Author Topic: Downwinding safety.  (Read 34264 times)

Badger

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Re: Downwinding safety.
« Reply #60 on: May 16, 2015, 01:33:20 PM »
This isn't the first time this has happened to DJ. Let's not forget this from 2010.

I keep this bookmarked just to remind me of what can happen out there.

http://www.standupzone.com/forum/index.php?topic=6944.0





« Last Edit: May 16, 2015, 02:02:34 PM by Badger »
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robon

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Re: Downwinding safety.
« Reply #61 on: May 16, 2015, 02:06:00 PM »
This isn't the first time this has happened to DJ. Let's not forget this incident from 2010.

I keep this bookmarked just to remind me of what can happen out there.

http://www.standupzone.com/forum/index.php?topic=6944.0

Yes, I remember this thread from DJ back then as well. Pretty wild.

Hey DJ, it would be very different in a bad way if you weren't around on these forums, so try not to let this happen a third time! ;)

With that said, some great stories and valuable information being shared on here that may save lives. I personally believe strongly in the buddy system. I realize it's difficult to operate this way on the open ocean and inland when gaps open quickly in challenging conditions, but the buddy system is especially vital when doing any type of outdoor recreational activity when there are inexperienced members out there. I wouldn't open a huge gap on an inexperienced friend or acquaintance who is part of the group. Way too much shit can go wrong. It's can be challenging enough for an experienced paddler, but a noob? I'm not leaving peeps behind. I wouldn't do it on a challenging mountain bike trail or a hike, and definitely not on the water. If everyone knows what they are doing, then opening up gaps should be expected, but I'm into check ins. Outdoor 101 basics.

pdxmike

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Re: Downwinding safety.
« Reply #62 on: May 16, 2015, 03:21:53 PM »
Here's another story: About a month ago, someone that rarely goes with us joined up on the shuttle. He's a big, strong guy with lots of surf experience but not a lot of downwinding. He's half the speed most of us travel at so I knew we wouldn't see him until the end of the run, probably about the time we all had dried off, loaded our boards and were getting ready to leave. He did not expect or plan on any of us watching out for him.

At the end of the run, we usually hang out and everybody straggles in. It's loose but we always make sure everybody comes in. This day, the new guy never showed. We waited. And waited. 2 hours went by.

Three or four of us went looking up the coast. One of our search party found the guy, at Kanaha, about 3 miles up from the finish of the run. He'd come in there because his shoulder was bothering him. Since he never expected anyone to be checking on him, he found someone with a cell phone and called his wife to pick him up. He didn't think to call any of us because he had no idea we would wait at the end. But we were all very, very concerned. There were only about 2 and a half hours of daylight left. We were literally minutes away from notifying the EMS to start an ocean search.
That's a good reminder.  At an open water swim I've done several times, that's the thing they stress most--if you drop out during the race, you've got to tell people.  A few years ago they did start a search for someone who'd swum to shore and never reported at the finish.  It's rare that people get injured or lost on a run, but not as rare that they drop out partway through it.  You don't want people worrying or risking their own safety looking for you when you're safe on shore somewhere.

SuppaTime

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Re: Downwinding safety.
« Reply #63 on: May 16, 2015, 04:10:14 PM »
I was at Ho'okipa last year, around 6'ish, 30-40 minutes before dark. I look up and here comes some guy paddling down the coast, alone. Obviously he just launched from Maliko. He had no pack, and in fact no shirt either. He was moving fast and looked like he knew what he was doing but I thought it was a little lolo.
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Bean

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Re: Downwinding safety.
« Reply #64 on: May 16, 2015, 05:10:10 PM »
Maybe he had a reservation at Mammas Fish House ;D

JonathanC

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Re: Downwinding safety.
« Reply #65 on: May 17, 2015, 04:07:26 PM »
Great video DJ, thanks for posting.
I had an incident a few years ago on a Maliko run, my first time on an OC1 ever, in fact first time even sitting on one....straight into a Maliko, what could possibly go wrong ::)
LPB on an SIC F16, about a third of the way in we decided to swap craft, I'd been having an absolute blast in the OC1 but was getting pretty tired, screaming hip flexors from never having paddled in that position before. It was windy enough that at one point LPB's lightweight f16 did the take off over head cartwheel thing and landed on the OC1 and in the midst of tangled leashes and the swap the f16 got away. Real fast, gone.
LPB jumped onto the OC1 and pretty quickly hunted down and grabbed the F16, I was in the drink with my paddle and he was a couple of hundred yards away, of course we were way off shore.
So I start swimming with the paddle, and swimming and swimming but he kept on getting further and further away. He realised and got into the water and held both craft and with his body acting as a sea anchor I was able to catch him.
Of course we were in warm water, so little short term risk of hypothermia. It very strongly highlighted how much good sense paddling with a buddy makes.
My experience of doing Maliko runs is that it is very rare to stay with your buddies, in Melbourne we almost always stay together and re-group regularly, particularly if there are weaker paddlers. It was quite a shock to me initially when everyone just took off on the Maliko runs, but saying that, the local crew were incredibly supportive and helped me down the first couple of runs.
If I'm on the shuttle and there is someone who has never done the run before, I will always stay with them, just a little bit of good karma.
Find that sticking with the group is quite a different experience, sharing the fun and the experience of the day can often be more rewarding than beating the gang, just my personal 2 cents worth.
I've been taking my adult daughter downwinding recently, open water, no one else out there - ever, very dark blue water and white pointer territory. Boy does that ever sharpen the care and preservation instincts. We stick close close together, I have PLB, phone, both wear regular foam paddling variety life jackets and I carry a length of strong tow line and a flare. Paddling with her has actually made me more careful when I'm on my own, used to be pretty cavalier but going through the risks in my head has sharpened the survival and risk instincts.
I find a good quality paddling pfd is not a problem and doesn't restrict my paddling, sure you are a little warmer in hot weather.
In fact I prefer the regular pfd now to the inflatable, nothing to go wrong, bit of a buffer to prevent rib dings, must be getting old!
Paddling a surfski has made me more safety conscious when it comes to SUP.
Stay safe folks.
« Last Edit: May 17, 2015, 04:12:49 PM by JonathanC »

clay

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Re: Downwinding safety.
« Reply #66 on: May 18, 2015, 08:44:57 AM »

If I'm on the shuttle and there is someone who has never done the run before, I will always stay with them, just a little bit of good karma.
Find that sticking with the group is quite a different experience, sharing the fun and the experience of the day can often be more rewarding than beating the gang, just my personal 2 cents worth.

Great words!  I agree and am stoked to see this added to the discussion.   :)
Aloha, I welcome and appreciate all responses of positivity and good feeling.

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headmount

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Re: Downwinding safety.
« Reply #67 on: May 19, 2015, 11:38:55 AM »
To be real, I wouldn't count on anyone hanging back to watch someone here on Maui's north shore.  The difference between race speed and cruising is very significant and the only way to train for races is to race on every run which is what most on the shuttle do.  If someone needs to have reliable guidance and someone staying with them, they need to arrange that ahead of time, not count on the good will of strangers.  I'm sure that if someone were in dire straits and another paddler came up on them from behind, then they would help for sure but no one is looking back or stopping.

headmount

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Re: Downwinding safety.
« Reply #68 on: May 19, 2015, 11:47:08 AM »
I carry a pair of swim goggles in my camel pouch which fit easy.  If you lose your board for some reason, the salt water won't rip your eyes apart on the swim to shore.  I've done a one mile ocean  swim without eyewear and couldn't see well the next day.  Extra rope and knife are also in my camel.

covesurfer

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Re: Downwinding safety.
« Reply #69 on: May 19, 2015, 12:39:15 PM »
I carry a pair of swim goggles in my camel pouch which fit easy.  If you lose your board for some reason, the salt water won't rip your eyes apart on the swim to shore.  I've done a one mile ocean  swim without eyewear and couldn't see well the next day.  Extra rope and knife are also in my camel.

HM recommended this to me recently and I've stuck a pair of googles in my Camel. Great suggestion. I've also taken to carrying my prescription sunnies in my pack. I've lost contact lenses 2x and it was not pleasant. Now, if I lose a lense, I'll pitch the other one and don the sunnies. Way better to be able to see what you're doing out there. The knife and line are also excellent McGiever items to carry. I take two, two-foot lengths of rubber bicycle inner tube as well - it can secure a broken rudder or even be used as a tourniquet. Hope I only use it to secure my slippers to the board. :o

As for escorting newbies....If I meet someone on the shuttle that's going for their first times, I try and give a few basics that they NEED to know when doing the run, about how far to paddle out, landmarks, when to start watching for the reef breaking and what to do it it is and what to line up on to make it into the harbor. It's not that complicated to give out the very basics and it is important. Beyond that, they need to pay a guide or have a friend agree to escort them.  I am always surprised at how some people won't ask any questions, when they are obviously new to Maliko. Maybe they are worried they will look foolish or something.

I was lucky to have my pals HM and PB escort me on my first few Maui downwinders. In my opinion, it's a little foolish to go with no guide for your first time unless you have a lot of open ocean experience. Even then, the local knowledge is invaluable. If you are really comfy out there then you can chance 'em but it's always better if you know a little more about what you're in for, as far as I'm concerned.

pdxmike

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Re: Downwinding safety.
« Reply #70 on: May 21, 2015, 11:50:27 AM »
I carry a pair of swim goggles in my camel pouch which fit easy.  If you lose your board for some reason, the salt water won't rip your eyes apart on the swim to shore.  I've done a one mile ocean  swim without eyewear and couldn't see well the next day.  Extra rope and knife are also in my camel.
That's also a good reminder that swimming is part of safety.  It's amazing how much discussion can happen about safety without swimming ability coming up (although there have been some good discussions here in the past, especially the point that being comfortable swimming means you won't be flailing around using up energy panicking).  Sewing a loop into your board shorts to hold a paddle to free both arms for swimming (I think that suggestion came from you also) was another good one.

covesurfer

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Re: Downwinding safety.
« Reply #71 on: May 21, 2015, 01:06:00 PM »


You have to be realistic and if you've done much open water swimming, you learn humility. Having to swim in from open ocean on a big day would be a huge challenge, even for very good swimmers.

I do not understand the risk level that people are willing to take in the water given their (lack of) swimming ability. I really don't think that they understand what it's like trying to swim in current and breaking waves and wind. If they did, they'd be swimming regularly at their local pool, just to maintain some fitness for it.

Most (not all) people that I know suck at swimming (with the exception of friends that have surfed for years). And, forget about open water swimming which is a different animal altogether even for good swimmers if they have never experienced wind, waves, getting slapped in the face again and again, and navigating in open water. You can be a great athlete and still suck at open water distance swimming. And, knowing how to do that could definitely save your life.


PonoBill

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Re: Downwinding safety.
« Reply #72 on: May 21, 2015, 01:31:47 PM »
I can count the number of downwinders I've been on where people stuck together on two hands and maybe a foot. Its just not normally done with the loony crew in Maui or Hood River.  Honestly, I think you're better off depending on yourself, unless you're a newb. It sharpens your game, makes you faster, and makes you more careful about your gear. 

But I've seen people sitting on the sand at the canoe hale, just about in tears (big guy) having barely survived getting caught at pier one. Never saw him on another downwinder. And people not knowing where to come in or how to get there. We haven't lost many people, but that's just good luck. I'n not volunteering to guide people, but I give them advice like cove, and I've successfully talked one couple out of doing a Maliko on their third time on a SUP.
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DavidJohn

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Re: Downwinding safety.
« Reply #73 on: May 22, 2015, 09:57:10 PM »
More of my no leash drama..


southwesterly

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Re: Downwinding safety.
« Reply #74 on: May 22, 2015, 10:09:26 PM »
Did I miss something? Why no leash? A total nightmare @ 3:15 in that video.
Why risk your life over a 30 dollar investment?

 


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