SUP Fatality in Santa Barbara

[starman]

This one is a bit too close to home. I just saw this on our local news web site. I did not see any mention of it on the zone.

https://www.noozhawk.com/article/rescuers_searching_for_missing_paddle_boarder_at_santa_barbara_harbor

Really sad to hear these stories. Since they had to search the bottom for the victim there was no leash involved. Normally a very flat place to paddle and good for beginners but not when it's windy. That afternoon the wind meter was showing it gusting over 20 mph around the time he fell off the board. Water temp has dropped because of the wind and I would guess it was around 55 F that day.

Very sorry for the family and friends of the young man.

[Night Wing]

Sad. The marine environment is a tough place when wind, temperature and water conditions change. If one is not properly prepared, one sometimes pays for it. Some people get lucky and survive to tell the tale, while others don't survive and pay the ultimate price.

If this person didn't have a leash, that is lack of common sense.

[comeu]

Sad news. It was a rental board, is it often the case with SUP fatalities?

[TallDude]

Coming from an underdeveloped country, he probably didn't have swimming skills:(  A leash probably would have saved his life.

[yugi]

^ a more gentle term is "developing country"

True, not much swimming going on in Uganda. For good reason. You do not want to swim in Lake Victoria. It's huge but shallow and murky. Some parts even fish don't any more.

I've swum in Lake Edward. Probably not the smartest thing I've done but I didn't catch any diseases and luckily nothing caught me.

[SUP Sports ®]

Coming from an underdeveloped country, he probably didn't have swimming skills:(  A leash probably would have saved his life.

Agreed on the leash...or, lack of...it would have given him a fighting chance...he certainly was an athlete with soccer skills...truly sad...
Not substantiated...but, I heard that he had a PFD...and, didn't know how to inflate it...

I've personally taught a Thai gal that didn't know how to swim...taking extra precautions to keep her in shallow water and build her confidence...she was SUPer stoked...

As the first dedicated SUP store in Santa Barbara...or, North America for that matter...we were the last to rent SUPs...and, most of our focus is still on demos rather than rentals...

We've taught over 4000 people how to safely standup paddle with personalized instruction...and, always advocated that it was irresponsible to rent boards to never-evers and novices without instruction...we've had discussions with the SB Harbor Master concerning this...we constantly see first timers paddling with paddles backwards...bad technique...clueless attempts to enter the surf...etc...we were once mistakenly called by the Harbor Patrol about a group of first time paddlers who were rented boards on a windsurfing day and got blown several miles downwind before being rescued with near hypothermia...again, totally irresponsible to send folks out in inclement weather for a few rental bucks...

On another note...it's totally shocking and disgusting that racist websites have plastered such nasty remarks about Davies on them...
I found this out by Googling his name...Davies had overcome a lot of adversity to graduate from Westmont last year...a highly rated Christian liberal arts college...

[Weeble]

Down in South FL we have a LOT of rental shops and "roving renters" that put a LOT of people out onto the waterways that don't know the area, don't know anything about water safety, how to paddle against wind or current, and sometimes who can't even swim.  In Fort Lauderdale especially, there are a lot of waterways that go thru the big fancy homes and the intracoastal (we are called the Venice of the Americas).  I've seen rental places set renters out on the New River, which runs thru downtown Fort Lauderdale to the intracoastal when the tide is just ripping.  While it is a beautiful place to paddle, it has high sea walls, and lots of traffic, especially mega yachts being towed in for repairs at a big marina further inland.  The river is great to paddle early mornings and at night, but not during the day.  I see so many close calls as they just push them out into it.  Anyway, we have rescued and sometimes even towed renters who were lost, lost their paddles, got swept in the current and couldn't fight it back, etc... back to either a dock where they could call the rental place, or back to the rental place.   These rental places put big people on small boards that don't have enough volume for them, and they put small people on big boards that can't handle the size.  The people end up having a really bad time and probably will never try SUP again.  So, when I am at a shop and they complain that the sport isn't growing and I see that they rent, I ask them if they actually try to make it a good experience for a newbie renter or if they just shove them out onto the water and bill them late fees when they have trouble making it back on time.... or at all.

[SUPlakes]

Sad news. It was a rental board, is it often the case with SUP fatalities?

I'm not sure where he rented from, but I learned to SUP in Santa Barbara.  There's a great shop by the marina and I believe their policy is you must wear an inflatable PFD and leash.  They also have plenty of wet suits. 

[Bulky]

I didn't know him personally but have several friends who were in his circle.  Very tragic and by all accounts preventable with just a little basic knowledge and simple equipment.  But the Zone really isn't the place where this message needs to be preached.  I've got a FB post in my head that I'm waiting to post after his memorial service next week.  We've had 2 fatalities and 4 rescues that could have easily ended that way off our coastline in the last month.  Not all SUP-related but similar in that casual recreational users were very unaware of risks they were taking.

[PonoBill]

Really sad. I can see by his face that he's someone I would have enjoyed knowing.

This is a small and relatively safe sport--even for inexperienced, leashless, no PFD beginners. It makes it all the more painful to lose anyone--because we all hear about it, and mourn the losses, both for the sport and just as caring humans. I'm still not totally bought off on the "leashes save lives" message, but it's probably the only safety tagline that would be effective. It would be good to accompany the message with entanglement warnings, but getting that word out would indeed saves some lives. Facebook is the proper place, though some general media effort might get results.

[Bulky]

Circling back to this thread. The memorial for the young man was held late last week so I posted this on FB last evening.

I've held off posting this out of respect, but before recent events fade from memory I do feel compelled: the local waters along the Santa Barbara coast are not particularly treacherous, but being on the ocean always involves risk that one needs to take into account. In the last two months we've had two tragedies and at least four rescues that could have easily ended the same way.

While I don't know much beyond media reports, in each case the individuals involved seemed to lack some important knowledge and very simple equipment that would likely have made for a very different outcome. I often get questioned about safety and risk--and appreciate people asking. I may look like I'm a guy in trunks just casually hopping on a board and paddling off out of sight, but I've always got a working safety plan for what I'm doing.

The ocean is a beautiful place and I highly recommend getting out there, but make sure you're informed and prepared. If you're EVER considering an outing or an activity and are unsure of whether you're going to be safe, PLEASE CONTACT ME and let's come up with a sound plan that allows you to get out there and enjoy yourself without getting into danger. Thanks.

I'll be interested to see if anyone takes me up on it.

[starman]

Well Bulky I would be shocked if anyone does ask your advise. Not because if it's value but because most people just don't want to hear it.

The wife and I were paddling up to Coal Oil yesterday and crossed paths with another couple headed the opposite direction. No leashes or PFD's. So my wife strikes up a conversation and mentions that a leash would be a good idea. Well I could tell that advise was ignored by the response. It was a thanks but no thanks type of reply and I sensed they felt no need for any safety advise as it was flat and sunny. What could go wrong?

So I guess the best one can do is make the effort to educate but don't feel bad if the advise is ignored.

[Bulky]

I agree, Starman.  I was sitting out on the bluffs at Coal Oil on Friday afternoon and watched 3 paddlers take off from the beach--no leashes or PFDs.  Watched them paddle around out by the kelp and get way spread out--far enough so that they may actually have been out of earshot and certainly couldn't have come to another's aid in any reasonable amount of time.  It was a calm day with pretty benign conditions and eventually they regrouped and came back in but the lack of awareness was clear.  I think many people are like them--significantly unaware of the risks they may be taking.  So yeah, I highly doubt my phone will ring much but here's hoping...

[Weeble]

Oh yes.. the "know it alls", LOL.  While we run into pure newbs that are looking for advice, and sometime help like I mentioned above... we sometimes run into "know it alls".  We've been out doing a working out paddle, and even some of us practicing drafting, etc.  And we'll approach some guy with no safety gear, paddle backwards, struggling, and on a board that he's too big for.  And the guy will wave us down, so we head over thinking he needs some help.  And instead, they'll start telling us that we all have our paddles backwards.  We have tried a few times, but we've learned there's no use in arguing or trying to teach folks like that.  These days we'll approach and ask if they need help, if they start with telling us what to do, we just keep going the way we were.

[SUP Sports ®]

Tangentially related to SUP...but, directly related to PFDs...and, water safety...

I was wind foiling at a lake up the coast on Monday...and, briefly chatted with a guy who was coming in with a Hobie Cat as I was launching...he seemed really frustrated and not stoked...stating that he thought the wind was too gusty...etc...my last impression of him was of him taking his sails down in kind of a huff and marching away...

Tragically, he drowned there on Thursday...he was not wearing a PFD...while the other two people on the Hobie that survived were wearing PFDs, when it flipped over...
It's a relatively small lake...and, seemingly anyone with decent swimming skills could certainly make it to shore...but, apparently not...

It also sucked that there were 2 PWC and a motor boat going full throttle in the area that we windsurf and paddle...speed limit is 5 mph...we yelled at them and they totally disregarded the admonition for them to slow down and observe the rules...a fisherman commented to me that they did the same thing at the marina when he was launching his Bass boat...turns out that they were rentals...and, the fisherman is filing a formal complaint...

Ironically, in the "how can this possibly happen?!?!" category...up in Wisconsin at Lake Mendota...a windsurfer was run over and killed by a rescue boat...the props chopped up his body and severed his arm...which the family is trying to recover because he was wearing a GPS and the authorities are withholding video...etc...so sad...Yu was a nuclear physicist working in medicine to save lives...

http://host.madison.com/wsj/news/local/family-seeks-records-in-death-of-windsurfer-on-lake-mendota/article_410907c4-ee87-5baf-9edd-6871e0889c8c.html

http://www.channel3000.com/news/windsurfer-killed-on-lake-mendota-idd-as-43-year-old-madison-man/526920001