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So, here is a true exciting story of my kayak/canoe adventure today Monday 1-19-04...
Please read it and benefit from it, and make a related safety note for when you are paddling Morro Bay, especially during strong tides and winds, which we definitely had.
I would welcome any advice from members of the kayakmorrobay and Slo_Paddlers Yahoo! groups. How might we have handled this situation differently? Feel free to reply to me at mike@[remove]mikebaird.com , or if of general interest, post to the group.
This was while co-leading (in a canoe with Jack Beigle) a group of 11 mostly inexperienced sit-inside kayakers in 6 boats rented from Kayak Horizons, for a 3-hour Morro Bay Bird Festival outing... Karen Wood was our safety boat following up the rear.
Three of our 11 kayakers (the three were in two sit-inside kayaks... one double and one single) fell into the water on the return... the very strong current at the time pulled them under the bow of a moored 40' boat as we were returning from the sand spit across from, and back to, Kayak Horizons... we had the Coast Guard, Harbor Patrol, and a private motorized skiff come to the rescue.
Karen Wood in the safety boat managed to get to the first victim and hold on until help could arrive. Jack Beigle and I went to the 2nd and 3rd victims, and kept them above water until a private motorized skiff came to the rescue of all three. Thanks to the young man with the skiff who helped us. I didn't get his name.
The Harbor Patrol and Coast Guard (thanks very much to both!) arrived promptly to confirm that all paddlers were out of the water, and then hauled the two now-almost-submerged sit-inside kayaks back to Kayak Horizons... which by now was at least 200 yards further to the south. The current was so strong, the wind so high, and the paddlers so inexperienced, that I don't think we could have effected a rescue by getting them out of the water and into any of our boats, or by emptying their boats and getting them back in. We might have been able to successfully drag them without their boats, to the sandspit shoreline... but it would have been a long cold ordeal. No one else in the group (now fending for themselves and abandoning the scene to get back safely themselves) was experienced enough to help, and our lead and rescue boats were occupied just holding onto the three now very cold participants... drifting at several knots and past other moored vessels.
After all three were out of the water and into the skiff, we almost made a mistake by trying to save one of the flipped submerged kayaks... briefly tying it to the stern of our canoe in a way that would have taken us down if we bisected the next moored boat (we corrected that situation in seconds, but it shows how thinking is hampered during an emergency)... The upside down flooded sit-inside kayak barely floated, and acted as a huge sea anchor, moving us along at the speed of the current... and we could make no headway. The kayak had to be released to the arriving Coast Guard boat.
The main lesson learned is not to take inexperienced paddlers across the channel and in front of moored boats during fast tides and strong winds. Telling inexperienced paddlers not to go in front of a moored boat or buoy has no effect on some, who will instinctively try to "get around" the threatening obstacle.
One person in the water had evidently loosened her PDF for comfort, and as a result had more trouble keeping afloat then she would have otherwise. Keep your PFD on snugly at all times.
All got back safely, but It could have been more serious... it was not easy to haul these three large non-athletic soaked people into the inflatable skiff, even with its low sides... and with one person pulling and one person pushing.
I'm sure we will make the Wednesday Sun Bulletin Harbor Logs!!!
It should be illegal to rent or sell cheap sit-inside kayaks without adequate flotation chambers. The small piece of Styrofoam typically glued to the bow of some kayaks just keeps the boat barley positive.
In my mind now, using a "fair-weather paddler" sit-inside kayak without flotation bags or flotation chambers is an unacceptable risk for most people navigating Morro Bay. If the boat sinks, which can happen much more rapidly than you might think, self-recovery is unlikely. If you think you are too skilled to lose it, make sure you plan for the case where you have to come to the aid of someone not-so-skilled.
What would you do if you were alone in a marginal-flotation boat, in the center of the channel during a similar time and you flipped? Logic says not to abandon your barely floating boat... but it is swiftly being carried out to sea... and how long would you have to wait for assistance? With the tides and winds we had, there was no getting back into your boat and paddling back in half full of water... Abandoning the boat (which defies all recommendations) and swimming to shore before reaching the end of the bay also seemed problematic. You demand having air bags in your car these days... why not a similar level of protection in your boat?
Sit-insiders, especially solo paddlers, need boats that float ... and the practice and equipment (such as a paddle float) to do a reliable self-rescue.
As a final note, earlier this week, I witnessed another kayaker (not part of our group), while returning his boat to Kayak Horizons, dump it as the current pushed him into an adjacent pier pilling... taking him and his boat down and under in a second. His rescue was sloppy and lucky.
Paddling with my "sit-on-top and a wetsuit" now seems much more appealing than ever, after just getting used to Jack's dry canoe over the past few days.
Mike Baird mike@[remove]mikebaird.com
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