Re: Rescuer Rescued

From: J M (fukitsnukin@hotmail.com-DeleteThis.com)
Date: Wed Jun 11 2003 - 13:09:12 PDT

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From: "J M" <fukitsnukin@hotmail.com-DeleteThis.com>
To: wind_talk@opus.labs.agilent.com-DeleteThis.com
Subject: Re: Rescuer Rescued
Date: Wed, 11 Jun 2003 13:09:12 -0700
Message-ID: <Law14-F24d9f492lJcJ0005ea23@hotmail.com-DeleteThis.com>

Hey Peter,
Thanks for the post. That sounds like quite an ordeal! Good work...
sooner or later, the kiters are going to have to figure out the safety thing
for themselves.
JM

>From: Eyes4Hire@aol.com-DeleteThis.com
>Reply-To: wind_talk@opus.labs.agilent.com-DeleteThis.com
>To: Multiple recipients of list WIND_TALK <wind_talk@opus.labs.agilent.com-DeleteThis.com>
>Subject: Rescuer Rescued
>Date: Wed, 11 Jun 2003 12:59:23 -0700 (PDT)
>
>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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>

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