[Paddlewise] A little local excitement

We had a small craft warning up for Juan De Fuca  Strait on Tuesday.
Warm temps inland assure a healthy funneling of wind in from the
Pacific. I wanted to go paddling after work down at Esquimalt Lagoon - a
fairly safe lee shore if you have back problems :-). I figured she would
go full Gale warning by mid afternoon, which it did. As my work day
progressed, my back seized up again, so I went to my kinesiologist after
work instead. I have been doing lots of Bulgarian push ups at his office
over the last few weeks, and also donkey kicks on the extension bench
and ham/glut bench extensions and hamstring stretches ( my
kayaking/cycling activities under develops these muscles, causing
imbalance and back pain). He has been pushing me very hard.

 I told the fellow I would rather be out in the gale that evening. He
asked me if I normally go out in this stuff. I said, "Yeah!". He shook
his head, mumbled something about torque and rotational strain from that
type of activity, then said he could not reduce my back spasms, so
released me for good from his office, and referred me on to an
osteopath. Wincing in pain and despair, I left. No help, no adventures
tonight, so go home to tell my children some adventure stories.

Just then a fire department rescue truck raced by the parking lot with a
Zodiac in tow. Oh boy, I said, bet some idiot kayaker capsized out
there, or perhaps a whole sculling team. When I arrived at the beach
behind the Zodiac, the CG Auxiliary already had the  bedraggled daring
duo in their large rescue Zodiac. The local boys seemed disappointed.
Turns out it was two board sailors, man and wife. They had been a ways
offshore, using parrafoil kites rather that regular sailboard sails, and
apparently had had some gear difficulties.

I walked up to the couple while the RCMP loaded their gear in his trunk.
The gal told me her "Nash" harness broke, and she was peed of, because
it was the second time. The kite had sailed away, leaving her at the
mercy of wind and tide. Her husband didn't seem to have a lot of
situational awareness. He just stated that she ordered him to forget
about her, and retrieve the expensive sail, which he obliged. Man, this
was a women after my own heart: cares more about her equipment, and
blamed the whole incident on faulty gear. My kinda girl!

I saw the TV news van coming down the road, and warned the couple. They
jumped in the police cruiser, and asked the officer to leave promptly,
which he did. The reporter was left to interview the local firefighter
only. I interrupted the interview, as per my usual "in their face"
attitude, and corrected the local rescue worker that it was not a broken
board sail, but rather a parrafoil kite that got away. The firefighter
then went on to say on camera his opinion about the number of people
doing outdoorsy things, and given the increased population density of
lower Vancouver Island, there were going to be more of these type of
incidents, but that this one had a good outcome.

I went home to my ice pack and Advil after waving to the waves,
wondering what would have happened had I been out their kayaking after
work. Could I have been in a position to have been of help (and had
another story for PW about kayakers helping mariners), or maybe I would
have been rescued my self, and needed a back stretcher. Oh well, I'll
hold on. He who runs away, lives to paddle another day. Adventure -- its
never very far away from me, or Vancouver Island.

BC' in Ya
Doug Lloyd (who gave his chiropractor a second chance tonight, and found
some relief finally during a triple length appointment, but I am now
under orders to behave for awhile)

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