SUP Fatality on Lake Washington

[maui_husky]

Here's the link: http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/theblotter/2015794340_kirkland_man_critically_injure.html

"The paddleboarder was wearing a fanny pack life vest, O'Neill said, but it wasn't clear whether it had been deployed properly."  - No mention of whether he had a leash. Tough to speculate on what happened.

[Shark]

Very sad and strange.  Of all the places in the Seattle area to SUP, you would think that Kirkland be about the safest - no current, no jellyfish like Puget Sound, relatively warm water by our standards and lots of people around.  Condolences to his family and friends.

[SUP_state_of_mind]

Very sad, thoughts and prayers go out to him and his family.

[Seattle-Wind]

http://www.komonews.com/news/local/126534173.html

He was on a rented board ... the lake was really calm at that time yesterday too, wonder what happened?

[SUP_Dawg]

Not good. Warm weather, warm water, calm and close to shore. Doesn't make much sense yet.

[NRG]

Oh man, what a bummer.  I was JUST there paddling in Kirkland not even two weeks ago.  It's a pretty mellow place to paddle unless the wind picks up, so I wonder what happened to him.  Possibly a medical condition or he suffered a seizure or something?  Maybe he couldn't swim?  The same kind of thing happened in Hood River a couple of seasons ago. 

[pdxmike]

Possibly he couldn't swim.  In that case the belt pfd wouldn't make any sense, because if you can't swim you could be too panicked to pull the cord.  In that case, a leash might work better, but even then a panicking person might not think to grab it and pull themselves to the board. From the description, I'd guess a regular pfd would have saved him, but only if he'd been wearing it. 

Someone died about a year ago right where I paddle, next to some houseboats in calm water.  As I understand, his wife was watching periodically from shore.  Then she saw an empty board floating, called 911, and he was pulled out dead from shallow water.  There was never any news as to why he died.  All that made sense to me at the time was a heart attack.  But now I wonder if he couldn't swim--I'd never even considered that until reading the other thread.  He was not wearing a pfd or leash.

[maui_husky]

The KOMO news article describes the rescuers searching for his body by doing a grid pattern.  Seems like a good indication he wasn't wearing a leash (would have been pretty easy to locate him otherwise).  They saw him thrashing in the water from shore, so it would indicate he was struggling (not a sudden heart attack or head injury).

There are a lot of paddlers that discount the value of a leash (esp non-surfers). In this case the folks renting the boards may have also failed to see the safety value in providing one.  Maybe he didn't attach it, who knows...  It's just really sad and completely avoidable.

When I was in St. Pete this spring, I had to insist that the rental shop give me a leash. They said it wasn't necessary if I wasn't surfing. No pfd was offered either.  Very nice folks, but uninformed.

One way or another the word needs to get out.  *Wear a leash every time* It's SUP 101.

[pdxmike]

maui_husky--I agree with everything you said.  It all sounds to me like he couldn't swim, and in that case it would probably be less likely that in a panicked state he could manage to find the pull cord for the pfd (which isn't instinctive) than that he would manage to grab his leash and pull the board to him (not guaranteed that he would, but at least that seems more instinctive).

I do think that for non-swimmers, the only pfd that makes sense is a conventional one that is being worn--an inflatable, or one on the board, is useless. 

And I'm at the point that I think pfds can do more harm that good for non-swimmers.  They make people think that they're safe, so that they go into the water when they would never dare to without a pfd.  It's one thing to have pfds on a ferry boat for non-swimmers, when the chances of needing it are almost zero, versus going out on a board when you can't swim.

I'm not saying for sure that's what occured here, but that seems the most likely. 

It's amazing the neighbor happened to be a lifeguard instructor who was home and saw it.  He said there was no pfd, but possibly he didn't realize the belt was a pfd, or possibly the article was wrong.

[PaddleAnything]

As SUP becomes more popular on lakes and rivers, you can plan to see more of this unless people wear and advocate wearing a proper pfd.  Basically, stuff happens and it is unpredictable.  At the tender age of 15 I witnessed a body pulled from a lake and put in a bag.  I've been in and witnessed many near death situations on whitewater.  I don't paddle without wearing a pfd nor will I swim in a river or lake without one.  A properly sized and worn pfd provides a margin of safety which a leash and board can't.  If you are an ambassador of sup and promote its growth, you need to promote and model pfd use in the same fashion as elite skateboarders promote helmets. 

In the mid 90's, The American Canoe Association's River Safety Anthology was published documenting the details of a good number of river accidents.  Paddlers learned the hard way regarding whitewater safety.  Unless the mentality changes in sup regarding pfds, we can start writing the SUP anthology now.  As far as the leash substitute for a pfd, I predict the lawyers will force leash manufactures to add a disclaimers to all leashes that it is not a flotation or lifesaving device but is intended for board recovery.  The industry is only one lawsuit away from that disclaimer now. 

[Wilverine]

I'm terribly sorry for this man and his family; tragic events for sure.  I have to say that I'm against mandatory WEARING of a pfd.  If you can't swim wear one, or better yet, stay off the water.  If you can swim wear it or not, your choice.  If I thought I had to paddle my route in 100deg weather with a pfd on I'd never get on the board again.  Just my .02

[bts]

A seizure maybe?

I like to think he wasn't naive enough to jump on a board without knowing how to swim.  You never can tell, I  once pulled a non English speaking tourist out of the surf at Waikiki.  She rented a board (before leashes were invented) and paddled out, but could not swim at all.

[PT Woody]

Certainly leashes are not the only answer, but I can't understand the mentality of a shop renting out a board without a leash. What are they thinking? If nothing else, the leash keeps the board from floating away and smashing against rocks.

[pdxmike]

I'm afraid you're right, PaddleAnything, about in regard to this not being the last SUP drowning death, and also about the leash disclaimers.  And if leashes ever do become a legal substitute for pfds, I won't be surprised to see them needing to be USCG-tested and approved.  

This death happened in King County, the same county that just made pfds (and wearing them) mandatory in all county rivers for boaters, innertubers, SUPers, and even swimmers outside designated swimming areas.  I won't be surprised to see people pushing new rules, such as requiring wearing pfds vs. just having them, and banning inflatable pfds.  

I think that is all wrong.  After all, the victim was legal, according to the article, because he wore an inflatable pfd.  The rules didn't save him.  If he couldn't swim, a leash may have saved him as well as wearing a pfd.  

Certainly wearing a conventional pfd would have been safer in this case than the inflatable.  But I can't help but thinking of my friends I take out paddling.  We all have pfds.  But also, the "worst" swimmer among them just did a 17 kilometer river swim--fast.  She can't keep up with my other friends.  One of the guys who swims meets here did the Catalina Crossing recently--swimming breaststroke the whole 30+ miles!  There are so many variables in conditions, swimming abilities, etc. that trying to make rules to protect everyone in every case isn't fair or reasonable.  

[adios pantalones]

Sad for all concerned but, leash, pfd, whatever... sometimes

shit.   just.   happens.


We can't save everyone from everything, everytime, everywhere.


Trying to do that is futile.