SUP Ocean Rescue today in South Florida

[eastbound]

was once bodyboarding alone in sloppy surf on LI and noticed an older (that will have to do) salt-of the earth (ocean) couple swim out. they swam a few long laps outside the break, looking as though they were experienced ocean swimmers. i thought nothing of it til i noticed them pointed back to shore a good 100 yds outside,  going nowhere fast-- in fact, drifting out to sea. i finned my way to them and asked if they were ok. they said "no we've been trying to get out of this rip for an hour". so i told them to share my body board, and towed them in via the leash. had i not had fins, who knows where we would have had to float to to get free of the rip and get out. could have been one of those stories where we finally got out miles from there. once we got closer to shore, lifeguards from a nearby swimming beach came sprinting out to get us. someone must have noticed something loooking wrong and run down the beach to get them.

once saved my college gf's 140lb bullmastiff from drowning in a lake he couldnt get traction to climb out of--had to dive fully clothed and booted down 10 or 15 feet to reach him. he was a goner for sure. poor guy waqs all panicked nipping my arms and face as i swam him to the surface. once on land he just coughed up some water, shook off and went about normal business. nbd near death exp! didnt even thank me!

I ripped my idiot friend a new ahole--he'd been throwing sticks in the water for the dog, laughing as he exhausted the dog

gf done me right a bit later--thanks in that!

[Tom]

I posted this after saving a fellow surfers life in March, 2011

Myself and two other surfers just saved a surfer’s life
« on: March 14, 2011, 01:46:33 PM »
Quote
When you paddle out, you just never know how your session is going to be. The surf today was looking ok, maybe chest high, short duration swell, and the fog was starting to move in. I almost didn’t go out, but decided I would. The place I surf, Sunset Cliffs, is accessed by a 100 step staircase and the break is about 100 yards off shore.  There were only two of us out, myself on my SUP and a guy on a fish. With the fog, you really couldn’t see the shore but could see the waves coming.

I heard a female yelling help from a different break, but couldn’t see her. I paddled towards her and asked what was happening. She yelled that someone had a heart attack and was drowning. I yelled for the other surfer to help and then could see that my friend Paula was struggling with some one in the water. I recognized him as someone who surfs there often, but I didn’t know him. Paula had found him floating lifeless with his head in the water and his leash attached to his long board.  She had his face out of the water, but he wasn’t conscious and was too heavy for her to manage. She, the other surfer, and I got him up on my SUP, but he wasn’t breathing. I gave him several chest compression and he spit up some foam and started to breath a bit. We were out far enough that no one on shore could see or us because of the fog. Paula paddled into shore to get someone to call 911 while the other surfer and I paddled him towards shore and I continued to give him chest compression. He occasionally would come to but really wasn’t conscious very long, but he kept spitting up foam.  The lifeguard station is maybe 10 miles away and finally a lifeguard got to us on a rescue board. A few minutes later, the lifeguard boat arrived and we all got him into the boat. He came to when they were lifting him into the boat, and could almost sit up by his self.  Later, the life guards that had drive up said that they got a call from the station and it sounds like he will be alright.

David, the one rescued, later found out that his carotid artery is very close to the surface and when he was padling out and looked up his new wet suit cut off blood to his brain and he passed out. He now has a pacemaker that monitors blood flow and will kick when it happens again.   

[stoneaxe]

I don't know how someone smaller can rescue someone my size that is panicking. I took the Red Cross LG training when I was 15 or so. I was 6-4 220 and a very strong swimmer. The instructor was merciless in the water and he no doubt saved a few people from being LG's that might have continued otherwise. The 1st time he was trying to drown me I tried to shove him away with my foot to his stomach but I hit a little low. He was pissed about the shot to the nads but it let me flip him into a cross chest carry.... . If I was small I'd be nervous to attempt saving someone my size without a rescue tube. Then again, a quick shot to the nuts.......

[SeldomScene]

(She was a little on the heavy side, and not too young either)..  i saved the old lady and lost my net ... They had a phone, my old lady didn’t even have a life vest or a leash.

What are you, in the eighth grade?  How old was she agsin?  80?  40?

I guess you missed the point of my post. 

I might have overused the term old, because most people over 40 should have enough common sense not to get themselves into dangerous situations.  If I had to guess, my girl was somewhere in her 40's or early 50's.  She had no basic safety equipment and she should not have been out past the surf zone with her lack of experience.  After she got comfortable with me towing her, she started blabbing about how she just got her SUP last week and this was her third time out.  I used the term "heavy side", so you could get an idea of the effort that went into pulling someone behind my SUP. 

I guess the small thank you I got at the end made it easier to act like an 8th grader online.  I thought she would be a little more grateful.  She was literally sobbing on her board. 

In the end, I hope my high school son learned that it is important to stop and help someone that could be in a potentially dangerous situation.  I pointed out to him that she didn't have a leash or life vest, while we were fully prepared with our life vests, dive flag, fishing licenses and all the equipment needed to have a safe and successful trip.

It's awesome to read all of the stories posted here.     

interesting.  you are old enough to have a high school son, yet you emphasize how "old" this woman was.  in her 40s or 50's.  I thought she was 75 the way you were going on and on.  sounds like you're not far behind her.  hope you get a break when you are 50, when younger folks call you elderly.  got news for you, you don't have to be "old" to go out on a board and get in over your head.  or to be fat, weak, and out of shape.  or to have no common sense.  or not to have a leash or PFD.  you are the one who missed my point - her age is irrelevant to your story but you sounded giddy with joy bashing her repeatedly because she is "old" in your world.  i do agree, those other stories are awesome. 

[Tom]

I don't know how someone smaller can rescue someone my size that is panicking. I took the Red Cross LG training when I was 15 or so. I was 6-4 220 and a very strong swimmer. The instructor was merciless in the water and he no doubt saved a few people from being LG's that might have continued otherwise. The 1st time he was trying to drown me I tried to shove him away with my foot to his stomach but I hit a little low. He was pissed about the shot to the nads but it let me flip him into a cross chest carry.... . If I was small I'd be nervous to attempt saving someone my size without a rescue tube. Then again, a quick shot to the nuts.......

This may work.


I wish I knew this when we saved the surfer at Sunset Cliffs. The surfer was maybe 170 lbs, he was unconscious, and there was waves and chop to deal with. We got him partially on my 9'6" SUP, but had a hard time keeping him from sliding off while I was giving him chest compression and we were trying to paddle him to shore with the fog so thick we couldn't see where we were. There was a lot going on.

[PonoBill]

I've mentioned this before, but In the 30 years I had my beach house in Manzanita, I've pulled a ridiculous number of people out of the water. I have no real idea how many, but some years I'm sure it was more than five in a summer. Manzanita is particularly dangerous--no lifeguard towers (occasional patrols), big beach, lots of current, waves from three directions often, and rips galore. Of the many people I pulled out I got one weak thank you. More from their loved ones who were wringing their hands on the beach and generally waved me over as i rode by on my bicycle or sand surfer. I'm not the world's strongest swimmer, but I can chug along for a long time, and I know how to get out of a rip.

I did get a nice "mind your own f%$#g business" from a guy whose kids were climbing on a huge drift log being splashed by waves. I guess he never saw "Sometimes A Great Notion". A year later a kid was killed doing that and now they have signs about drift log danger all over the place--they are largely ignored.

I don't think many of the people I pulled out would have drowned, but they would have had a bad time of it. None were doing the right thing, almost all were struggling against the rip. True rip currents are narrow, you can be out of them in a few yards sometimes, but people do the wrong thing.

I don't "save" people in the Columbia who have lost gear but who are wearing float or swimming well. they're being inconvenienced, not threatened. Rescuing yourself is part of the lesson set. I thumbed back from bozo beach more than a few times. It does a body good.

I had someone yell at me about it a few weeks ago. Guy was floating a hundred yards off Luhr Jensen with a crashed kite and no board. He wanted me to ferry him to shore on my downwind board. I said "keep swimming, you're doing fine." Later in the event center he called me to task because he had lost his board. I told him "If you can't handle this, try Vancouver lake." Making friends everywhere I go.

Hey Seldom, give it a break. I call people Old all the time, and most of them are probably younger than me. Old is a convenient way to saw "old, fat and weak". Too many people are like that. In my eyes, anyone sitting on a tour bus is old, even if they're 17.

[bts]

i've let tired swimmers rest on my board and occasionally paddled them in.  I bet they probably would have made it in on their own. Nothing super dramatic on a SUP.

I do have 2 real saves, both from my early teens.

A young Japanese tourist who thought he would give surfing a try, even though he could not swim a stroke.  Leashes had not been invented.  As I recall, he had a nice new board.  I think he must have bought the thing and just paddled out without thinking. I pushed my board to him, my partner retrieved the tourist's board, then we escorted him to shore.

A toddler who tumbled off the side of a 40 foot sloop in its berth. Young parents were "working" below deck at the time. I happened to be walking down the dock at the right time about a hundred feet away, happened to be looking in the right direction, and happened to have a clear line of site because the boats in the adjacent berths were not in their slips. So improbable.  Someone besides me must have been looking out for that kid.

Early life lessons.  People can do unbelievably stupid things, and it is better to be lucky than good.

[Caribsurf]

another non human save from the 70s

back in Ocean City, NJ we were surfing late afternoon and one of those planes pulling an advertising banner flew over head when all of a sudden the banner disconnected and slowly floated down into the ocean.  About 4 of us teenagers quickly paddled about 100 yards outside to retrieve the sign.  We managed to gather it up and we paddled it back to shore.  It was pretty heavy and awkward to pull in but we made it.

About 30 mins later some guy in street clothes walks down to the waters edge and he and another guy roll up the sign and take it away…barely  a thank you the bum..  I bet those signs aren't cheap.

[PonoBill]

I think there are a lot of people who don't say thank you in the moment, but realize later that someone did them a serious favor and wish they had. When I was in my twenties I fixed a girl's VW for her one weekend when I didn't have anything better to do. She kind of muttered "thank you" and drove away--slim thanks for what amounted to a major tuneup. A few days later she brought me a Souvlaki sandwich at my shop, and we wound up in the sack. I can't recall what the girl looked like, but that was a really good sandwich.

Damn, now I'm hungry.

I must be old.

[Foilman]

For me it paid off bringing my inflatable with me when kiting. That way if I need to dump the gear and swim in I can still paddle out and get the stuff after. I've never been in that situation but I saved one kiter girl stuck in offshore winds and quite a few guys gear. Also saved someone's escaped parakeet at the local lake once. That poor thing was just flopping around in the water.

[Deadbait]

(She was a little on the heavy side, and not too young either)..  i saved the old lady and lost my net ... They had a phone, my old lady didn’t even have a life vest or a leash.

What are you, in the eighth grade?  How old was she agsin?  80?  40?

I guess you missed the point of my post. 

I might have overused the term old, because most people over 40 should have enough common sense not to get themselves into dangerous situations.  If I had to guess, my girl was somewhere in her 40's or early 50's.  She had no basic safety equipment and she should not have been out past the surf zone with her lack of experience.  After she got comfortable with me towing her, she started blabbing about how she just got her SUP last week and this was her third time out.  I used the term "heavy side", so you could get an idea of the effort that went into pulling someone behind my SUP. 

I guess the small thank you I got at the end made it easier to act like an 8th grader online.  I thought she would be a little more grateful.  She was literally sobbing on her board. 

In the end, I hope my high school son learned that it is important to stop and help someone that could be in a potentially dangerous situation.  I pointed out to him that she didn't have a leash or life vest, while we were fully prepared with our life vests, dive flag, fishing licenses and all the equipment needed to have a safe and successful trip.

It's awesome to read all of the stories posted here.     

interesting.  you are old enough to have a high school son, yet you emphasize how "old" this woman was.  in her 40s or 50's.  I thought she was 75 the way you were going on and on.  sounds like you're not far behind her.  hope you get a break when you are 50, when younger folks call you elderly.  got news for you, you don't have to be "old" to go out on a board and get in over your head.  or to be fat, weak, and out of shape.  or to have no common sense.  or not to have a leash or PFD.  you are the one who missed my point - her age is irrelevant to your story but you sounded giddy with joy bashing her repeatedly because she is "old" in your world.  i do agree, those other stories are awesome.

It's all good.  I understand where you're coming from.   I'm glad I was there to help her out.