I saw this posted on another discussion board. A short summary is this... 2 men a mile offshore in 2 foot waves. One capsizes, apparently wet-exits though the paper makes it sound like a roll at first. Loses control of boat while trying to empty water. Swimming after it fails. Partner tries to tow the swimmer through the water to nearby safety and makes no progress. Tries to get him up on his bow, and sees his eyes dialated. Only now does the swimmer put on a life jacket, given to him by the other paddler. Other paddler abandons him and goes for help. At this point, swimmer has been in the water 3 hours. No mention of a VHS, or signaling devices of any type. No mention of water temps. Body found next day. Sad story, but like all accident reports, there are lessons to be learned or reinforced for the rest of us. <http://www.thehollandsentinel.net/stories/091602/loc_091602001.shtml> http://www.thehollandsentinel.net/stories/091602/loc_091602001.shtml Rick - Poquoson, VA *************************************************************************** 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/ ***************************************************************************
----- Original Message ----- From: <Rick.Sylvia_at_ferguson.com> > A short summary is this... 2 men a mile offshore in 2 foot waves. One > capsizes, apparently wet-exits though the paper makes it sound like a roll at > first. Loses control of boat while trying to empty water. Swimming after it > fails. Partner tries to tow the swimmer through the water to nearby safety > and makes no progress. Tries to get him up on his bow, and sees his eyes > dialated. Only now does the swimmer put on a life jacket, given to him by > the other paddler. Other paddler abandons him and goes for help. At this > point, swimmer has been in the water 3 hours. No mention of a VHS, or > signaling devices of any type. No mention of water temps. Body found next > day. I read the article and am not certain that he did not have a life jacket on all the time. It said that the guy left him with one on. The big mistake was trying to troll his friend to shore, which it is basically what he was doing having him pulled along in the water at the end of line. This was sure to jack up the cold water effect as the forward motion would flush lots of cold water through his garments. Also, in effect, the fellow in the water was a sea anchor and that should have been obvious. He should have gotten him out of the water immediately as the Lakes do tend to stay cold. He could have had him spread eagle on the back of his boat. If the victim on the back deck made the kayak feel extraordinarily tippy he could have had the guy drop his legs into the water to lower the effective center of gravity and act as sort of outriggers. A one mile paddle back to shore would have taken an hour at most. By the time he had dragged his friend into a high state of hypothermia it was too late. At that point the fellow would not have been in shape to hang on to the bow. If they had tried the bow hanging on approach (with guy in water) from the very beginning (if being on the deck was too tippy) the paddling would have been quick and the exposure, in terms of time in the water, limited. ralph diaz *************************************************************************** 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/ ***************************************************************************
[Moderator's Note: Content unaltered. Excessive quoting (i.e. headers/footers/sig lines/comments from previous posts, etc.) have been removed. Please edit quoted material in addition to removing header/trailers when replying to posts.] I have found the water temps on the Great Lakes (read Lake Michigan) to be very deceiving. I live north of Chicago on the west shore of the lake. If there is a strong westerly, the water can get pretty cold, even in mid-summer. The converse is true with a wind from the east. I have been told that it has to do with the warm top water being pushed toward one shore or the other. The lesson here is to never trust what I saw or experienced yesterday. Recalibrate every time I go out. Tony -----Original Message----- From: ralph diaz Subject: Re: [Paddlewise] Michigan Kayaker dies from hypothermia The big mistake was trying to troll his friend to shore, which it is basically what he was doing having him pulled along in the water at the end of line. This was sure to jack up the cold water effect as the forward motion would flush lots of cold water through his garments. Also, in effect, the fellow in the water was a sea anchor and that should have been obvious. He should have gotten him out of the water immediately as the Lakes do tend to stay cold. He could have had him spread eagle on the back of his boat. If the victim on the back deck made the kayak feel extraordinarily tippy he could have had the guy drop his legs into the water to lower the effective center of gravity and act as sort of outriggers. A one mile paddle back to shore would have taken an hour at most. ralph diaz *************************************************************************** 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/ ***************************************************************************
> I read the article and am not certain that he did not have a > life jacket on > all the time. It said that the guy left him with one on. I re-read that piece of the article with Ralph's observation in mind. My mistake - I also now think he had one on. The article said; "Koskus said Heil's hands dropped from the boat and he slipped into the water, unresponsive. He said that he was unable to grab Heil and made the decision to leave him in the water, with a life jacket on, and seek help." Well, if Heil was unresponsive, and Koskus was unable to grab him, her certainly couldn't have given Heil a PFD or put it on him. I must have read too quickly. Rick *************************************************************************** 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/ ***************************************************************************
From: "ralph diaz" <rdiaz_at_ix.netcom.com> > This was sure to jack up the cold water effect as the forward > motion would flush lots of cold water through his garments. What's important to note is that the surface temperature of the southern Great Lakes is rather warm these days - many folks wouldn't hesitate to jump in for a swim. http://coastwatch.glerl.noaa.gov/cwdata/lct/glsea.gif is a web site I check accasionally - it shows a graohical representation of the surface temps. Only Lake Superior looks cold. Dressing for extended submersion remains critical even if you can swim in a bathing suit in the same water. Mike *************************************************************************** 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/ ***************************************************************************
For respect for the family, friends and mourners, I hesitate to ask any more details. If there is a write up later on, this would be an informational to other kayakers, especially those starting out in the Upper MidWest U.S.A area. Note: If my memory serves me correct, a little over three years ago on a warm but very windy day in June, air temperature in the 70s, wind gust over 30 MPH), two kayakers also perished from hypothermia on Lake Michigan off of Door County on the Green Bay side. And the water is slightly warmer in Summer on the Green Bay side (large, enclosed bay). There was an article published in Sea Kayaker magazine about one year later, the following March. I believe John Andrew wrote this article or contributed to it. As a student in a Wilderness First Aid class then, I mentioned and discussed this article during the class (I was a student). I have also mentioned this to beginning kayakers; too many have expressed surprise or astonishment. Since this is in the local area (I live in Minnesota), the occurrence in a nearby area surprises them. Before I read the book (and continue to re-read) , Sea Kayaker In Deep Trouble, I, too, would had been surprised. I was one of those people who would easily swim in Lake Michigan in September (and did when I worked over at Door County). I was stunned when I read of the kayakers perishing three years ago, short story in the newspaper. I day sailed in that area in small Sunfish (board like sailboat) while much younger, and never once thought about hypothermia (water is warm enough for swimming, why would I worry). At least in my opinion, this is not dwelling on a tragedy, but rather educating the uninformed. If family, friends, or mourners read this posting and are upset, I apologize. From: "ralph diaz" <rdiaz_at_ix.netcom.com> > This was sure to jack up the cold water effect as the forward > motion would flush lots of cold water through his garments. What's important to note is that the surface temperature of the southern Great Lakes is rather warm these days - many folks wouldn't hesitate to jump in for a swim. http://coastwatch.glerl.noaa.gov/cwdata/lct/glsea.gif is a web site I check accasionally - it shows a graohical representation of the surface temps. Only Lake Superior looks cold. Dressing for extended submersion remains critical even if you can swim in a bathing suit in the same water. Mike *************************************************************************** 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/ ***************************************************************************
Besides being that far from shore and capsizing in the first place, I'd say the first real mistake in this incident was in letting the victims kayak get away from him. Since there were two of them and the victim had a PFD on, the next mistake (from the point of view of hindsight) may have been in not chasing down the victims kayak and bringing it back to him. This would be a no-brainer if there were at least three paddlers present but would have required some quick but considered decisions given only two paddlers. How far away had it blown? Could the paddlers stay in visual contact while the one still in a kayak went to get the victims kayak? Possibly they were some distance apart at the time of capsize or the waves were big enough they didn't want to risk getting separated. The victim may have wanted to remain clinging to his friends kayak rather than feel he was being left alone as the kayaker chased the capsized kayak. Any delay in making this choice makes the "chase down the kayak" option that much harder too employ. A quickly deployed towing system would make this an even more attractive option, although a paddler without any way to attach the kayak and tow it could probably at least stop the drift of the escaping kayak so the victim could swim to it if they got to it fairly soon after it escaped. Towing a fully immersed swimmer with a towline or the stern toggle of a kayak usually works on a river when you have only a few dozen feet to traverse to shore (and plenty of time to do it before the next rapid), but even that is grueling work so it is just not going to work where any significant distance needs to be covered. Carrying the victim on the back deck (as several have suggested) would be the best alternative if getting the victims boat back to him was not a good possibility. However, unless the paddler still in the boat is fairly confident in their bracing and rolling ability it may be scary for them to let the victim climb up on their deck (as the potential rescuer doesn't want to get into the same situation that the victim is so graphically demonstrating to them). Some kayaks with especially high or V'ed back decks might also make this choice much more difficult. Without the ability to summon outside help and his kayak too far gone, the laying over the back deck/straddle approach was probably the only chance the victim of this incident had of making it to shore alive in that situation. Since the victim (without any hypothermia protection) was still alive after three hours the water couldn't have been real cold. If I recall correctly, Steve Landick hauled Verlen Kruger several miles, draped across his back deck in under 50 degree F. water on the Oregon Coast. They got to just outside the surf line and were trying to figure out how to get the by now incapacitated Verlen through the surf just before a helicopter summoned by their (only a few days old and stored where it wasn't that easy to get to) EPIRB arrived to pick him up. Verlen's slippery hull had slipped from his grasp after he capsized and wet exited during a storm. Steve had a real fight just getting turned around and back to Verlen. Chasing down his rapidly disappearing craft was out of the question. Luckily for Verlen, Steve was a kayaker as well as a canoe paddler and had a kayak paddle he could get to (so he had better bracing during the long haul in 50 mph winds to shore). I'd suggest that a stern carry be part of every paddlers next rescue practice so you will be less afraid of using it if it becomes the only viable alternative. Matt Broze http://www.marinerkayaks.com *************************************************************************** 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/ ***************************************************************************
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