of being driven backwards and getting entangled would have been relatively low. Of course, as I noted, as the size (height) of the break increases this is more difficult–the risk of being driven backwards increases rapidly, and with it the risk of entanglement. For myself, once the break gets much over2 to 2½ feet, I’d agree with CapeFear and avoid using a towline unless all the other options were bad.
Note that I haven’t addressed the different risks to the swimmer in the two situations. They matter, too. The best response in any situation will be based on all of the risks in it, and their relative severity,
1 Like
It’s all about risk, consequence, and situational awareness. If a person will lose use of their kayak being bashed against the rocks in some remote area unless someone quickly clips on and pulls it away, your risk assessment might be different. If there isn’t very good reason to deploy rope, Id say it’s best to avoid that risk.
Another surf rescue practice… with ropes involved.
Better to learn in a practice venue what works, or not.
-sing
I don’t know what i just saw there. 
1 Like