As well as a couple of things not to do.
Excellent. I had to put down my phone and go watch it on my big monitor. 
My favorite is the paddler at 2:48 and the following commentary (paraphrased): “That’s not going to work… Not a good idea.” Surprisingly, the brace on the wrong side did work but then trying to step out of the boat down-wave… even worse idea. Probably a good recipe for a broken leg.
Mr. Black Dog Paddle made it look easy. Though it almost seemed like he fell out of the boat after the person behind the camera grabbed it and pulled it up the beach. Hard to say 'cause we just got to inspect the sand for a bit.
Thanks for this video. Carnage rate looked to be under 50%, pretty good. The last paddler in the video has what I would call a great seat in riding. I did see a black, looked like foam core paddle on the water unattached to a boat or a paddler about midway through. Hope they got it back.
Think that last paddler was Alec Bloyd-Peshkin, one of The Gales coaches. Saw that loose paddle (and boat) as well. Cringed when I watched the paddler with the leg outside the boat get tossed. Landing intact, then getting the skirt off and out of the cockpit before being hit by the next wave seems like a lot to do in a short time.
Last one in would normally be a coach, or someone who was not certified but unofficially good at helping others on the water. A bit has to happen in exiting the boat, the reason that it really matters to be on the correct side of the boat. So if you do get caught by something the worst that happens is you slide thru a bit more sand while getting clear. That is why everyone helps out on the beach.
LOL “Mr. Black Dog Paddle” is my instructor. Hell of a guy and a great teacher.
In looking for some basic info on this (such as where this happened - the location names listed didn’t mean anything to me), I found it was part of the Gale Storm gathering in Michigan. And found a long write up to an incident that another group as part of the event had that required a May Day call.
http://www.galesstormgathering.com/
“Show and Go paddle Sunday, light winds, calm seas. Beginners welcome. No experience necessary”
@Peter-CA said:
In looking for some basic info on this (such as where this happened - the location names listed didn’t mean anything to me), I found it was part of the Gale Storm gathering in Michigan. And found a long write up to an incident that another group as part of the event had that required a May Day call.
http://www.galesstormgathering.com/
Lake Superior - The surf landing is at Miners Beach at Pictured Rocks national Lake Shore. (49 deg 29.800’ N, 86 deg 32.640 W) I’m acquainted with/ have met several involved including Scott who made the video. The event is focused on Intermediate and advanced paddlers and is a bit above my skill set. From some information in the incident report you mention, I think that was west of Munising Michigan.
I saw a t.v. report about the rescue that evening but no details were given other than it involved a group of kayakers in rough seas on Lake Superior who all made it back to shore safely except for the one rescue. That was enough information for me to decide those involved were competent paddlers. Incidents on Lake Michigan and Lake Superior are always reported up here. Most involve rec boat paddlers not wearing PFDs and don’t end as well.
It was only late October when I came across the Gales incident report and made the connection. Having read the incident report(s) about the 2011 Lumpy Waters Symposium, I give major props to The Gales organizers for how they handled the aftermath. They also published the report on their FB page.
For me, just reading about both incidents is instructive.
Not sure what instruction was given, but did not really see anyone trying to ride in on the back of a wave. In surf that dumps or lands on a beach with a steep angle, it’s best to not surf onto the beach but wait just a bit off shore for the set wave and then paddle in on the back of the biggest set. It’s a strategy that puts you in control, not the wave. Also a good idea to raise your skeg or rudder outside of the surf zone and pop your skirt just before you start paddling in on the back of the wave if you are a beginner so you can exit quickly.
@SeaDart said:
Not sure what instruction was given, but did not really see anyone trying to ride in on the back of a wave. In surf that dumps or lands on a beach with a steep angle, it’s best to not surf onto the beach but wait just a bit off shore for the set wave and then paddle in on the back of the biggest set. It’s a strategy that puts you in control, not the wave. Also a good idea to raise your skeg or rudder outside of the surf zone and pop your skirt just before you start paddling in on the back of the wave if you are a beginner so you can exit quickly.
I had similar thoughts, but more along the line of finding a wave period that was a bit more subdued, catch the tail end of the wave group and power right on through and try to side surf the foam pile onto the beach. It looked like the worst thing to do was to allow a breaker to dump on you, broach and swim.
I paddle mostly on the Columbia River where the surfable waves run perpendicular to the beach (with, or against the flow of the river). When you want to go to shore, there are no breakers except from ship, tug, of yacht waves and they are generally nothing to bother with. I did surf to shore one time on a very large tug boat wave. That went very well until I had to turn the boat to miss a log on the beach. The boat ended up on me for the final few feet. Not a problem though–no one was watching.
I agree with Seadart. Lots of skegs still down. Easier to paddle in on the back of a wave if still learning. Can also help to have an experienced paddler or two already on the beach, guiding people in through the surf zone, and helping to pull them up onto the beach for those last few feet.
Have met many paddlers who view surfing long boats as an unnecessary skill, until they have to make a landing through surf, and a scene resembling the above video unfolds.
Thanks for sharing this: http://www.galesstormgathering.com/
On the OP video, that’s fun to watch, and a little scary with one of those. When I watch that, I see an example or two of a person trying to survive a surf landing. I think a lot of that can be helped by having a set goal of doing nothing more for short sessions than playing on that shoreline. Remove the goal of getting on your feet on the shore, and introduce the goal of taking on the shore break repeatedly. It just seems a session or three with a redirection of focus might help.
The link to the Gales incident I really appreciate. It was great of them to write and put together those write-ups. It’s so interesting to experience all of the differing perspectives. Here’s just a single example that jumped out at me as I read through them all. There were several mentions of an instructor facing away from shore as he paddled, and expressions of not understanding why he was doing it. The only reason I can imagine for them questioning it at all in the first place is that they felt trepidation about moving further from shore. Reading through them all, I get the impression he was keeping away from shore for two reasons. One would be getting around the point they needed to get around to get into the lee. The other would be to stay safely outside of the break zone - keep in deeper water to avoid heavy break points. So people are pointing out in their write-ups after the fact that they didn’t understand why he was doing that. Someone points out that most folks elected not to follow this lead, and to take a more direct route to the point. And then everyone points out a very large set of waves that leaves most of that group swimming. A set that was breaking further out than the others. I’ve seen so many occasions where the least comfortable out there put themselves in the worst position closest to the shoreline, and I’ve seen those people get taken by a larger set. No one will ever know what might have happened, or who thought better for themselves rather than following right with the leader/instructor, and I’ve heard the blame should always go this way when anything less than desirable ocurrs:
- equipment
- instructor
- anyone else for what they did or did not communicate and/or their communication style
but I just wonder if everyone had been able to follow the instructors lead instead of questioning going further from shore, what may have happened? I wasn’t there, so I really don’t know just how things looked on the water. But the picture in my mind tells me they should all, individually self-motivated, have stuck right with the instructor and followed his lead pertaining to this little piece.
Lots of little things to pick at, as always. And they’ve done a great job of pointing these things out. A great write-up for putting yourself in their shoes.
Anyway, I applaud all of them for their handling of the situation to the best of their ability an in an obviously can-do, able-bodied, never-give-up fashion. It was scary, and at the same time, inspiring to read. Anybody can point out flaws, but just imagining myself as the instructor out there with the larger group makes me wonder not only what decisions I might have made, but how well any of my communication efforts would be taken amidst a messy situation. What’s the best way to communicate with people slipping into differing levels of self-preservation mode?
@SeaDart said:
Not sure what instruction was given, but did not really see anyone trying to ride in on the back of a wave. In surf that dumps or lands on a beach with a steep angle, it’s best to not surf onto the beach but wait just a bit off shore for the set wave and then paddle in on the back of the biggest set. It’s a strategy that puts you in control, not the wave. Also a good idea to raise your skeg or rudder outside of the surf zone and pop your skirt just before you start paddling in on the back of the wave if you are a beginner so you can exit quickly.
I also agree. Who knows what the context was but it looked really bad. Buch of folks who had no idea what they were doing and consistently did the wrong thing. It looks to me like there was very little instruction given and zero progressive practice prior to that landing. To be honest, those condition didn’t even look particularly challenging. Oh well, it LOOKED like no one got hurt. I hope that was not a paid lesson.
Thanks Rookie.
Off topic, but the day of that picture was a lot of fun. I’ve attempted to attach a picture of the bottom of my boat from that day. It all took some doing, but it was well worth it.
Oh, wow! I think I have a new screen saver, CapeFear. Makes me smile each time I look at it.
Your hull is another amazing creative work.
That is awesome!
that comment about getting out on the down wave side…see this…http://www.montereyherald.com/general-news/20161020/woman-breaks-both-legs-in-kayak-accident-near-cannery-row