Received: from hplb.hpl.hp.com by opus.hpl.hp.com with SMTP (1.37.109.8/15.5+ECS 3.3+HPL1.1) id AA15189; Wed, 8 Jun 1994 16:17:48 -0700 Return-Path: <fariborz%golden_gate.cognex.com%west@uunet.uu.net-DeleteThis> Received: from relay3.UU.NET by hplb.hpl.hp.com; Thu, 9 Jun 1994 00:12:07 +0100 Received: from uucp1.uu.net by relay3.UU.NET with SMTP (rama) id QQwtls21666; Wed, 8 Jun 1994 19:12:56 -0400 Received: from cognex.UUCP by uucp1.uu.net with UUCP/RMAIL ; Wed, 8 Jun 1994 19:12:58 -0400 Received: from west.UUCP by cognex.cognex.com (4.1/SMI-4.2) id AA05849; Wed, 8 Jun 94 18:52:09 EDT Received: from golden_gate.cognex.com by west.cognex.com (4.1/SMI-4.0) id AA00772; Wed, 8 Jun 94 15:35:14 PDT Received: by golden_gate.cognex.com (4.1/SMI-4.0) id AA00690; Wed, 8 Jun 94 15:35:13 PDT Date: Wed, 8 Jun 94 15:35:13 PDT From: fariborz@cognex.com-DeleteThis (Fariborz Rostami) Message-Id: <9406082235.AA00690@golden_gate.cognex.com-DeleteThis> To: wind_talk@opus.hpl.hp.com-DeleteThis Subject: Rescue Ideas Reply-To: fariborz@cognex.com-DeleteThis
Ken's experience about rescuing Mark and the difficulties Ken faced towing
him, made me wonder if they are better ways of towing people and equipment
without going to go through so much pain. I have not yet tried any of these
rescue ideas. I am planning to do some experimentation next time I am
on the water. I would like to know what other people think about these ideas.
Ken wrote:
> We decided
> to derig and attempt to tow him in. We sucessfully derigged and got his
> gear tied to his board and then I tried to tow him using a 30 foot line
> and an uphaul (for stretch). This turned out not to work well - we
> would get going and then he would hit a swell in a way that caused more
> drag, I would come to a stop and sink since my board is only 86 liters.
> When the swell hit my submerged board, I would lose my balance and fall in.
Has anyone ever tried to tow a person side by side or even a little bit
staggered instead of behind their board. It seems to me much less balancing
act will be required and both sailers can share more volume therefore there
would be less drag. There may be also less chance of having the second board
take a nose dive and capsize in the chop. I would think a (mast base/mast
base) and (foot strap/foot strap) connection should do.
Another scenario can be to have the two boards close to each other with the
board with the broken fin in front of the good board. It may be then possible
for both sailers to sail. The front board will use the back board as its' drag
and fin. It will be like tandem sailing but with two boards.
he also wrote:
> We sucessfully derigged and got his
> gear tied to his board
Again has anyone tried not to derig the sail, by carrying the sail next
to their own sail. What I mean is: just imagin how the racers rig up few
different sails on a race day and then keep them all together by sliding
one sail into the boom area of another sail. The two sail would look like
one sail with two booms and two masts. This way no derigging is required
and there will be no heavy pressure on the back of the person who is towing
the sail. I do not know how practical this will be on the water or if it
will even work?
These ideas may have some merit, or I may be just blue skying. I am going to
try it out and see if any of them are practical. I will let the people know
about the results of the experiement.
Also Ken later on wrote:
> Visibility is vital. The two other sailors who worked on towing
> Mark in did not succeed in getting him across the channel, but they
> did provide a good visual marker. We never did see Mark from the
> shore, only about 1.5 miles away. The only way to be visible
> if your sail is down is to sit on your board, and that is still
> probably only good for a half mile or so.
>
Ken is absolutely right when he says "Visibility is vital."
I have rescued someone at Cayote with a broken mast foot. I went back to
my car to get a spare base. I used some land marks across the bay on Oakland
hills to know approximately where I was going back to. Since people in the
water can see sailer much easier, I told her when you see me coming back,
just raise your sail so I can locate you. It worked excellent. When I was
close (about .5 to .75 mile) to her, she raised her sail and I immediately
knew where she was.
If you have to leave someone to get some help, it is not a bad idea to ask
them to lift their sail out of the water every so often, so other people can
locate them.
Coast Guard recommends for best visibility use Strobe Lights. You can buy
those at "West Marine Products" at corner of East Charleston and San Antonio
in Palo Alto.
Fariborz R.
Internet: fariborz@cognex.com-DeleteThis
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