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Swamped kayakers cling to buoy in outer harbor until the Coast Guard arrives
By adamg on Wed, 05/27/2009 - 9:57am
The Coast Guard reports two kayakers dialed 911 on a cell phone after their kayaks overturned in choppy water near Boston Light yesterday afternoon. Crews aboard two Coast Guard ships sent to rescue them found the pair clinging to a buoy about a half mile southeast of Georges Island - and got them to shore for transport to South Shore Hospital. The Coast Guard reports the water temperature at the time was 52 degrees:
"This is a prime example of how wearing a life jacket and foul weather gear, such as a dry suit, can help protect you against the elements and ultimately save your life," said Lt. John Kousch, chief of Sector Boston's command center.
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Comments
I'm amazed that worked
Boston Light is pretty far from the mainland. Are there cell towers on the harbor islands?
Georges Island
Two weeks ago, I had good coverage on the ferry to Georges Island, and sometimes spotty coverage on the island itself.
Hull cell towers, maybe?
After looking at a map I realized I had forgotten how close the Hull peninsula is to Georges and Little Brewster islands. It's possible that a cell tower there could have picked up the signals.
I'm a sailor and often have
I'm a sailor and often have coverage for a few miles offshore. Boston Harbor has service most places from my experience being moored in Hingham last year.
BRRRRR, that's cold water
52 degrees, that's cold. I was at Crane's on Friday, and felt how cold it really is. I was walking from a sandbar to another, in water a bit above my knees. After about 30 secs, the ache started. 60 secs, a bit of pain. After that, you really would like to get out, but still have a little way to go. It felt really good when I got out. I'll go swimming at Crane's when the water is just normal cold, but not Memorial Day cold. The little kids don't mind, though. ;-)
These guys are lucky, and hopefully they learned something. They're obviously inexperienced. Anytime you go out on open water, or simply do a crossing, you have to think what the ramifications of capsizing are. If you can't self-rescue, or rescue with another boat, and you have water this cold, you shouldn't do it. Stick to the coastline, where it's more interesting, anyway. Boston Light? That would be a boring paddle.
Not inexperienced, not lucky
That isn't what the story said, if you clicked through. They had on exposure gear and seemed fully prepared. They were smart enough to locate a fixed object and hang on and call for help. According to the coast guard:
Beyond the written account, how do you know they were "inexperienced"? How much kayaking do you do? Where do you kayak? People who bother to purchase and use drysuits are typically not inexperienced, nor do they need to "learn a lesson".
Crap happens. The ocean ain't Disneyland, and they obviously knew that. They had the right gear ... they did all the right things ... that still doesn't mean that sudden rough conditions don't occur and prevent self rescue from a capsizing. It was weird enough out on the swimmably warm mystic lakes this weekend that I can believe that something sudden happened. Conditions change and they were able to deal with it sensibly without serious incident.
Yup, at least they had dry
Yup, at least they had dry suits - anybody can buy one. Maybe they thought the dry suits made them invincible. To be honest, we have very little info.
I'm your basic sea kayaker, prefer being on the ocean, been on a few trips including a couple week-long trips off of Vancouver I. on the Pacific side with the orcas (highly recommend it). I am by no means an expert - I wouldn't even call myself a decent intermediate. But, I do know the ocean from other endeavors and respect it - these guys didn't.
Inexperienced? Maybe not. Sound judgement for the conditions? I just realized they were out yesterday (not this weekend), when it was cold, and the wind was blowing easterly, which would have made for sloppy conditions out there (wind 12, seas 3 ft). Between the wind and the tides, I'm guessing it was a lot of work out there. So, they surely weren't rookies. I just think they made a bad decision being there in the first place.
An experienced pair of kayakers would have been able to self-rescue. If one flips, the other helps right the flippers boat - I'm sure you know the drill. If they were knowledgeable, they either A) would not have gone where they went, or B) would have been able to handle themselves. I'm sure the cold sapped them of all their energy. But, that's my point. Expect to flip, and if you can't handle it, don't go where you're vulnerable.
Please don't blame it on "sudden change of weather". Don't put yourself in that position in the first place.
Dealt with it sensibly by calling 911?
Role reversal
After writing my last post, I realized something - I'm usually the one doing exactly what you're doing: defending people who get in trouble in the outdoors. That's pretty funny. Every time someone has to get rescued somewhere, you get people (whose idea of wilderness is going into the woods to look for their golf ball) calling them foolish, unprepared, and demanding - DEMANDING - that the rescued party pay for the search and rescue efforts. Nevermind the fact that they were fully prepared, did everything right, and never asked to be rescued. The most recent example was the 17-year-old from Halifax who spent 3 nights on Mt Washington.
So, I know where you're coming from. You think some couch-bound, pale-faced, geeky, video-game addict loser is declaring "Those idiots! What are they doing out there where they could be killed!". Sorry, but that's not the case. The outdoors is what I do, some things better than others, and some things not very well at all. I understand the need to get out, push yourself, try things, take a risk, and not worry what the rest of the world thinks. I also understand the need to act responsibly, to plan ahead, make good judgements, consider the circumstances.
I also understand that crap happens - you should be able to handle the crap, though. Looking at the very few facts we have, there wasn't any extraordinary crap, especially weather-wise. All we know is that they flipped, and things went downhill from there. Given the easterly, it was probably sloppy - not big waves, just confused seas, which are a royal PITA and very easy to flip in. Even with dry suits, you're going to get cold fast, and pretty soon you're tired and in trouble. Other than flipping, I don't see any crap happening, and as I mentioned before, you should expect to flip and handle things from there. If that means swimming to shore, fine.
Do I think these guys are total idiots? Nope, not at all. I think they ventured into something they weren't ready for, didn't think it thru, got in trouble, and were lucky - yes, lucky - they got out of it. Who knows, maybe I'm totally wrong and these guys have paddled around Newfoundland. We have limited info.
Bottom line: I'm glad they're OK.
Who rescues the rescuers?
One Coast Guard crew had to rescue another when its boat sank during training today.