And WE feel bad when we get rescued from sinking boats??

[Chotu]

So it’s quite rough out today a lot of wind. So much that you can’t even use your dinghy to go to shore safely. One of those days.

My boat was shaking from a helicopter so I was looking up to see what was going on and it’s the Coast Guard.

I turned on the radio to see what’s happening and there is somebody with a black wetsuit in the water. Everyone is supposed to be keeping a lookout for this guy.

Meanwhile, aside from the helicopter search pattern, there are a few official boats doing search patterns around the area.

So after a while, the coast guard comes on the radio to say they found that this person was on land looking for his blown kitesurfing gear.

He was out of the water in a truck riding around looking for gear. Whoever called in the emergency didn’t even update search and rescue.

They found this status out on a Facebook group.

[thomm225]

Pretty much a normal thing.

Coast Guard puts out a message about a person in the water and repeats it all day at various times.

Then later they send word the person was found .......

If they don't have a VHF (the person in the water) they don't know anyone reported they were in the water so they don't even consider it.

Happens a lot with kitesurfers and beach cat sailors that go into the water a lot and don't have VHF.

They just rescue themselves and continue on

[rslifkin]

Originally Posted by thomm225

Pretty much a normal thing.

Coast Guard puts out a message about a person in the water and repeats it all day at various times.

Then later they send word the person was found .......

If they don't have a VHF (the person in the water) they don't know anyone reported they were in the water so they don't even consider it.

Happens a lot with kitesurfers and beach cat sailors that go into the water a lot and don't have VHF.

They just rescue themselves and continue on

Seconded. Many times it gets called in as a person that appears to be in trouble. But often the person had the situation under control (not necessarily apparent from shore) and has no idea anything has been called in.

[kayakerChuck]

I've been "rescued" several times.

By far the best:
About 10 of us were kayaking down the St Clair River. We pulled out at a friend's place for lunch and noticed that there were lots of blue flashing lights running around the river (local sheriff's boats), USCG, and more. We didn't think anything of it.

We finished lunch & continued down the river for another few hours, then picked up our shuttle car to run everyone back to there cars. At the put-in parking lot, a whole section was cordoned off with police tape. We asked the friendly officer why our cars were cordoned off and were told "Those cars & trucks belong to the victims."

Um, victims?? All of this was for US? Didn't you guys see us in the bright yellow, red, and white, fully equipped sea kayaks? Your boats were zooming all around us..? We had no idea all the excitement was for kayaks- we would have helped to look.

Apparently, a person had seen us paddling, then didn't see us. She called 911. This was well before we stopped for lunch. That area of the river has about a 5mph current, we paddle at just under 4mph. We simply paddled out of sight & 911 was called.

Multi-agency response, active for 2 or 3 hours. My tax money at work- lol

I have several similar stories.

(I have much respect for the law enforcement and rescue guys. The have a hard job, and it's usually not their call if they GO or not.)

[wyb2]

We were outside Narragansett bay when the CG started announcing to keep a lookout for an overturned kayak and “possible person in the water” not far from us, and we did pass a CG boat just kind of mulling about (never saw anything in the water).

It was a windy day and the wind was coming off the land. Any kayak/surfboard/floaty sitting anywhere near water in the state of RI was liable to get caught by the wind and blown offshore. “Possible person in the water” makes me think someone just saw a kayak float by, and called it in.

But someone called it in, what are you gonna do? Little training exercise if nothing else. Ever hear one of those 911 calls where the operator is overly dismissive of what’s being called in? I’m sure those operators have to deal with tons of BS calls, but it hurts to listen to them read a real one wrong. I’d rather the CG be the pros that they are and err on the side of taking things too seriously.

[SomeGuyInaShirt]

Originally Posted by kayakerChuck

I've been "rescued" several times.

By far the best:
About 10 of us were kayaking down the St Clair River. We pulled out at a friend's place for lunch and noticed that there were lots of blue flashing lights running around the river (local sheriff's boats), USCG, and more. We didn't think anything of it.

We finished lunch & continued down the river for another few hours, then picked up our shuttle car to run everyone back to there cars. At the put-in parking lot, a whole section was cordoned off with police tape. We asked the friendly officer why our cars were cordoned off and were told "Those cars & trucks belong to the victims."

Um, victims?? All of this was for US? Didn't you guys see us in the bright yellow, red, and white, fully equipped sea kayaks? Your boats were zooming all around us..? We had no idea all the excitement was for kayaks- we would have helped to look.

Apparently, a person had seen us paddling, then didn't see us. She called 911. This was well before we stopped for lunch. That area of the river has about a 5mph current, we paddle at just under 4mph. We simply paddled out of sight & 911 was called.

Multi-agency response, active for 2 or 3 hours. My tax money at work- lol

I have several similar stories.

(I have much respect for the law enforcement and rescue guys. The have a hard job, and it's usually not their call if they GO or not.)

Bahahaha brilliant! I had a similar thing happen on a short but lively local river after getting dunked after a nice set of rapids. I guess most people just can't fathom surviving a trip down a river.

My favourite was a bush pilot circling back to check on me when he spotted me canoeing alone in the middle of winter in a remote chain of lakes. I had to wave and give him the "OK" sign and thumbs up. Kind of restored my faith in mankind a bit. Drysuits really open up a lot of possibilities don't they?

Thanks for the chuckle.

[Yojimbo]

Those crazy Windsurfers...

See them here in the PNW when the wind is up and the water is just what one would expect- cold. A few weeks ago one lost his lift and face palmed 20 feet off the pin on the start line about 45 seconds from go time as about 20 boats began their approach. Made for a fun and interesting race start. He managed to grab his kite and get out the way with a very small margin. Made for a good laugh at the de-brief.

[chris mac]

We heard a vessel report a boat drifting back and forth with no real direction. " must be drunk or disabled. This happened near the mouth of the cape fear river.
A sail boat then hailed and asked if they were referring to him. He was fighting current and wind, tacking and slowly making ground into the river. The reporting boat had no knowledge of sailing and assumed the boat was in trouble

[Hasbeen]

I planned to visit my parents, retired to a small coastal village on an estuary with a shallow entrance. Drawing 7Ft I set off on a 60 mile passage aiming to arrive at about an hour before high tide. With fairly light winds forecast I'd allowed for a 5.5 knot average, but shortly after leaving the wind steadily increased to 25K plus slightly off shore making a very easy trip, averaging over 7K.


We had over an hour to kill before I had enough water to feel safe going in, & it was too rough to anchor so I triple reefed the main, & set up reaching back & forwards off the entrance. After about 40 minutes a small, 20Ft hard chine ply launch with what sounded like a single cylinder diesel approached us.



The skipper was a retired gentleman who lived on the hill on one side of the entrance. He had watched us & thought we might have been in trouble. He had gone to the trouble to launch his boat, & come out to offer any help he could give us. He had not reported us to anyone, just come to help.



How do you thank someone enough for such kindness & for the effort involved. He was not a young man.