Training Saves Lives, Get Involved
We have had some good trips and training weekends. The big thing that puzzles me is why so few attend them? I think we have about 40 or 50 in our network.
WHERE ARE YOU ALL!!
I am there for the enjoyment of paddling with other paddlers, seeing the scenery, learning skills, (Lord knows I need them) and the general enjoyment of being on the water (rough or smooth) or in my case often in it.
I can only assume the majority of you are very very experienced and there are no novices like me. I'm thinking this because most of the people that attended our Feb skills weekend at Monowai were very experienced paddlers brushing up on their skills and passing some on to people like me.
Two weeks later the skills I learnt at that weekend may well have save my life.
I got into a large amount of strife in the Nelson area in late February:
I had my sea kayak and my son had a Perception Swing ride-on. My son and I went for a cruise paddle out a long bay and around a longish headland and into another bay. We came across 2 paddlers coming back into the bay as we were going out. One of them said it was very choppy out there but the day was nice and we didn't appreciate we were being given good advice by an experienced paddler, (In hind sight probably a guide for the local area).
When we got into the headland we found it was quite big and lumpy. There was very little wind and my Son Daniel (24) had been across it before so I wasn't too concerned. He did a bit of snorkelling in the next bay which was like glass and 20mins later we decided to head back.
Heading toward the headland there were a few small ripples to break up the glassy sea. Small alarm bells started to ring as to what may be happening along the headland. I soon found out. The wind had come up strong and those large lumps now had white things on top, Not a pretty sight for a novice paddler.
I was doing fine for a while, Daniel's ride-on was merrily bobbing up and down, when we could see each other. We were only about 30m's apart. Then it all happened, I got tipped out. Daniel saw my predicament and came over. I was able to tell him what to do to get my boat right side up and assist me back in. It was surprisingly easy to get back into my boat in the rough seas. Two weeks earlier I would not have had a clue what to do. (TRAINING WEEKEND NEW SKILLS LEARNT!!). My problem was that despite all the theory and practice in calm water, I found it very difficult and in my case impossible to balance the boat and pump it out in the rough seas. I decided to leave the water in my boat. I got tipped out 2 more times and my adventure this far was starting to sap my strength.
My 3rd tip out was close to a point with a lot of white water over it. I did not fancy my chances if I got washed onto that. The ride-on was still fine (they do have there place) and Daniel tried to help me, but our proximity to the point and the speed we were heading towards it meant a few quick decisions had to be made. We were having trouble handling the 2 boats and getting away from the point so we decided to abandon the kayak.
I tried to swim away from the point as Daniel hovered around on his ride-on but after some time, (maybe 15mins) I was getting exhausted and going nowhere against the wind and current. Daniel tied towing me but that was near impossible. We tried 2 on the ride on but we both got tipped off straight away, (they are not made for 2) but they're easy to get back onto.
We had made a bit of headway but no where near enough. We decided to try the fins Daniel had been snorkelling with. The fins were stored on the aft deck of the ride-on and were easy to get at.
Getting them on while in the water was quite an achievement considering the conditions. We finally got away from the immanent danger and decided to head to a beach. It was some where to land but it didn't look pretty, lots of waves and rocks on the way.
Daniel decided he would have more chance swimming with the fins and me paddling in on his ride on.
I made it to the beach in one piece and was there for about 5min's but there was no sign of Daniel. I launched the ride-on and was just heading around the first small point when I saw him clambering across the rocks, cut hands but safe.
We were able to send a cell phone message to Glenys (my wife) and she asked whether she should call for help. We answered NO!! (the pride thing). The problem was we still had 2 or 3 km's to get back to a friendly beach. We were both feeling very sea sick, I had been in the water too long and was cold and shivery. Hypothermia onset, not good.
It looked like the beach may disappear at high tide or certainly be swept with waves so we had to get off. We tried to climb out up the cliff. To Stan this would have been a piece of cake but after a wee way up we decided this was too dangerous and we could end up much worse off if one of us fell. We went back down to the beach. We decided we weren't getting rescued easily, no boat was going to get close to where we were and it seemed too windy to easily get a rope near us from a helicopter.
Besides that I was thinking of the thousands of $ bill I would get.
Plan B:
Daniel climb out and walkover the hill tops and I paddle out if I could get the thing out. It was not getting any calmer. Daniel seemed to be getting up ok (except afterward it turned out he had a few heart stopping moments).
I launched the ride-on and after getting beached a few times finally made it through a treacherous looking gap and into open water. It was a lot further back to the beach than we had thought when we couldn't see it. Daniel was going to have a long walk. I hoped he would see that before coming down the gully and stay up top.
All went well until I got near the beach and was going around the end of a small reef. Yep I got up ended in full view, how humiliating. Back on the beach my reception was less that friendly. Mothers do not like the notion of there son being missing. I was feeling rotten, (health wise) and decided silence was the best thing.
I got changed into some warm clothes, sent a cell phone message to Daniel asking if he was all right. He seemed to be taking a long time. Got a reply of, "OK" and a few minutes later he came walking down the hill. He had made the mistake of going down the gully to where we had thought our beach we set out from would be. He had to get back up onto the hill tops and had a long walk ahead of him.
All ended well minus one boat but it could have been very different. If I hadn't got back into my boat the first 2 times. I may have wound up some where in the French pass or there about.
Making sure I get my self involved with network activities may have saved my life and allowed us to continue with our holiday, unfazed but a lot wiser (I hope).
Maybe you should make more of an effort to be involved in the many and varied activities of our Kayaking Network.
Safe paddling, see you on our next trip. Noel.
WHERE ARE YOU ALL!!
I am there for the enjoyment of paddling with other paddlers, seeing the scenery, learning skills, (Lord knows I need them) and the general enjoyment of being on the water (rough or smooth) or in my case often in it.
I can only assume the majority of you are very very experienced and there are no novices like me. I'm thinking this because most of the people that attended our Feb skills weekend at Monowai were very experienced paddlers brushing up on their skills and passing some on to people like me.
Two weeks later the skills I learnt at that weekend may well have save my life.
I got into a large amount of strife in the Nelson area in late February:
I had my sea kayak and my son had a Perception Swing ride-on. My son and I went for a cruise paddle out a long bay and around a longish headland and into another bay. We came across 2 paddlers coming back into the bay as we were going out. One of them said it was very choppy out there but the day was nice and we didn't appreciate we were being given good advice by an experienced paddler, (In hind sight probably a guide for the local area).
When we got into the headland we found it was quite big and lumpy. There was very little wind and my Son Daniel (24) had been across it before so I wasn't too concerned. He did a bit of snorkelling in the next bay which was like glass and 20mins later we decided to head back.
Heading toward the headland there were a few small ripples to break up the glassy sea. Small alarm bells started to ring as to what may be happening along the headland. I soon found out. The wind had come up strong and those large lumps now had white things on top, Not a pretty sight for a novice paddler.
I was doing fine for a while, Daniel's ride-on was merrily bobbing up and down, when we could see each other. We were only about 30m's apart. Then it all happened, I got tipped out. Daniel saw my predicament and came over. I was able to tell him what to do to get my boat right side up and assist me back in. It was surprisingly easy to get back into my boat in the rough seas. Two weeks earlier I would not have had a clue what to do. (TRAINING WEEKEND NEW SKILLS LEARNT!!). My problem was that despite all the theory and practice in calm water, I found it very difficult and in my case impossible to balance the boat and pump it out in the rough seas. I decided to leave the water in my boat. I got tipped out 2 more times and my adventure this far was starting to sap my strength.
My 3rd tip out was close to a point with a lot of white water over it. I did not fancy my chances if I got washed onto that. The ride-on was still fine (they do have there place) and Daniel tried to help me, but our proximity to the point and the speed we were heading towards it meant a few quick decisions had to be made. We were having trouble handling the 2 boats and getting away from the point so we decided to abandon the kayak.
I tried to swim away from the point as Daniel hovered around on his ride-on but after some time, (maybe 15mins) I was getting exhausted and going nowhere against the wind and current. Daniel tied towing me but that was near impossible. We tried 2 on the ride on but we both got tipped off straight away, (they are not made for 2) but they're easy to get back onto.
We had made a bit of headway but no where near enough. We decided to try the fins Daniel had been snorkelling with. The fins were stored on the aft deck of the ride-on and were easy to get at.
Getting them on while in the water was quite an achievement considering the conditions. We finally got away from the immanent danger and decided to head to a beach. It was some where to land but it didn't look pretty, lots of waves and rocks on the way.
Daniel decided he would have more chance swimming with the fins and me paddling in on his ride on.
I made it to the beach in one piece and was there for about 5min's but there was no sign of Daniel. I launched the ride-on and was just heading around the first small point when I saw him clambering across the rocks, cut hands but safe.
We were able to send a cell phone message to Glenys (my wife) and she asked whether she should call for help. We answered NO!! (the pride thing). The problem was we still had 2 or 3 km's to get back to a friendly beach. We were both feeling very sea sick, I had been in the water too long and was cold and shivery. Hypothermia onset, not good.
It looked like the beach may disappear at high tide or certainly be swept with waves so we had to get off. We tried to climb out up the cliff. To Stan this would have been a piece of cake but after a wee way up we decided this was too dangerous and we could end up much worse off if one of us fell. We went back down to the beach. We decided we weren't getting rescued easily, no boat was going to get close to where we were and it seemed too windy to easily get a rope near us from a helicopter.
Besides that I was thinking of the thousands of $ bill I would get.
Plan B:
Daniel climb out and walkover the hill tops and I paddle out if I could get the thing out. It was not getting any calmer. Daniel seemed to be getting up ok (except afterward it turned out he had a few heart stopping moments).
I launched the ride-on and after getting beached a few times finally made it through a treacherous looking gap and into open water. It was a lot further back to the beach than we had thought when we couldn't see it. Daniel was going to have a long walk. I hoped he would see that before coming down the gully and stay up top.
All went well until I got near the beach and was going around the end of a small reef. Yep I got up ended in full view, how humiliating. Back on the beach my reception was less that friendly. Mothers do not like the notion of there son being missing. I was feeling rotten, (health wise) and decided silence was the best thing.
I got changed into some warm clothes, sent a cell phone message to Daniel asking if he was all right. He seemed to be taking a long time. Got a reply of, "OK" and a few minutes later he came walking down the hill. He had made the mistake of going down the gully to where we had thought our beach we set out from would be. He had to get back up onto the hill tops and had a long walk ahead of him.
All ended well minus one boat but it could have been very different. If I hadn't got back into my boat the first 2 times. I may have wound up some where in the French pass or there about.
Making sure I get my self involved with network activities may have saved my life and allowed us to continue with our holiday, unfazed but a lot wiser (I hope).
Maybe you should make more of an effort to be involved in the many and varied activities of our Kayaking Network.
Safe paddling, see you on our next trip. Noel.