They were several miles offshore. Conditions were quite bad, with lots of wind. The video is deceiving in this respect. I assume they could not have landed on shore because the surf was huge. Obviously, they should not have put to sea in these conditions. Apparently they also lost some equipment (paddles?), but that will become clearer later. They told us that conditions were bad enough that each one capsized. One rolled and the other had to be put back in his kayak. They are fairly experienced guys. Gadi has done BCU 5 star training twice in Wales, and has done an expedition on the west coast of Ireland. Albert is a very strong paddler, although less experienced than Gadi. But they were in over their heads. It in unclear why they put to sea, but I think it was -- nearly fatal -- impatience. It is clear that on this expedition they were in over their heads. They were rescued about 2.5 hours after activating their PLB. They also were in contact via VHF. They were in good health, and declined a helicopter rescue in order to save their kayaks. I believe they were given this option. As for the fishing vessel, they do deserve a lot of credit, although I would say that they took time out of earning a living to save someone's l-i-f-e, not their vacation. BTW, this was referred to by the USCG as a "Good Samaritan" vessel. Is this a certain legal status of a vessel coming to the rescue, or does it simply mean that a crew of good will has decided to lend a helping hand. Josh On 3 Aug 2009, at 16:18, Nick Schade wrote: > It would be interesting to know why they called for a rescue. The > conditions don't look particularly bad (rare white caps), the > paddlers are upright in their boats. They appear to have their > paddles. They are safely rafted up, appear to be dressed for > immersion. It looks like they should have been able to save > themselves, but we don't know the whole circumstances. More > information would be useful. > > A lot of credit should go to the fishing vessel that took time out > of earning a living to save someone's vacation. > Nick > > > On Aug 3, 2009, at 7:13 AM, Joshua Teitelbaum wrote: > >> Two friends of mine, fairly experienced kayakers both, were rescued >> this week off the coast of Alaska. God bless the USCG! >> >> Link to video footage >> >> http://cgvi.uscg.mil/media/main.php?g2_itemId=624321 >> >> >> Josh Teitelbaum >> Terra Santa Kayak Expeditions >> Herzliya, Israel *************************************************************************** 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 Aug 03 2009 - 06:40:01 PDT
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