Re: [Paddlewise] landing a victim through surf

Dan Volker wrote:
> 
> If you were faced with really terrible surf to enter, your best way in would
> be with a good mask, fins and snorkel---I'm not saying it would always be
> fun, but 12 footers are not much challenge in this manner---and this is easy
> to store as emergency or fun to use type gear.  As fas as dragging a nearly
> unconscious person wth you, I'd do this with mask and fins LONG before I'd
> try it on a kayak. 
[snip]
This has been a great thread, and Dan's suggestion seems the one I'd feel most comfortable with. 
His method dispenses with the boat(s) -- which I think are an invitation to serious injury if the
victim is incapacitated, *even slightly.*

I have one caveat:  negotiating large surf is not something to be attempted for the first time with
a victim.  Dan must have a lot of experience with big stuff, based on the detail in his answer. 
(Eons ago I did a lot of body surfing with fins, etc., in largish stuff.)  Others have emphasized
that serious lifeguarding skills are needed to assist a "dead weight" through surf.  I'm sure Dan
agrees with that, also.

Those contemplating adding fins, mask, and snorkel to their rescue kit should build in a hundred
hours or so of *focused* use under "battlefield" conditions.  Even six-foot surf can really
disorient newcomers -- fins and mask, or not.

Thanks to Julio for starting this.
-- 
Dave Kruger
Astoria, OR

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