Re: [Paddlewise] Kayakers helping others

>From: Mr Doug Lloyd <dlloyd_at_telus.net>
SNIP The report
>the other day about the kayaker rescuing a swimmer has given me a
>positive focus amidst the negativity of accident investigation work. I
>just can't let go of that positive affirmation indicated through the
>Kelowna lake incident that John posted. There must be some other good
>stories out there about paddlers who have serendipitously come along to
>aid some stricken soul. How about sharing some more positives? Please
>feed Dougie.
SNIP

Hi Doug,

I think I've mentioned these two incidents over the years on the list, but 
they may be fresh to newer PaddleWisers, (and I claim the privilege of an 
"old salt" to bore the drypants off the newer folks with "Did I ever tell 
you about the time…?"):

1. About a decade ago on I was winter paddling on Lake Ontario. 2-3 foot 
breaking waves, air temperature low enough that I had to periodically chip 
destabilizing ice from the front and rear deck. In the distance out to sea I 
saw what I thought was a fellow kayaker. As I approached, it turned out to 
be a dismasted wind surfer, attempting to paddle back to shore with only his 
bare mast. The wind was driving him past a point after which land would have 
been unreachably far away. With a combination of me towing, and him paddling 
with my spare paddle, we paddled on a ferry angle, reaching shore just as he 
was becoming semi-conscious with hypothermia. A buddy of his had noticed his 
street clothes in his car, and had alerted the emergency response folks, so 
we were greeted by ambulances and firemen. One of the firemen, not clear 
that I was an assister rather than an assistee, thought I was delirious with 
cold and tried to prevent me from putting back out to sea.

2. In the Broken Islands Group, I encountered a pair of goose-neck barnacle 
harvesters who had anchored their skiff off a reef, then run the boat 
ashore, casting it off again with a line from the boat to the shore so that 
the breakers would not beat the boat to pieces on the rock. They lost the 
line from ship to shore, and were lucky that my paddling buddy happened to 
be looking their way as they fired their only flare. The current round the 
reef was so strong I couldn't straighten out the line from the boat enough 
to reach the reef again, so I put a bolan in the end of it, clipped in my 
throw/tow line and got it to the stranded fishermen on the second try. They 
then hauled in their boat. (In the course of this, I had to approach the 
reef close enough that I put a scrape in the gelcoat in my kayak, which I 
consider an honourable battle scar.)From where my buddy and I camped that 
night, we could see the tide completely cover the reef. The boaters had 
Mustang suits, but they would not have been able to swim in them, and the 
currents and wind were running out to sea.

3. Just last year, one of the two folks I was with on a trip in the Gulf 
Islands had pulled his kayak ashore to ah, pump his personal bilges, when he 
was hailed by a passing sailboat, which wanted to know "What island is 
this?" (translation: "Where the hell are we?").  I'm accustomed to giving 
directions to tourists in the city, but at sea?

Though at the moment I have what might be considered a "credit balance" in 
the assistance given/assistance taken books, I don't get smug about it; that 
could change on my next trip. I know I've gotten myself in situations where 
it was good luck rather than good management that got me through, and I was 
a hair's breadth away from needing help from others. Though not all other 
boaters see me that way, I try to consider myself and the other boaters as 
all part of the brotherhood and sisterhood of the sea.


Philip Torrens
N49°16' W123°06'
(PS Welcome back to the list Doug, and when did you become a "Mr" - getting 
formal in your old age?)

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