Drift from piper's to gabriola on October 27

[aquaman]

I want to start by expressing my gratitude in those who assisted me and made calls to CG.(Thank you Dave M!).
A few have suggested I post my experience from last Sunday at Pipers Lagoon. Wind was from the NW blowing slightly offshore gusting into the low 30's. The conditions were at the limit of my ability. I consider myself an intermediate .(Water start ,foot straps,harness,etc but jibes rarely happen).i hit the water just after noon and after about 15 minutes as I was coming back towards the beach a gust caused me to catapult which as a learner I,m used to but my landing on the sail caused it to tear from the leech to the mast about a foot above the boom. I tried to water start but there was just too little sail area now. After a few failed attempts I tried to up haul but with the waves that was not working either. By this point I was getting pretty tired and starting drift down wind considerably. I de-rigged and tried to paddle to shore but with the waves and slight off shore wind I was not making headway.
After drifting for another hour or so I kept a close eye on the entrance to departure bay hoping to see the CG aux. boat but they never came. There were ferries and a couple of freighters heading to duke point but I was never close enough for them to spot me. After several hours I decided to ditch my rig in order to make better headway and to land on a safe bay just east of the ferry dock shortly before 4 pm. A nice couple walking on the beach took me to their house and lent me a shower and a change of clothes.
The CG finally called me at shortly after 6 pm, just as I arrived back at Piper's to retrieve my van. Since Sunday I have been gathering information from various sources and generally recovering from this misadventure . I am grateful to be intact and humbled by the experience and outreach from the local windsurfing community. I look forward to sharing any updates that emerge to ultimately promote and improve safety for everyone enjoying the wind and water.

[more force 4]

Wow Aquaman, thanks for sharing, you lived through our collective nightmare scenario. Only things worse would be No land downwind at all, night, freezing temps etc. but there was quite enough there already to finish you off if you hadn't done the right things. As winter gets closer we're at risk of the others. Sounds like you made some good decisions, like ditching the rig at the appropriate time. The lack of Coast Guard or other rescue boat response concerns me hugely. I wonder if carrying a VHF or Spot would make much difference in that hopefully actually talking to you might get a response. But radios have poor range when at surface or partly submerged.

Can't do much about the sail ripping except to not sail really old stuff that might have uv damage I've sailed lots with tuck tape rigs and knew there is an associated risk. I don't know how old your sail was maybe it was just a hard fall? I've had big rips and holes but each time was lucky enough to still have enough sail left to water start and sail back. Your wetsuit must have been excellent, to not be completely incapacitated after 3 or 4 hours of swimming.

I hope this hasn't turned you off the sport and that we'll see you out there!

[voodmon]

The ocean is a harsh mistress, one who must be obeyed! Glad that our community stood by you and noticed that you were missing. I have sailed Pipers a couple of times, but that was years ago, it is not a good place to mess up unless you know the spot intimately. Some advice from a guy who has been there and done that from cape hatteras to here and more, talk to locals and don't go out if it is above your ability, stoke is great, but after 33 years of windsurfing I am still here and sometimes I sit it out and just watch, something you may learn from. We are a good bunch and always look out for each other as you are now aware of, the last thing you want is being out there in the dark in the water with broken gear, trust me I have been there. Always file a flight plan with someone and check in when you get home.cheers, Sail safe.

[JL]

Thanks for sharing Aquaman. It sounds like you received exactly what you needed (shower & dry clothing) See you on the water

[downwind dave]

that's a serious swim, glad it worked out in the end. whats up with the CG coming out to Dallas rd when a kites down for 10 minutes, but a dude down at Pipers has to swim for 4 hours! Anyway moral of the story to me is take offshore wind very seriously, and dress for the worst scenario.

[KUS]

There are those that receive funding, training and equipment and love the idea of being life savers. While I appreciate that things are not always fool proof, I am shocked at reports that there was no search initiated in a timely way to get you out of the water.....WTF is up with that?
We do try to police ourselves and take as much care as reasonable but are relatively powerless on shore without a powerboat, kayak, helicopter etc. so rely on our rescue systems to work. There have been many threads on this and downwinder adventures have again highlighted some of this stuff.
I understand CG were called repeatedly and we need to follow up what happened and why there was insufficient response or late response. This needs to be elevated Yes, there are things to improve on our group's front but S%$t happens, this is not a 3rd world country, our funded system needs to work.

I am pissed but perhaps there WAS a response and it just wasn't successful. I worked in this environment for years and from what I could tell on site, there was a serious screw up. Please someone who has Nanaimo contacts forward this thread link to the local SAR or CG aux. unit We need some feedback on this. Maybe something on our end can be improved. There have been a few suggestions but this scenario is all too familiar. There WAS a buddy, it WAS noted there was a problem, it WAS reported repeatedly, the potential search area WAS well defined and reviewable.... and things could have easily resulted in a fatal.

Again, WTF

EDIT:
Station Leader: Mike Banning
E-Mail:

Mail Address:
N.M.R.S.
Box 134, #4 - 1150 N. Terminal Ave.
Nanaimo, BC, V9S 5L6

Royal Canadian Marine Search and Rescue - Station 27 Nanaimo

[jim mckenzie]

I confer with Dave on the offwind sailing. It's common to see these days on freestyle and slalom videos but it's a bad idea in our cold waters. It's good you weren't injured when you crashed through your sail. After struggling for a long time, you must have been exhausted. I'm curious, were you wearing a life jacket?

[KUS]

Aquaman, learning opportunity for us all, trying to improve our end:

-need to know how to body drag well, works even in light winds or with blown sail or partially broken mast
-know the tide, current direction so you don't fight it on way in paddling or dragging
-update sails/masts/booms/universal for winter sailing, I just chucked another cracked rubber universal, don't trust old alu booms
-carry a spare rope, radio is helpful, don't have one anymore myself tho
-sounds like you have a great suit, got my 6:4 out now
-good you spoke with locals before going out or someone noticed you
-reflectives /hi viz colors on helmet/suit
-extra floatation, impact or floater vest, I carried a couple of orange water wings for a while you can slip onto the rig so you don't lose it and provides viz for rescuers
-limit out on the conditions, it was pretty knarly for an intermediate, should have maybe stayed in the bay

Hindsight is 20/20 Glad you got in

[DavidM]

kUS, Search/Rescue and RCMP are having a debriefing regarding this serious incident. The debriefing is to be on 06 Nov2013 at the Nanaimo RCMP Detachment an is to determine how their communications were crossed and how things can be improved in the future so this sort of thing does not happen again.
The debriefing will include all the stake holders including the Person who should have been rescued, Search/Rescue, RCMP, persons reporting the sighting as well as observers. The Search/Rescue operations manager is coming up from Victoria to attend.
We will try to keep everyone updated regarding things we can do to be sure we are believed when there is conflicting information coming from other sources. Ie. someone reporting in another location saying he was back up and happily sailing and calling the search off.
And I know you were there that day and witnessed the tail end of the issue. Ie missing windsurfers van still in the lot and reporting he was still not accounted for.

[DavidM]

And it would have been so easy for Rescue to have come out from departure bay and intercept him as he pasted Stevenson point.
I had first thought that this was the case when they said he was ok and the RCMP Officer at Pipers said they were going to meet him when he came in and be sure he was alright. I thought that this was happening all way down wind ie Stevensons Point or Departure Bay. When I saw that he didn't return to his van in a timely manner I became very worried that this was not the case and he was still out there.

I was not prepared to try to do a rescue on my windsurfer. When he was noticed he was way to far down wind, my board was too small for that, my sail was too big for that and the condition were at my limit. I guess I should have tried, but I may of very well ended on Gabrolia as well. That is why I found someone on the beach with a cell phone and called 911 and Marine Rescue before we lost sight of him.

[JL]

Interesting. Please keep the info. coming

[more force 4]

Relieved to here about the official debriefing David!

[eastside]

Bad situation for you aquaman but hopefully you will be at it again soon. And it sounds like some good will come of this mix up. It would be tough to tow anyone in at Pipers once they were too far down wind. This would be about the time an observer figured there was a problem. 2 people being rescued is more of a problem. One of the big lessons from this is to follow up to make sure something is happening, as DM did.

[jazzydoc]

A simple suggestion is that we think about carrying our iPhones in a waterproof case. Costs about 80 bucks I think. I carry mine in my wetsuit tucked in under my neck for easy access. I used it once this summer near sebastion after wind died and 3 km float was required. . Alternative is one of those waterproof cases if you don't have iPhone and sold at cellular stores and Alberni Outfitters. Way cheaper than spot and everyone already has a cellular phone.

[nanmoo]

Bad situation for you aquaman but hopefully you will be at it again soon. And it sounds like some good will come of this mix up. It would be tough to tow anyone in at Pipers once they were too far down wind. This would be about the time an observer figured there was a problem. 2 people being rescued is more of a problem. One of the big lessons from this is to follow up to make sure something is happening, as DM did.

Although, if there were half a dozen or more, at least the conversation wouldn't be as dull during the 3 hour drift.