Re: [Paddlewise] kayaker presumed dead at MALIBU, Calif.

Doug,





I've heard a little more detail about the 2 kayakers off Malibu, CA.
Supposedly, they jumped on this SOT to rescue a boat that had blown off of the
beach. This is interesting because there are no rental facilities at Dan
Blocker Beach.





The "surprise" of the winds might have been that since these were Santa Anna
winds they were blowing off shore instead of on.





Personally, my feeling is that these guys were not experienced paddlers and
just decided to try and enjoy a warm day. There are a number of recreational
paddlers who go out not wearing PFD's. The fact that they were in T shirts and
shorts sounds like they haven't been to the beach in the winter time. I don't
think the water was the 48 degrees that was reported, but even 57 degree water
is too cold to swim in without a wet or a dry suit.





Although flares are difficult to see during the day, they didn't have any, no
VHF, only a cell phone and cell phone reception in that area is spotty. In my
opinion, they were totally unprepared for any conditions especially with the
winds we have been seeing. 





Several of us tried to hold a rescue practice this last Sunday and found that
it took us over 1/2 hour to paddle 1/2 mile to our practice area. The winds
were too strong to keep from blowing us onto the beach or the rocks so we
opted to do a paddle inside of the harbor. One of the group had a digital wind
meter and it registered 32 knots *inside* the harbor at one point. I
"guesstimated" at 30 - 35 before I knew we had a wind meter with us. We all
felt we should have gone to a restaurant instead and we are experienced
paddlers.





Steve Holtzman


  ----- Original Message ----- 


  From: Doug Lloyd 


  To: Jackie Fenton ; PaddleWise_at_paddlewise.net 


  Sent: December 11, 2001 12:50 PM


  Subject: Re: [Paddlewise] kayaker presumed dead at MALIBU, Calif.








  you said:


  Not making excuses for the kayakers but it's possible they may have been





  "surprised" by the winds...


  --------------


  I still have a hard time understanding, or perhaps comprehending, why


  recreational paddlers venture out without adequate forecast information


  (unless they are purposely looking for challenging conditions, with due


  experience). The incident also, in my mind, demonstrates once again the


  notion that a double kayak is a liability in the hands of untrained


  paddlers when conditions marginalize or deteriorate beyond skill levels.


  In this case, it was double jeopardy, with the remaining paddler unable


  to negotiate the bigger double in order to coordinate rescue. I may be


  missing something here, however.





  With the unusual wind activity this fall, things are really churning up


  around Vancouver Island (lots of fishboats sinking). We have had a few


  paddle incidents again. The latest one was both fortunate and


  unfortunate. A sea kayak was found bouncing around off the Victoria (Oak


  Bay) waterfront in some very nasty conditions (I didn't even go out). A


  very expensive two day search ensued, until finally the paddler whose


  kayak had been BLOwN OFF HIS DOCK noticed it missing (alerted by the


  news report of a drifting kayak the next day). The CG was not impressed,


  and pleaded with paddlers to put some identification in or on their


  kayaks or canoes. At least no one was actually missing in this case,


  though the tone of the news story suggested the Coast Guard wanted to


  "kill somebody".  :-)





  Doug Lloyd





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