Good Idea for a Msg Thread
This is a good idea for a thread. I know some people like the book “Deep Trouble” but most of the problems described in that book are due to absurdly poor planning, like not wearing a PFD or not dressing for immersion.
Communication is a problem
I often think the whistle and paddle signals need to be expanded.
Not logical
This topic requires maximum traffic to find the (rare) example cases.
Thanks. Good Story
Once you get cold, there is NO escape. Always take twice what you think you will need in the way of clothing, heat sources.
Run over by a power boat!!!
…at the boat ramp…was in Canada and launching for a multi-day trip and some jerk in a big boat decided to barge his way up to the ramp through our boats as we were launching on the side. It actually was not even a true ramp but a gravel spot.
He made not attempt to slow down, etc. Just rammed into my fiberglass boat that I could not get out of the way fast enough.
When I made a comment to him about it he just said we should not have been there.
That was a close call…came very close to beating his @## and spending the night in a Canadian prison. Could have been on that show “Locked Up Abroad”
That was a close call!
Matt
No, just got finished reading
Sea Kayaker Deep Trouble, its a book about true stories and their lessons…Thought it would be helpful for others if everyone who has had a close call to share it up here for learning purposes.
That book was
the inspiration for my original post.
Becoming Timid With Age
I came into paddling later in life after several decades of mountaineering, rock climbing and ice climbing. In the hills and over time I used up my “Free Pass” for mistakes and or bad luck so now I look for the comfort and ride of an old Caddy rather then the zippy sports car or true off road machine. Days ending with a 700 foot ride down a steep snow couloir that should have made me into lichen on the rock or a lightning bolt dancing only feet away from me have made me appreciate the sun. When it comes up.
Weather, weather and weather
We’ve come too darned close to being a news story on the front page a couple of times, both times due to having been careless about the weather. Once we didn’t pay enough attention to the risk of a sudden squall, the other time we underestimated where the wind would ramp to against our level of tiredness. Like another person above, that time we ended up landing quite a distance from our launch point because the wind was making it impractical to slog back.
What we learned from the first one was that more clothing and an emergency bivy would have been a good idea (as well as a weather radio with alert feature), and from the second one that the value of a dry suit cannot be overestimated in an unplanned swim (and to use the weather radio early and often). We also learned that one rescue can consume up to three people.
used up free passes , that struck …
… a most humble note there trmorain , I felt it go right to the core
Not really jerks
Their actions were more of the “oblivious” nature. They were just doing their own thing and never really payed much attention to what was going on behind them. We had some heated words, but we resolved everything and remained friendly.
They do, but in this case…
…all those involved knew the standard signals. Unfortunately, whistles don’t work if you can’t hear them and paddles signals don’t work if you’re not looking.
Fun with lightning…
I was paddling on Lake McDonough in CT this summer with my daughter and a friend. This is one of the cleanest and paddle friendly lakes in CT. The weather called for chance of thunderstorms late afternoon so we saddled up for a morning paddle. Arrived at the lake close to 9:30 am and hit the water. It was sunny and beautiful out. After circumnavigating about two thirds of the lake, we stopped at a nice spot for a swim. While in the water, it started getting a little cloudy and the wind kicked up. It was between 11:30 and noon. We looked west and saw dark clouds heading in. What we didn’t know was how fast they were traveling. In the time it took us to dry off and get started back towards the put in, a beautiful but scary lightning and thunder show started up across the lake. There was really no place for us to pull out along the shore so we hugged as close as possible and paddled as fast as we could. We hit the dock with no time to spare as the downpour started and lightning was hitting the ground around the area. Like Mark Twain said, “if you don’t like the weather in New England, wait a minute.” What I’m wondering is what would have happened if lighning hit the lake on the far side while we were paddling along the shoreline to the put in? It was probably between a quarter and a half mile across.
Another Weather related one
– Last Updated: Jan-05-10 9:08 AM EST –
One time years back when I first started we got caught in honest 60 mph winds. No radios, no tow lines but we were dressed for the water. We were about a mile off shore in an island chain (thimbles) and some in the group could not break the wind and make progress. We could have landed on the islands so we're weren't in life threatening danger. Never-the-less scary. We all made it back alive.
Lessons learned - don't be an idiot.
Close calls? Only once
It was early January and the ice had just started forming on the Hudson River. I launched through some patches of skim ice and paddled north along the shore of Middle Ground Flats. It was dead calm. I saw a bald eagle perched in a cotttonwood. About that time the wind started coming up from the northwest. The ebb tide also started to pick up.
By the time I returned to the ramp any ice that was in the river was clustered along the east shore - pushed there by the wind. A good 60 feet of chunk ice was between me and the ramp. And it was moving south fast, propelled by the tide.
I tried working through it but progress was so slow that by the time I’d gone only 20 feet or so I was already swept past the ramp.
I paddled north a few hundred yards, hoping that by the time I worked my way through I would be close to the ramp. It was scary, as moving ice jostled the boat and tried to work over and under it. Finally I made it to the bulwarks near the ramp and held on.
There was a man with a cane(!) standing on a fixed dock. He called over, asking me if I needed help. I stored the paddle and worked my way down to him along the bulwark. He was able to kneel down and extend his cane, I pulled myself to the dock. It was all really awkward, but somehow I hauled myself up to the dock and he grabbed the bowline.
Stupid, stupid, stupid!
Here’s one…
I was running a class 5 drop on a Sierra river. My plan was to just catch the edge of a big hole at the bottom, but alas, I got stopped and began doing end over ends at about 40 RPM. What made it bad, was that I was turned 90 degrees,(upper body always facing one bank) and I couldn’t get out of the boat because one leg was jammed against the minicell wall between my legs.
I was beginning to think ‘this is it’ when my medial collateral ligament tore loose from my knee with a loud pop. Now that my leg had become very, ahh, flexible, I could get out and breath. It was not over yet, because I then had to swim some ugly stuff with one leg working.
Dang, it took a long time to heal.
LF
There needs to be a paddle signal for…
“Emergency – need aid.”
don’t be stylin’
I went out as a new paddler w/a guy I really wanted to impress in a cute pair of shorts with little zipper-doodles on the pockets (bungie cord pulls). I went out through breaking waves on a sandbar, and had no idea how to turn around. I was broached, landed in the water, and couldn’t wet exit (roll? what roll) because the zipper doodles got caught on loose screw on the seat. The zipper doodle finally broke and I made it out. Lessons? Too many to count. I never wore cute shorts again tho.
things can go bad fast
Had kayaked for 3-4 years, and started going into open ocean off Cape Cod for a year or so. My friend and I both had reliable rolls. Went out on a windy day in October to play in the surf. We had a great time for a couple of hours, landed for lunch, did some more. It was tiring since we were both rolling quite a bit and paddling hard to get outside the break zone and to catch waves. We were both starting to get occasional arm cramps and decided to go home. Then, we decided that it would be fun to swap boats for a few runs before leaving. We landed on a sand bar about waist-deep and swapped. I took a couple of runs in his boat (Nordkapp LV) but after capsizing couldn’t roll up because the foot pegs and thigh braces were off for me. I tried a couple of cowboy re-entries but found it hard with the different boat and always capsized before getting the skirt back on. My friend came over in my boat, but just as he got alongside to stabilize my boat, a big breaking wave knocked us both over. He couldn’t roll because of the foot pegs being too far away in the unfamiliar boat, and he came out also. We then both got back into our own boats and were both immediately knocked over by a big breaking wave before getting skirts re-attached. Do it again, get knocked over again. We get separated and are each focused on getting back in and re-skirted before getting swamped and re-capsized. With the first couple of cowboy re-entries, I get close to getting the skirt back on but always a wave breaks and swamps me before I can get the skirt back on completely. After 3-4 tries, my hands are cold and it gets harder to get the skirt on, and I realize that I’m moving slower every time. I try a paddle-float re-entry but can’t do that either without being capsized before getting the skirt back on. My friend is hundreds of yards away, going through the same thing. I finally conclude I don’t have the strength to try again and start swimming to shore behind the boat. But the tide is going out and the wind has picked up with an off-shore component and for a long time the shore doesn’t get any closer. It’s starting to get dark and a lot colder, and big breakers are coming over my head and yanking my boat hard. I can feel that my core temperature is going down and I’m getting weak. I’m wearing a drytop but with bare legs (since I was sure I wasn’t coming out of my boat). I can no longer see my friend’s boat at all. I would probably have used my VHF radio to call the coast guard at that point, but I had put it into a drybag that was in his hatch. I’m kicking and stroking for what seems like forever, getting colder and weaker, but the shore doesn’t seem closer. Finally the shore starts getting a little closer and I keep swimming holding onto the back of the boat even though I feel like I can barely move. I finally make it to shore and collapse. I see my friend about a quarter mile away, still a couple of hundred yards from shore, holding on to his boat and kicking but not making much progress toward shore. I consider launching to go help him but know I don’t have the strength to be helpful. I instead get my tow rope and try throwing it to him but I’m nowhere near enough even when I go out waist high. Eventually he makes it in on his own. We are both exhausted and very cold.
Lessons: Things can deteriorate incredibly fast with just a few bad decisions (like not going home when you’re tired, or swapping boats in the wrong conditions). It was just pure luck getting out of the situation and I feel incredibly lucky to have survived. I couldn’t believe how fast I lost energy trying the re-entries. Probably I could have done it the first time if I wasn’t tired from a couple hours of paddling hard while surfing, but each time I got slower and less effective. If the wind had been a little stronger or more offshore, we could have been out there for hours as it got dark and colder, and I was already so weak and cold I was close to feeling like I wanted to give up. I had brought a VHF but it was in a drybag that was in my friend’s boat -which it turned out he didn’t realize so it was no use to either of us. I never again went out without the VHF in my PFD. Another lesson was that being with another person is no help if you both end up out of your boats. The main lesson was that the ocean doesn’t care if you live or die, and whatever “skills” you think you have are incredibly puny compared to the force of waves and the effect of being in cold water.
sobering
I could see myself getting into a situation like that. Thanks for sharing your experience.