[Paddlewise] Unofficial account of Andrew's accident

Paddlewise,

As promised below is my account of some of the circumstances of Andrew's
accident. It comes from an evening a group of us spent with Paul Hewitson
working through some of the audio and video tapes and the information Paul
could provide. Its not intended as a substitute for a proper enquiry but is
a kayakers perspective. It has been reviewed by Paul and comes with Paul and
Vicki's permission.

Best wishes to all of you, PeterO


ACCOUNT FOLLOWS


The following is a summary of a discussion held on Friday 16th March 2007.
Paul Hewitson brought us together and presented the information he had
discovered. Paul is very familiar with Andrew's technology and the
circumstances of his voyage. Our purpose was to try and understand the
circumstances of Andrew McAuley's tragic death and discover whatever could
be learnt for the benefit of the sea kayaking community.

This isn't an official report just my recollection. The meeting was attended
by about 15 guides and trainers of the NSWSKC some of whom knew Andrew very
well. And of course Paul Hewitson who knew Andrew very well indeed. I've run
this past Paul to see if there was anything that needed to be corrected and
it comes to you with his and Vicki's permission.


THE VIDEOCLIPS AND VOICE RECORDINGS
Andrew's comments in the video clips taken during the trip showed he was
finding it extremely tough. Andrew normally would not complain about a trip
being hard. He would isolate his mind from the stress and keep acting very
logically. It was a characteristic his hard core paddling friends have
commented on frequently. However, on this occasion even when Andrew sounded
'down' he always had something positive to say about the 'adventure'. The
voice recordings and text messages throughout the trip indicated Andrew was
thinking logically and maintaining his motivation, albeit recognising the
dangers he was facing.

The recording OF Andrew's distress signal was considerably longer than the
fragment released to the press. It took our group a few minutes to
understand because of high background noise and distortion. However,
Andrew's speech seemed coherent although difficult to hear through the
noise. In response to repeated requests from the coast guard he several
times replied his kayak was sinking and he needed help. I didn't hear him
call Mayday it may not have been received from the start of his transmission
and that may be why the coastguard asked him to repeat his request. They
would also have had difficulty understanding what he was saying through the
noise. The last words we heard sounded like 'Its gone' and were at lower
volume than the previous transmission. Paul's interpretation, was that
Andrew was holding on to the boat and a VHF radio and lost his grip on the
kayak while he was talking. He may then have dropped the radio deliberately
in attempting to regain the boat. This interpretation made sense to all of
us.


THE STATE OF THE BOAT
The kayak was self righting when the cockpit canopy was clamped over the
cockpit i.e. in the sleeping position. However it was  difficult to roll
with the cockpit canopy positioned on the rear deck, Andrew capsized three
times earlier in the trip and had managed to right the boat each time. The
kayak had an outrigger with inflatable float deployed when found. Andrew may
have been using it in an attempt to reenter the boat, or he may have
deployed it to stabilise the boat before the accident after he had stopped
paddling for the day.

The paddle was tethered, assembled and in the water when found, indicating
that the accident occurred while Andrew was awake and not in the resting
position. While Andrew slept the paddles would have been disassembled and in
the cockpit.

There were several patches of large barnacles on the hull.

There was food for about a week and 10 litres of desalinated water left in
the boat. Likewise Andrew's course was very close to that planned. All this
indicated that Andrew was very much in control of his day to day planning,
paddling and operations.

The 406MHz EPIRB was located inside a pocket in the side of the cockpit.

Photographs taken throughout the trip show the cord around Andrews neck and
it is believed this was the cord for his 406MHz EPIRB. Andrew had a tether
and used it when swimming to the front hatch when retrieving food. Its not
known if Andrew wore the tether routinely while in the kayak.


INTERPRETATION
The fact that the tether and EPIRB remained in the boat and that the
accident occurred in the late afternoon or evening suggests that Andrew may
have been preparing for the night, changing clothes, or sending his daily
text message log when something, probably a wave, hit his boat and knocked
it over. Andrew may have opened the hatch at the rear of the cockpit to take
out his immersion suit or to search for an essential item (VHF radio?
Tether?) Its not clear whether he opened the hatch before or after the
capsise, Paul suggests probably after as it would have been very difficult
to access the hatch from the sitting position, keeping in mind the hatch is
in the rear bulkhead. Paul's interpretation; from examining the boat, the
coastguard's audio recording and particularly his cry 'Its gone' at reduced
volume; was that Andrew was holding on to the boat and a VHF radio and lost
his grip on the boat while operating the radio. He may then have dropped the
radio deliberately in attempting to regain the boat. This interpretation
seems likely to us.

Paul and the whole group felt that Andrew was using the best judgement he
could. Particularly if he was changing clothes at the time of the accident.
Paul emphasised that wearing a tether when at sea (and not coming in through
surf) was a key message. It was very easy to understand the removal of the
tether and EPIRB when changing clothes but I came away with the sense that
they need to be on all the time no matter what.

Another message I took away is that if ever in such trouble to repeat the
word Mayday 3x at the start of the message, every time you hit the transmit
key. The first occasion can easily be missed.

Hind sight is too easy! Andrew is one of the very few people I know who
could keep their head after weeks of sleep deprivation and extreme hardship
and the recordings throughout his voyage amply demonstrate this right to the
end.


Peter Osman
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