[Paddlewise] Kayak Fatality off Victoria

Sunday, April 13 proved to be on the stormy side, with gales predicted
at 30- to 40-knots out of the west. Two paddlers in recreational kayaks
were apparently drinking and having a good time in the waves. They both
had PFD's but one had placed his down in the bow, while the other was
using his as a seat cushion. The two were supposedly heading out of
Gonzales bay toward Trial Island. A witness phoned police, indicating
that these two guys appeared to be in trouble, maybe, but had not gone
in the water yet. I believe the police were on the way for a visual
check. A local TV camera crew were in the area and picked up on the
ensuing incident. The first victim finally capsized. Unbelievably, the
second male paddler bailed out on purpose, believing he could swim
faster to the aid of his buddy, rather than paddle over. He tried to
hold on to his friend, but the older paddler finally slipped out of the
friend's grasp, as he slid into unconsciousness. This particular paddler
has not resurfaced, nor been recovered yet. A rescue helicopter out of
Washington State joined in the search.

The remaining paddler screamed for help until it arrived. Most of this
was captured by the camera crew and provided Victorian's with a
unfortunately skewed version of what kayaking is supposed to be about.
Neither paddlers had any training, neither had any distress signals or
communication devices. Neither paddlers had spray skirts or proper
floatation. The survivor was rushed to ER with hypothermia, and remained
unable to tell his story to the authorities for a while.

I phoned a marine controlled who provided me with the above report. I
have not seen the local paper, though I did catch the tail end of the
story on the evening news (it was almost live coverage). I'm not sure if
anyone has different information, or will send a post in this next PW
digest. Due to the alcohol issue, I'm not going to be digging any deeper
into this story.

I was not on the water yesterday due to a two-week zinc plaster
soft-cast for my problematic graft that I can't get wet, and I'm also
suffering unrelenting arrhythmia's right now. I would have loved to have
been out yesterday, and can often be found out of Gonzales Bay on a
westerly blow. So are many of my friends. Too bad someone wasn't there
to render immediate assistance, though even the Coast Guard were shaking
their heads at this one with that "Darwin Award" sigh. The closing
comment was, as usual, "Why don't you people wear your PFD's!"

So, as I said last week, spring must be here. It's incident time again.
And to Dr Chuck Sutherland who predicted more recreational kayak deaths
in our local waters in a post a few months back, you can say  "I told
you so!"

Doug (who takes a beating and keeps on ticking - just too many beats
however!)  :-)

***************************************************************************
PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed
here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire
responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author.
Submissions:     PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net
Subscriptions:   PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net
Website:         http://www.paddlewise.net/
***************************************************************************