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impi · 30-07-2012, 18:06

Quote:

Originally Posted by atoll

i lost a friend last week in similar conditions.
he was at anchor in the helford river,a tidal estuary,apparently his dinghy drifted off and he jumped in to retrive it.

dog walkers on the shore raised the alarm when they saw him struggling and shouting for help.
rescue services arrived too late to save him,but found the body the following day.

he was a very fit guy but it looks like the cold water, possably kelp and a strong current contributed to his death.

moral:look very carefully before you leap.

Father mourns 'lovely lad' who died in river | This is Cornwall

Gee Atoll ... sorry you had to loose a friend like that !

I guess we often forget the power of the sea ... so easy to do

Astrid · 30-07-2012, 18:34

Was he caught in a rip current?

atoll · 30-07-2012, 18:41

Quote:

Originally Posted by Astrid

Was he caught in a rip current?

not sure
,thought the current on a falling tide can run fairly fast in the estuary.
his body was found nearby tangled up in kelp,so it could well have been a combination of things.
but most likely he got caught up in kelp and the current pulled him under.

bobconnie · 30-07-2012, 20:11

We always trail a Long line behind us with a crab bouy on the end ! we leave it out at anchor and the tide or the wind most always trails it out behind the boat ! helps a bunch when the waters cold or your as old as me

LOL

Stu Jackson · 30-07-2012, 20:57

Quote:

Originally Posted by bobconnie

We always trail a Long line behind us with a crab bouy on the end ! we leave it out at anchor and the tide or the wind most always trails it out behind the boat ! helps a bunch when the waters cold or your as old as me

LOL

Bob, has anyone ever run over your trailing line? I always go behind folks in an anchorage to avoid their tackle in front.

bobconnie · 30-07-2012, 21:30

LOLOL I always put a diver flag on it in a anchorage !!

mrohr · 06-08-2012, 04:44

Summers here in the Hudson River are warm and the water is fresh. Many anchor and swim . The H.R. is tidal (3 kts. max ebb and flood many places) and every year some get too far behind their craft as the current builds; every year some do not make it back.
I always trail a line with a float but have never seen others do it.

edventuredude · 24-11-2012, 05:37

That's a very scary sounding situation. I have felt like I have been drowning before but there has always been the shore near and every time I have just kept swimming.

DavefromNZ · 05-12-2012, 03:24

A number of years ago when I was 23 we were out on a friends yacht for the day. Most of us had a bit to drink. After I got in the dinghy to go ashore one of the girls poured herself in and over we went. The water was cold, it was dark, I had lots of clothes on, no life jacket and the current running at 1 to 2 knots. I tried to pull the dinghy back to the yacht. Suddenly my mind clearly saw the headline 'young yachtie drowns trying to rescue dinghy'. I let go of the painter and only just made it back to the yacht. I couldn't get on board, took three guys to pull me up...

**Bluewaters2812** · 05-12-2012, 07:21

I have been caught in a couple of rips over my lifetime. The best advice I can give as an ex waveskier and NSRI member in the Indian Ocean; NEVER fight a rip current, always swim methodically (not frantically) ACROSS the current. Depending on the topography it will often eventually spit you out or curl you round towards the beach. I always "preached" this to my daughter and when she was about 15 we were surfing in some strong waves between Port Elizabeth and Jeffreys Bay (South Africa). When I paddled out on my waveski to catch the next set of waves I noticed that a rip had caught her and she was going out fast. I paddled crazily but could hardly gain on her. She was on a bodyboard and I could see she was doing as I had "preached". I knew she would be ok because I could see she wasn't panicked; and true enough she ended up being "spat out" of the rip and managed to get into shore before I caught up with her. I will never forget how proud I felt that she had listened to my advice, as it definitely saved her from getting herself into a lot more trouble. She too, has never forgotten that day.

mlydon · 05-12-2012, 07:37

MRHOR,

I do the same (usually swim around hook mountain in the tappan zee). I trail a line, AND let the boat drift. At the right time, in a 1/2 hour dip, my boat's almost back down to the mooring field (a mile or so)

Matt

**DeepFrz** · 05-12-2012, 07:57

Quote:

After I got in the dinghy to go ashore one of the girls poured herself in and over we went. The water was cold, it was dark, I had lots of clothes on, no life jacket and the current running at 1 to 2 knots. I tried to pull the dinghy back to the yacht.

What happened to the girl?

DavefromNZ · 05-12-2012, 10:23

She was fine. Was pulled out immediately complaining bitterly!

lateral · 05-12-2012, 10:51

Panic is your #1 enemy.

Andrew Troup · 05-12-2012, 11:47

I use transits continually while swimming to build up a picture of the current strength and direction.

In the immediate term it's a great antidote to anxiety, which can morph quickly into panic ... which consumes huge amounts of oxygen and shuts down problem solving faculties, IME

In the short term it helps me make assessments of whether I'm heading sufficiently uptide to make my destination with a margin for contingencies.

In the long term it helps build up an intuitive grasp of how water moves in various contexts.