[Paddlewise] Lost at Sea while Sailing

(Back on PW again...twice as big, twice as ugly.)

I participated in a paddlefest this weekend on Vancouver Island. The
weather was poor (pouring!?) with strong winds from a low pressure
trough sweeping over the island. Attendance wasn't spectacular. Andree
Hurley was up from Warshigton State covering the ACA model,  fellow
PW'er Kirby Stevens was hocking his excellent Coast Recreational maps (I
have all of them, love 'em - want more coverage), and  Dave didn't punch
me out - God bless him. I could have been on a week long CRCA course,
the first of its kind in western Canada to introduce a BCU style
national scheme into Canada, but I elected to remain a "free agent", not
bound by rules and politics, and so I gave a lecture on loading kayaks
at the PF instead -- including, gear, outfitting boats, safety and
layout, etc. I notice paddlefests don't have the same "punch" and sense
of wonderful expectation by the participants as they used to a few years
ago. Not sure what your experience is with them of late in the good ol'
USA.

Anyway, I was in everyone's face as usual about tethers, VHF radios,
cell phones, flares, CG minimum safety requirements, etc. I always feel
guilty giving these talks, as most are non-tech newbies, or not even
paddlers at all, and there is always a little bit of a shocked look on
faces when I mention how dangerous the dynamic sea can be and bring out
the gear. The people who ask me to do these talks are trying to sell as
many boats to as many people as they can, I'm sure, and want a
"balanced" presentation -- not melodrama.

A newsmagazine reporter interviewed me a bit later for a follow-up
piece, and concurred with me that I was doing the correct thing. The
reporter mentioned that she had heard that the Coast Guard Aux., who
were giving beach support, were actually called away to a real rescue.
It flew over the top of my head. I found out today that the CG have been
looking for a kayaker missing in Georgia Strait since this past Friday.

Details are sketchy, but it would appear an older man was attempting to
kite sail his boat from Lesquiti Island to Comox - a fair crossing
exposed to wind and tide (one of the well know deadly combination area's
on our coast -- I've been in the ferry when it broadsided and we all saw
deep sea-green on the heeled-over side through the window, barf,barf).
The kayak was found upright, kite deployed, paddler missing. The kayak
had drifted into an area near Cortes Island,  they figure, after he fell
out. No sign of him as of Monday night.

Someone gave me a number of a man fitting his description a few weeks
ago. He wants to circumnavigate the Queen Charlotte Islands, and
regularly crosses Georgia Strait with his kite and kayak. I'm in the
process of trying to convince him to poke out of QC City instead, and
explore the west coast in chunks, rather than commit to a long run
around. He is not highly experienced, and cannot roll. My heart raced
when I heard the news about the missing kayaker today, thinking it could
be this man. I phoned him immediately, but  it wasn't him -- he was
fine, and has been more cautious since talking to me, and was really
paying attention to this recent incident I had just mentioned. (He still
isn't sure about the QC's).

Anyway, that's what kind of day I had. I've talked to the CG at length
about the missing kayaker, and will follow-up with SK magazine if they
want the story (there have been a few sailing fatalities while kayaking,
and the issue needs coverage in my opinion, so I'll be a good boy and
hang on to all the other details I have so far. If anyone has any
further information about the incident, please let me know via
back-channel, or whatever.

I feel better about preaching the hard-line safety-tech talk now -
though it is unfortunate it takes tragedies for me to feel better about
myself and tether articles and other such things that I preach the
gospel about, but are often non-conformist to established sea kayak
training regimes and the proclivities of many instructor trainer types
involved with these germane schemes. Geesh I'm weird!

BC'in Ya
Doug Lloyd

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