South Florida Paddler Missing on the Hood River

[Weeble]

Andres Pombo, one of South Florida's top racers and beloved SUP family member went missing yesterday on the Hood River around 3pm.  Back home here in South Florida, we are all trying to get accurate details and accurate news has we have already been told once that he was found and that was not the case.  Andres has been easily one of the top 10 racers for years here.  Always friendly, happy, and willing to support and give advice.  He has been a Mistral Rep/ Team Racer, but I'm not sure if he still is.  After being a dominant racer for years, he suddenly gave up most of his racing last year after getting involved with creating the first Miami Special Olympics SUP Race Team.  I remember talking to him about it at a coaches training seminar for S.O. so that I could start to get involved with the Broward County (think Fort Lauderdale area) team.  I remember Andre telling me that after he began coaching the S.O. team, that his own racing career no longer mattered as he found that he got so much more than he expected out of coaching.  I witnessed this myself at my coaches training as he working with the athletes from his team.

We don't have the exact details on what happened, but we know that when they found his board, his Go-Pro camera had images of him swimming after his board.  We have also been told that he was with other experienced paddlers and had safety gear such as wearing a PFD and had a leash... but again, we don't have any substantiated reports, just what is being spread around.  We do know this... Andres is in shape, has lots of open water racing experience, but not Hood River type experience, and he's no stranger to safety.  But we all do know that anything can happen, and that starting to paddle in water conditions that you aren't familiar with, especially the conditions that we hear that the Hood River can have, there is always danger.

This morning we had one of our big local races at the beach.  A prayer was said for Andres and people raced with heavy hearts.  If it wasn't that the race was a fund raiser for another local racer, Charlie Howden, who's fighting stage 4 pancreatic cancer (and has been for about 2 years now like a champ), the race probably would have been cancelled.

Think positive for our friend, pray (if you do), and throw some wishes.  If you live in, or are in the area and know what's going on, back home we'd love to know what is going on.

[digger71]

Sorry to hear this Weeble.  I saw a guy bringing in his board (Fanatic) yesterday just past Wells Island.  I was on the 1:30ish shuttle so hit the water around 2, must have been near Wells just after 3.  Not sure how long the guy had been towing it.

Didn't pass any barges on my run. Hope he is ok

[mrbig]

Thoughts and prayers (I do by the way) are with him, friends, and family..

[Weeble]

We've gotten a little info from a SUP the Magazine post.  We've also heard that there is apparently a missing hiker in the area now so the authorities have had to divide their search efforts.

From SUP the Magazine:  A friend of Standup Paddle Magazine, Miami waterman Andres Pombo who is up in Oregon for the Columbia River Gorge Race went missing while doing an afternoon downwind run with the Fanatic crew. A solid paddler who is wearing a black PFD with black and gray apparel who also had a leash on, has not returned. His board has been recovered and he may at this point be at least 12-20 miles from the starting point. If anyone in the area has located him, please contact Hood River County authorities. Prayers to Andres and the SUP community.

[Chilly]

This world is a better place with guys like Andres. If anyone can help in the search effort or pass this information around that is in the area, maybe someone saw something that can help locate him. There is a large SUP family with heavy heart that wants to see him back home.

[SUPJorge]

Andres is a dear friend. If anyone reading this can add anything to the effort to find him, please do so.

[freetobeme]

FACEBOOK UPDATES - - - -

ANYONE WHO IS IN THE GORGE: THEY NEED PADDLERS TO HELP IN THE SEARCH: From Jessica Cichra:
WE NEED TO RALLY! We are starting a paddle search on the Washington side of the river (where Andres was last seen) near the fish hatchery hugging the shoreline- we can get closer than the boats. All water sports community members please come help find one of our tribe!

UPDATE FROM Jessica Cichra: Everyone in Hood: there's a lot going on & hard to connect everyone: if you want to help search for Andres here's how: spread his pic & the word around.
On the water: concentrated search area east to west between fish hatchery & Orange Mile marker 30 hugging the shoreline. There are boats looking now. If you paddle to look make sure you're with a buddy, have a life jacket and PFD and are safe above everything else. Bring a waterproof him to contact the sheriffs office if you find anything. Conditions are good now but could change at any moment.
On the road: hwy 14 on the Washington side. Be careful of train tracks and look as well as listen for them. Be sure you are with a buddy.
The sheriffs search resources are being split as there is someone else missing on the mountain so the more eyes we have out the better.

[JP4]

So sorry to here about your friend.  I saw them all launching at Viento yesterday right before my son and I launched.  We later saw his board being towed in by another paddler near the Hatchery. Sending positive vibes his way.
JP

[capobeachboy]

Here's the latest news: They hacked into Andres' Polaris and had 48 hrs of activity, and this took some doing. Unfortunately they cannot activate his GPS till Monday due to the business being closed. They're trying every way to reach company executives to get them to assist.

[Off-Shore]

Here's the latest news: They hacked into Andres' Polaris and had 48 hrs of activity, and this took some doing. Unfortunately they cannot activate his GPS till Monday due to the business being closed. They're trying every way to reach company executives to get them to assist.

That's good to hear. Thoughts and prayers that he will be found quickly.

[SeaMe]

I don't know what a "Polaris" is, but I hope they're able to find him soon in good health.

[freetobeme]

FB UPDATE:
Quick update: they are still searching. Authorities are all over it. There was nothing the racers could do to help. So far no word. Hopefully, we'll know more in the morning.


SAY SOME PRAYERS FOR THIS GENTLEMEN. 

[Weeble]

I believe they mean a Polar, which is a brand of GPS and training watches.  The latest word is that "they" have been able to log into Andres' online account he has for the watch and can see it has been active.  They are trying to contact the Polar company as apparently there may be a way for the manufacturer to remotely activate the watch, perhaps as a beacon, or at least to get it's current location.  As I stated in the first post, I can only recite what I have heard and do not wish in any way to spread misinformation

[PonoBill]

Of course this was terrible news at today's race. rumors were flying. I heard no PFD, no leash, but that's crazy in the gorge in 40+ wind, so I don't believe it. But it IS very easy to have a leash separate in that wind--your board hits the end of the leash after cartwheeling over your head and jerks around like a kite.

On the plus side the river is warm, but in that kind of wind and swell it's not that easy to swim. It sounds like he's very capable, but it's easy to take a hit to the head or have some other problem. Very tough river to find people in, the wind, current, and just the huge size all work against you.

I Hope for the best, but it doesn't sound good.

[PonoBill]

Most of the reports say no PFD, no leash. In the picture I saw of him in one news report it looked like he had a camelback on, but it was found floating in the vicinity of the board. A little air blown into a camelback makes a pretty effective floating device but it doesn't appear he tried to use it for that. All still speculative at this point, but the sheriff isn't holding out much hope. Swell City, which is where he fell in, is one of the most challenging places on the river.