Re: [Paddlewise] A reminder to use the right gear ( or thanks for the rescue).

From: Kirk Olsen <kork4_at_cluemail.com>
Date: Tue, 07 Sep 2010 10:34:40 -0400
On Mon, 06 Sep 2010 17:16 -0700, "Mark Sanders"
<marksanders_at_sandmarks.net> wrote:
>   That is an interesting predicament!!
> 
> On 9/5/2010 5:39 PM, Kirk Olsen wrote:
> > The wind was blowing from the south west so we
> > headed up the coast, straight downwind, to Misery Island.
> >
> > His boat got parallel to the wind and
> > waves, then started to tumble along the surface.  He swam after the boat
> > but it was tumbling faster than he could swim (with his pfd on).  The
> > wind was strong enough that the boat would occasionally end up airborn
> > as it tumbled over the waves.  

Alas interesting doesn't solve it...

How would you stop a boat tumbling downwind...  Stopping the tumbling
boat with your hull will likely damage your boat and/or the boat which
is tumbling.

I don't paddle on the ocean with a throwbag, so that bit of potential
equipment isn't avaailable.

Making use of my tether, and jumping into the water downwind of his
boat, and upwind of my boat could be an option.  But I've been using a
paddle leash and I don't like the odds of using only one hand stopping a
tumbling boat.  I really don't want to leave my boat though - that seems
like its increasing the problem not decreasing it.  The leash is also on
the center of the boat so there's a good chance of one end of my boat
being upwind of me as the tumbling boat arrives.

One option that I've come up with is to paddle next to the end of the
boat, and grab the rudder, or stern - but that sounds very difficult ( I
would be working from a 17.5", 45 cm, beam boat).  Maybe put a paddle
face against one end of the tumbling boat and trying to rotate the
tumbling boat to be perpendicular to the waves instead of parallel.

Avoiding the situation is best, I would like to have a contingency plan
for when things go wrong...

Kirk



-- 
  Kirk Olsen
***************************************************************************
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 Tue Sep 07 2010 - 07:34:48 PDT

This archive was generated by hypermail 2.4.0 : Thu Aug 21 2025 - 16:31:43 PDT