Surfski Knowledge Base

Safety (again…)
Reivers Dustin
01/01/06 #901

There is an old saying: “The Sea eats everything.”

Today's ride was sobering. The conditions went nuclear really fast.
The squall lasted maybe 15min. or so. That patch East of Chuckanut
got bad skank on it, then acted all sweet and innocent very quickly.

Something Morris said has been echoing for me this afternoon: “When
I'm in a jam, I want a person to talk to.” Basically, carry a Marine
VHF radio. In those conditions it would be impossible to sit in your
boat and yak on the talkie. But nothing else comes close to speaking
with the person who will send you a helicopter taxi.

When I spoke with the Coast Guard (CG) they were rock solid. They
didn't want my Visa number, they wanted to help. Also, when the
situation no longer called for ships and helicopters, they turned
them off quickly without questions. They were the real thing to have
handy.

Other things I've thought about:
-I was not going to be much use to anyone in trouble.
-I really wanted to talk to the other guys, but we were spread
out.
-I couldn't see Mike's boat as it rolled by, and if I had, it
just meant to call somebody big. (If I had a phone).
-The conditions didn't play fair. (In other words, I made
assumptions.)
-Dean is a good guy to have watching your back.

The rest is stuff we've already beat on (but never to death). What
I'm saying here is my take. Mike will have more to offer as far as
his set-up, how he got in this fine mess, and how he dealt with it.

rd

Michael Hammer <michaelhammer62@…>
01/01/06 #902

Yes, activate the emergency system as quickly as possible. We on the shore were speculating on what might be occurring. I should have made the call. Get them rolling, they can always turn around if not needed. This has been said before, I'm damn glad that those crews are there ready to go at a moments notice.

As a side note on the conditions, I noticed when returning home that I have a red contusion on the forehead. This was from my boat being blown into me when I was in the water on the way back. This occured through my thick fleece cap. The remount in the wind was interesting.

Well done Dean for staying out longer than we would have liked to search. Great job staying on the line with the Coast Guard Reivers to keep them posted and get information to us. A big thanks to the gentleman that provided Mike with a warm shower. Hats of to the Coast Guard. Mike, very glad you are still with us.

Mike

Dale McKinnon

01/01/06 #903

Don't you guys know the first rule of seamanship? The incoming storm has the right of way.
Sorry you got run over. Glad nothing broke.
Dale McKinnon

Larry Goolsby
01/01/06 #904

A year and a half ago when Shaun and I were in Oahu at Twogood's
paddling camp, we spent a lot of time out in the breakers. One time
Shaun got knocked over by a big wave, the wave grabbed his boat and
snapped his leash. His boat took off like a rocket without him. I
saw this so I turned in the middle of a wave, got rolled over myself
by the wave, remounted and went after his boat. I was able to stop
his boat and hold it there until he caught up to us and remounted.
What I'm trying to point out is that a buddy can be of some use when
you lose your boat. On Saturday I stuck near Tim for two reasons: I
might be able to assist him and he might be able to assist me. Last
year on a couple of occasions, I had a buddy catch my boat when it
got out of my grip. That was in the days when I didn't use a leash.
Now, I don't go out without one and I am now doubting the strength
of my current leash. I think that one of the first steps to safety
is having someone that you are accountable for. You may not think
that you can be of any assistance but you might be surprised what
you are capable of doing. I do own a marine band VHS portable radio
and the batteries run down easily (holds 8 AA). I think a cell phone
is just as handy, smaller, and holds it's charge longer. Do any of
the phone companies make a waterproof or water resistant phone? You
can get one of those Aquapaks that hold phones and pin it to your
pfd. That is if you wear a pfd.
Larry G.

Dale McKinnon
01/02/06 #905

Larry-The marine safety net (read “Coast Guard, harbor patrols and boats on the water”) and cellular technology are not yet seamlessly connected. Peter Marcus probably knows better than anyone the advantages of VHF over cellular. He gets his paycheck from being smart out on the nasty briny. Yesterday was a two-ton weather elephant. When you have to call the coasties, then you have stepped in the elephant's doo-doo.

RE: weatherproof cellphones. None of the cellphone manufacturers make weatherproof units, except for the Korean manufacturer LG. They claim their phone can survive for “30 minutes if dropped in a pool, tub, or sink.” Send the Marketing VP for LG into yesterday afternoon's weather with a waterproof LG and see if there is a brown spot in his wet suit. I don't think it would survive for five minutes. He would wish he had a VHF. And yes, you can purchase an Aquapak for cellphones, but you must have a single-unit phone, not a flipphone.

However, thinking it terms of “EITHER VHF OR cellphone” is depressing. HAVE BOTH. Your safety is worth it. You can mitigate Murphy's Law by 50%. If you do a risk assessment of cellphone range and service provider, there are too many “dead” spots along Chuckanut, at the south end of Lummi, off the Peapods, yaddayaddayadda. I have been told by the 911 operator during an emergency call on land that he has to wait 15 seconds for the call to lock on the E911 signal from Verizon phones before he could proceed with the call. That was a very long 15 seconds. E911 (Enhanced 911) is a federal requirement that cell providers must meet to identify to within 30 meters the transmit location of a 911 call. It is a great federal mandate but the marketplace issues need to be worked out by the FCC and communications companies. Generally, cellphone coverage is getting better. But I will not trust my life on the water to it. I'll let the Coast Guard RDF in on my VHF signal. I trust that technology. Additionally, too often, land-based operators incorrectly route emergency calls to wrong response organizations. My life has been challenged on the water. I've gotten an answering machine at a Coast Guard station when I called on my cellphone. There are no answering machines with VHF. My VHF goes with me whenever I go out on the water. (I was out at #2 buoy, yesterday. I know junky it was.)

Cellphone is my backup and “late for dinner” tool, NOT my safety tool.

The single-most important reason for relying on VHF is because when you have to make that emergency call it is going DIRECTLY to the agency/office that is going to dispatch the boat/s that will save you or your boat. A 911 cellphone call first goes through a land-based operator that may direct your call to the wrong agency/office. Precious time can get wasted in trying to get through to the right office. On VHF you remain on an open/hot line with the person in the rescue office who has their finger on your pulse, so to speak.

In addition, any boats in the area will hear that first call on Channel 16. Cellular phones generally cannot provide ship to ship safety communications or communications with rescue vessels. If you make a distress call on a cellular phone, only the one party you call will be able to hear you.

For an excellent discussion of VHF vs.Cell Phone, go to: http://www.connyak.org/Public%20Affairs/Paul_D_VHS_Guidelines_HTML.html

Also, Larry, how old is your VHF? Newer radios have NiMH or Lithium batteries and last a long time. Mine lasts 24 hours when turned on (listening mode and weather), with the squelch right at threshold, twenty minutes in continuous transmit at 2 watts (most conversations last three minutes), and five minutes at 5 watts. I use the 5 watts only for a MAYDAY or a “securite” and I've only had to broadcast a “securite” once. The battery on my VHF lasts considerably longer than the AA NiMH batteries in my GPS. As I'm on the water a lot, my VHF radio is always on the charger at home and it's the last thing I grab before I head out the door to my boat. I do not leave without it.

Larry Goolsby
01/02/06 #908

Dale….Thanks for all the info on VHF. I think my VHF is not
appropriate for paddling. It's not waterproof and I used it on a week
long trip two years ago and the batteries ran down despite very
little use. Storing your 'safety net' within your boat isn't a good
idea because if you lose your boat, you are up a creek. So whatever
safety device you choose, you should be able to wear it attached to
your pfd, if you are wearing a pfd.
On Sunday, if I was there, I probably wouldn't have taken a cell or a
VHF. A short trip to Govenor's Point is a benign adventure (usually).
The sport we do sounds dangerous to to those that don't venture onto
the seas, especially when we talk about surfing in windstorms in the
middle of winter. However, the freak storm or broken leash or busted
paddle is always a risk we take. If we totally eliminate all the
risks, we become kayakers. I don't know how well I could use a cell
phone, VHF, or other device while floating in big water but I do know
that if I lose my boat, I want it back. That's why I like paddling
near someone on those nasty/fun days. That's also why I am doubting
the strength of my leash as I write this.
Thanks
Larry G.

Dale McKinnon
01/03/06 #915

One other small piece of technology that anyone can use to increase safety in the nasty briny, is a barometer. I wear mine on my wrist. Some people attach it to their PFD. Mine's a watch, stopwatch, etc. Lot's of manufacturers make them. I use mine mostly for the barometer.

You may not think that being out on the water for only an hour would require a barometer, but boyhowdy,… I'm glad I had mine.

I was at #2 buoy on the 1st, and could see a distinct buzz saw line south of Governor's Point, with large whitecaps south of the line that continued across the Bay toward the light north of Eliza. Yet, the water on the north side of that line, although consisting of two-foot rollers, was smooth-topped. No whitecaps. As I was at the top of an ebbing tide, I recognized that there was something squirrely going on with the winds. I was in a steady northeasterly, yet below Gov Point was a southeasterly, hence the whitecaps. The buzzsaw line was the nasty mix where the winds met. I had no idea anybody was out in it. Once it moved past Gov Point and wrapped around the land mass.and into Chuckanut.. ouch.

There were other weather factors that merged in my mind at a critcal point but when I glanced at my barometer and saw that the pressure had dropped 2/10ths in ten minutes, I muttered an expletive, and rowed hard to get back to FBW. I was gasping for air when I got in. I was about 100 yards from the shipyard when the wind caught me. I could see the dragon moving across the top of the water toward me. If not for checking my barometer, I too, would probably have been calling for help on my VHF clinging to #2.

Along with simply experiencing and learning from the local weather conditions (which is one learning style), there are two good books that help understand the area: Jeff Renner's “Marine Weather Field Guide” and Owen S. Lange's “Wind Came All Ways: A Quest to Understand the Winds, Waves & Weather in Georgia Basin.” Frankly, I've found the information in Lange's book to more directly relate to conditions in Bellingham Bay. Along with Washburne's tide tables, it is the most used reference in my growing library on everything marine between here and Anchorage. If anyone has any good suggestions for meterological/weather reference books, please send them my way.

What is fantastic about Whatcompaddlers is the love of the sport and water that everyone has, and the continual positive support. Keep on keepin' on… And getting the coasties out on the water in surfskis with you guys is a FANTASTIC idea. They do good work. They are good kids, with good training, doing the best they can with a difficult mandate and they are going to be neighbors to FBW very soon.
Dale
–
Larry Goolsby
01/03/06 #918

Dale…..Good point. When I did mountain guiding, I used an altimeter
as a barometer. If I was at a steady altitude and the altimeter was
changing, then I knew that the weather was changing rapidly. If the
altitude reading was climbing, that meant a low pressure was coming
in and we should not ascend further. You can use an altimeter on the
water the same way.
Larry G.