X-OldHeader: From Eyes4Hire@aol.com-DeleteThis.com Wed Jun 11 12:54:28 2003 Return-Path: <Eyes4Hire@aol.com-DeleteThis.com> Received: from opus.labs.agilent.com (root@opus.labs.agilent.com-DeleteThis.com [130.29.244.179]) by jr.labs.agilent.com (8.9.3 (PHNE_25183+JAGae58098)/8.9.3 AgilentLabs Workstation) with ESMTP id MAA01061 for <wind_talk_ls@jr.labs.agilent.com-DeleteThis.com>; Wed, 11 Jun 2003 12:54:28 -0700 (PDT) From: Eyes4Hire@aol.com-DeleteThis.com Received: from msgbas1x.net.asiapac.com (msgbas1.sgp.agilent.com [192.168.216.26]) by opus.labs.agilent.com (8.9.3 (PHNE_25183+JAGae58098)/8.9.3 AgilentLabs Workstation) with ESMTP id MAA25584 for <wind_talk@opus.labs.agilent.com-DeleteThis.com>; Wed, 11 Jun 2003 12:54:27 -0700 (PDT) Received: from imo-r05.mx.aol.com (imo-r05.mx.aol.com [152.163.225.101]) by msgbas1x.net.asiapac.com (Postfix) with ESMTP id 3EA2F8DD for <wind_talk@opus.labs.agilent.com-DeleteThis.com>; Thu, 12 Jun 2003 03:54:24 +0800 (SGP) Received: from Eyes4Hire@aol.com-DeleteThis.com by imo-r05.mx.aol.com (mail_out_v36.3.) id v.1e6.abe5a04 (3310) for <wind_talk@opus.labs.agilent.com-DeleteThis.com>; Wed, 11 Jun 2003 15:54:05 -0400 (EDT) Message-ID: <1e6.abe5a04.2c18e2dd@aol.com-DeleteThis.com> Date: Wed, 11 Jun 2003 15:54:05 EDT Subject: Rescuer Rescued To: wind_talk@opus.labs.agilent.com-DeleteThis.com X-Mailer: 7.0 for Windows sub 10626
I was windsurfing from Crissy Field yesterday. I was just about a
mile inside the Gate when I came upon a kitesurfer who was unable to
fly his kite due to lack of wind. He was in the shipping channel
and there was a large tanker coming inbound toward the Golden Gate
Bridge. It was hard to gauge the ship's exact path, but it looked
like there was good chance that the kitesurfer would be harms way.
I dropped my sail and pulled out my radio to make a general
broadcast warning shipping in the area to keep an eye out for the
down kitesurfer. I was on wave gear and barely had enough wind to
keep myself moving in the light wind. A few racers came by on their
larger windsurf boards, but none of them were confident that they
could tow the kiter to shore in the light wind. The current was
flooding and there was no way that this guy would be able to swim
back to the San Francisco shore before the current took him on
toward Alcatraz and Treasure Island. I got back on the radio on
channel 16 and hailed the Coast Guard for assistance. The
dispatcher responded immediately and said they would send help. It
wasn't clear if they had dispatched a boat yet, but I could see a
47' Coast Guard rescue boat moving near the Marin shoreline. The
rescue boat was so far out of position that I assumed they were
handling another call. I rebroadcast our position repeatedly over a
10-15 minute period to make sure that they knew we were drifting.
During this time the flood current was pushing us to the east and by
know were a couple of miles inside the Gate. The Coast Guard rescue
boat eventually worked its way up to the Golden Gate Bridge and
seemed to be moving in a search pattern. I hailed the Coast Guard
on channel 16 and asked to be switched to channel 22 in hopes that I
would be operating channel as the rescue boat. Once I was on
channel 22, I was able to talk directly with the skipper of the
rescue boat and guide him in on our position. Once the rescue boat
clearly had the kiter in sight, I radioed and advised them that I
would start heading for shore immediately since the current and the
light wind were going to make my return to shore very difficult if I
waited any longer. I had already drifted over a mile while I stayed
with the kitesurfer to make sure they could locate him. The skipper
told me that they would prefer to bring me ashore since there was
heavy vessel traffic in the area. I told the skipper that I would
start toward shore and asked that he catch up with assist and me if
I was having difficulty. I stuffed my radio in my wetsuit and
started sailing for shore. Almost immediately, I could tell that
the light wind and the current would prevent from hitting the shore
anywhere within a mile of Crissy Field. I turned back toward the
kiter. The rescue boat had arrived and they were already at work
loading his gear. I stood off at a distance of about 30' and tacked
my board back and forth, waiting for my turn to load up. I had not
made any further radio call since I was using both hands to sail. I
assumed that my return to the scene would have made it clear that I
was accepting the offer of a ride to shore. They finished loading
the kiter and I started heading for the starboard side of the rescue
boat where the crew had pulled the kiter up. As I was nearing the
side of the boat, I heard the 450 horsepower engines revving up and
the boat started moving away. At first I thought he might be trying
to reposition the boat, but as he moved farther away, it was clear I
was going to be on my own. I immediately let go of the sail and
dropped to my knees. I waved my right arm from side to side
intending to indicate that I needed help. The skipper happened to
look back just at that moment. He raised his arm and waved a
friendly goodbye as the boat picked up speed. At this point I
realized I should have waved both arms to more clearly have
indicated distress, but it was too late. My momentary chance had
passed. I reached into my wetsuit and pulled out the radio. I
broadcast a call on channel 22, advising the skipper that I needed
assistance. There was no reply. I tried again. No reply. I tried
channel 16. No reply. I tried for five minutes to get a response
from the Coast Guard or anyone at all. No reply. I finally
accepted the fact that the radio had failed. By know I had been
pulled so far to the east that I wasn't sure I'd make the City even
if I ditched my rig and swam for it. It seemed ironic to me that I
might be the one to swim home after dark even though I was far more
prepared than the kiter I had stopped to help. I was glad I had a
strobe light since there wasn't much day light left. I took a good
look around and over my shoulder I spotted the "heavy vessel
traffic" that the skipper had referred to. A cruise ship was headed
outbound from the City toward the Gate. Because of the Coast Guards
elevated port security, two Coast Guard vessels were escorting the
cruise ship. I pulled out the one flare in my safety pack and
hurriedly pulled the safety cap off. I wanted to get the flare off
before while I was still somewhat in the forward view of the nearest
escort vessel. I tugged the firing chain and the red flare shot up
into the sky. I was surprised by how high it flew and how long it
burned. It seemed like the performance was better than advertised.
I watched for a minute or two and there was no response. I was
hoping that their port security mission didn't preclude the rescue
of stranded windsurfers. I figured that they might be worried that
I was a diversion of some sort. After a couple of minutes, the
smaller rescue boat peeled off and turned in my direction while the
larger and more heavily armed cutter stayed alongside the cruise
ship. The smaller boat was a rigid hull inflatable with a three-man
crew. When they arrived they were very friendly. They radioed for
assistance and told me that they would stand by until the original
rescue boat returned since their boat was too small to handle my
gear. After about five minutes in the water, the original rescue
boat returned. With four crewmen helping me out, we were able to
get my gear onboard quickly. They held my sail across the bow of
the boat with the clew pushed up against a bulkhead. The skipper
powered up and headed for Crissy Field at full throttle. As the
wind pushed on the sail, the sail wanted to flutter with the clew
downwind, but the tail was trapped against the bulkhead. As the
wind sail pushed into the bulkhead, a fitting on the bulkhead tore a
small hole through the monofilm. I climbed up the ladder to the fly
bridge and asked the skipper if he could ease the throttles back so
that the sail wouldn't be damaged any further. He was glad to
accommodate me, and I finished my adventure with a leisurely ride
back to Crissy Field.
Peter
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