Dear paddlewisers, it's at tragic incident for a WM paddler that reminds me of the death of an canadian olympic paddler in Hamburg, Germany. This is my unauthorized translation from Swedish. I paddle the same waters and there are informations here that are difficult to understand when it comes to type of kayak and rescue precautions (battery condition). I have no knowledge about the incident apart from what I have been able to read in URL's. The accident took place on the Vdnern, one of Sweden's largest lakes. Source "Multisport.se", tisdag 20 mars 2007 Experienced paddlers On friday 16 march Jonas planned to paddle a distancetrip from Fiskvik on Hammav via Arnv to Jdverv together with a 28 year old clubpal. Jonas and his pal were as "multisportlers" very used to paddle in the archipelago under all weather conditions. For this tip Jonas and his pal chose special sea safe kayaks and they were both wearing wetsuits on the underbody (ankle to navel) and whitewater pfd's with extra buoyancy. Record of the incident The trip started at 13:00 at Fiskvik more exact at Rdggerdsviken with Sdttersholmarna and Arnvns southwest point as target. Both paddlers enjoyed the trip with sunshine, mild wind and long pleasant swells for surfing. About 14:30 a wave suddenly capsizes Jonas kayak. Jonas acts properly and turns the kayak rather fast. He stays calm in the water until the first chock has settled and together with the pal that holds on to the kayak he tries to get up but a new wave capsizes the kayak and it becomes filled with water. The pal tells Jonas to take a waterproof sack from his kayak for extra buoyancy and dragging Jonas after he kayak they continues towards Arnvn. Jonas kayak sinks. About 14:40 is Jonas so much cooled down that he is unable to maintain his grasp to the kayak so the pal asks him to carefully ease himself up on top of the rear of his kayak. About 14:45 One km left for Arnvn when Jonas conditions deteriorate further and he slides of the pals kayak which courses this to capsize. Both paddlers are now in the water and together they swim towards land with the pals kayak for buoyancy. About 15:00 with about 500 meters left the pal has to help Jonas to stay with the kayak by attaching/tying his hands to the coaming. About 15:25 they reach a bank at the southwest end of Arnvn that's separated from Arnvn with 100 - 150 meters of water. The pal has to struggle to get Jonas up on the dry. He places the kayak so that it is easily seen from water and air. Jonas does not react when spoken to but reacts on pain. 15:26:41 emergency alert over telephone but the call is disconnected after a few seconds because of lack of battery power. The pal just succeeds in delivering part of the position information. The pal takes a quick feel on Jonas and runs around the island for 2 minutes to gain warmth. As he gets back to Jonas he uses his lips to sense the body temperature on the forehead, the stomach and the wrists. He feels the pulse, the strong pulse, the hands weak pulse the feet very week pulse. The pal has to take a decision based upon his assessment of the situation. He knows that Jonas is almost unconscious, he himself is heavily cooled down and has reduces motorical ability and he is not sure what the emergency service has heard about the position. The pal positions Jonas securely and tells him what he is about to do without any reaction from Jonas. He swims the 150 meters to Arnvn and then creeping and jumping follows the western edge. After about 2,5 km he reaches a cabin where he contacts emergency service to update the alarm. The firedepartment reaches Jonas on the bank with a little boat at the same time as his pal comes running back after his second alarm. The firefigters brings Jonas til Tyndsudden and the ambulance that is waiting Jonas Rappe was declared dead at the hospital 4 o'clock in the morning. Information from other sources: Drifting ice on the lake was a problem for search at sea The distance the pal (BR) had to run was 5 - 6 km, The firedepartments vehicle first headed for the wrong spot and got stuck in mud, then was redirected after the second call Police had called for a helicopter. The two pals were training 5 - 15 times a week. They were wearing gore-tex like jackets Regards Jens Viggo Moesmand Denmark *************************************************************************** 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/ ***************************************************************************Received on Mon Mar 26 2007 - 07:54:31 PDT
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