Paddleboarder Missing

[PT Woody]

Fingers crossed that this turns out well but the story does point toward the conclusion that the law is an ass - a 19 year old is missing at sea after he was last seen falling off his paddleboard, which was later recovered washed ashore along with his life jacket. So it would seem his life jacket was attached to the board and he didn't have a leg rope. All perfectly legal, but entirely useless as these events appear to have unfolded. The law needs to recognise that a life jacket is pointless when it floats away attached to a board, and that a mandatory leg rope would be far more effective.

http://supconnect.com/news/sup-other/search-for-missing-paddleboarder-underway

[stoneaxe]

Not good...

"The man was paddling with his girlfriend who went to get help after she saw him fall off of his board.".....she paddled away? The law is definitely dumb but there has to be more to this, couldn't swim, hit his head, something? I'd only expect someone to paddle away if they lost sight of someone, had searched at least a little, and THEN gone for help.

[Eagle]

The reporter in the video link noted the girlfriend "could not help him get back on".  May have been an impact or health issue as normally you would put the life jacket on before going for help.  Very unfortunate - leashes and cellphones always - as well as a waistpack PFD in calm conditions or a full PFD in rough windy cold conditions.

http://www.nbc-2.com/story/27633373/search-for-paddle-boarder-underway-off-sanibel#.VI-XK96iUdt

[pdxmike]

The law needs to recognise that a life jacket is pointless when it floats away attached to a board, and that a mandatory leg rope would be far more effective.

Totally agree.  Even if he died instantly from a heart attack, etc.  a leash would prevent the cost and heartache of a search for a body.


My guess is even if the law changes, there will be a dozen or dozens more deaths first.

[PonoBill]

People unused to dealing with emergencies do all kinds of screwy things. I could go on for pages about the nutty responses and actions I've seen. Panic is not a helpful condition.

[SuppaTime]

Dissenting opinion here. I think there is a real danger in fostering a nanny state that tells us everything we can and cannot do. Clearly the SUP person needed some warning and/or education as to the risks and how to mitigate those risks. Not sure if he got those and ignored them, or never was informed. But there has to be a line between what is a clear and dire public health risk and needs legal action (e.g., motorcycle helmets, which BTW are not required in all states still), and what is on the side that, hey, life is not risk free and sometimes you are on your own.

[pdxmike]

Dissenting opinion here. I think there is a real danger in fostering a nanny state that tells us everything we can and cannot do. Clearly the SUP person needed some warning and/or education as to the risks and how to mitigate those risks. Not sure if he got those and ignored them, or never was informed. But there has to be a line between what is a clear and dire public health risk and needs legal action (e.g., motorcycle helmets, which BTW are not required in all states still), and what is on the side that, hey, life is not risk free and sometimes you are on your own.

I don't think your opinion is as dissenting as you may think it is.  My view is that if there's going to be a law requiring something, it should be "wear a leash or a pfd", not "carry a pfd on your board".  Wearing a leash or a pfd are both effective for safety, but carrying a pfd on your board is not.  I think a lot of people who advocate for leashes aren't pro-regulation so much as anti-stupid regulation. 


But my favorite would be no law.  There are lots of times, such as during races, or messing around in shallow water with friends on boards, when it's stupid to think any of us should be able to be fined for going without either one.  I don't think going without either a pfd or leash in those cases is dangerous at all--certainly not so dangerous there needs to be a law against it. 

[bts]

Be careful what you wish for.

The obvious solution is to require everyone to wear a pfd, not just carry one.

Not an idea I'm particularly crazy about.

[pdxmike]

I don't know what's common elsewhere, but around here I can't think of one serious paddler who regularly--if ever--carries a pfd on their board.  They almost all wear inflatable belt pfds.  Most also wear leashes.  The few who don't wear the belt pfds either wear leashes only, or neither a leash or pfd (worn or on the board).


So if the rule became a requirement to wear a pfd, most serious paddlers--around here--would already comply, and the rest who wouldn't comply already don't comply, so they'd be no worse off--just illegal in a different way.   So asking for a rule that allows leashes to substitute for carrying a pfd has no real negative impact for most people around here if it backfires and becomes a requirement to wear pfds, but the positive outcome--ability to use a leash instead of a pfd---would be very attractive.  Plus it would be much safer for the beginners who are the ones who now are strapping pfds to their boards and drowning.   

[eastbound]

i have never worn a pfd. I always wear a bomb-proof leash and replace if any signs of wear. i know i'd pay a jetski 25 or 30 bucks to bring me in if i lost my board in big surf--so i will certainly replace a leash for same cost now and then.

i only surf, and occasionally mess around on calm, flat water.

were i downwinding, i would definitely wear flotation, if not a serious pfd.

are you referring to downwinders when you say "They almost all wear inflatable belt pfds"?

do any sus'ers wear pfd's or flotation in other than very big surf?

[Tom]

the statement
 

the man was paddling with his girlfriend who went to get help after she saw him fall off of his board.

makes no sense. Why would someone go get help if someone falls off a standup? My only guess is that both do not know how to swim and have never been is water that is over their head.

[hbsteve]

Remember, the current rules don't apply in swim areas.  In Newport Harbor that is is about the dock line.
Then there is enforcement.
Last summer I talked to a mother that was paddling with her young son on the front of her board.  He was not wearing a pfd., and there wsn't one on the board.  I asked her about the Harbor Patrol.  She said they pass by all the time and don't say anything.  And she said he is a good swimmer.
She wasn't far from the dock line.  But she certainly wasn't within the swim area.
Foe several years I had been wearing a pfd. to comply with the law.  After that I decided to just wear a leash.

[headmount]

The title of this thread makes me cringe,  While my rational mind tells me that the caliber of paddlers who have gone missing so far and the ones in our DW gang is quite different, the emotional specter of this kind of event looms in the back of my mind. 

I can't really comment on whether certain rules would save the day but I do know that here, when something goes wrong with any paddler out in the ocean, we all start talking to each other like mynah birds.  There's a part of all of us that feels vulnerable and it bubbles up all the time.     So if someone breaks a rudder cable, we're all figuring out how and what to bring to do a quick and dirty fix out in the water.  Aside from going faster or slower than another person, we know that what can happen to them can happen to us.

And within a larger tribe, all the participants on this forum do the same thing.  We're all trying to keep our sorry asses out of a sling by reducing the screw ups to a minimum.

So in a nutshell, that's as much of a safety net as we have.

[PonoBill]

A lot of Columbia river downwinder folks were an inflatable belt--that's because enforcement is enthusiastic in and around Hood River, and the PFD tied to the nose of the board is not only stupid, but a problem when the wind is blowing 45. I wear one, because the river patrol guys won't stop you if they see one, and then they won't know you don't have an up-to-date invasive species permit.

The combined fine is $340 which gets reduced to $100 if you show up with a PFD and invasive species permit--even a brand new one. So far the regulation has cost me $300 as a three time loser. So yeah, I wear one.

I should wear one in Maui. A broken leash on the downwinders we do here would mean at least a mile swim. I wear my Camelback, which is an effective floating aid even if the Coasties don't agree. But no one enforces any chump PFD regs here on surfboards. That would make the Hawaiians gag.

[pdxmike]

A lot of Columbia river downwinder folks were an inflatable belt--that's because enforcement is enthusiastic in and around Hood River, and the PFD tied to the nose of the board is not only stupid, but a problem when the wind is blowing 45. I wear one, because the river patrol guys won't stop you if they see one, and then they won't know you don't have an up-to-date invasive species permit.

The combined fine is $340 which gets reduced to $100 if you show up with a PFD and invasive species permit--even a brand new one. So far the regulation has cost me $300 as a three time loser. So yeah, I wear one.

Wearing a pfd so you don't get pulled over so you don't get fined for an invasive species permit violation. How sad but true.