X-OldHeader: From daddy@ilovemaggie.co.uk-DeleteThis.com Thu Jun 12 15:31:29 2003 Return-Path: <daddy@ilovemaggie.co.uk-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 PAA28367 for <wind_talk_ls@jr.labs.agilent.com-DeleteThis.com>; Thu, 12 Jun 2003 15:31:29 -0700 (PDT) From: daddy@ilovemaggie.co.uk-DeleteThis.com Received: from msgbas1x.cos.agilent.com (msgbas1.cos.agilent.com [192.168.148.33]) by opus.labs.agilent.com (8.9.3 (PHNE_25183+JAGae58098)/8.9.3 AgilentLabs Workstation) with ESMTP id PAA22412 for <wind_talk@opus.labs.agilent.com-DeleteThis.com>; Thu, 12 Jun 2003 15:31:28 -0700 (PDT) Received: from another.com (www.funmail.co.uk [212.62.7.9]) by msgbas1x.cos.agilent.com (Postfix) with SMTP id 92F8D17420 for <wind_talk@opus.labs.agilent.com-DeleteThis.com>; Thu, 12 Jun 2003 16:31:27 -0600 (MDT) Received: (qmail 6944 invoked from network); 12 Jun 2003 22:30:06 -0000 Received: from unknown (HELO www-a26) (172.16.100.26) by qm-a01 with SMTP; 12 Jun 2003 22:30:06 -0000 Message-ID: <2199844.1055457227429.JavaMail.root@172.16.100.50-DeleteThis.com> Date: Thu, 12 Jun 2003 23:33:47 +0100 (BST) To: wind_talk@opus.labs.agilent.com-DeleteThis.com Subject: Re: Rescuer Rescued X-Funmail-UID: 1605905 X-Senders-IP: unknown
flares ... where do you shop for them...online? -----Original
Message----- From : Lev Brouk <levb@yahoo.com-DeleteThis.com> To : Multiple
recipients of list WIND_TALK <wind_talk@opus.labs.agilent.com-DeleteThis.com> Date
: 11 June 2003 23:08:21 Subject : Re: Rescuer Rescued
>Honestly, I do not why kiters would go to Crissy alltogether... I
had >windsurfed there for over 2 seasons quite regularly, and IMO
it's got >to be superdangerous, if not so much for kitesurfers
themselves then >for all vessels around them. And it can't even be
that much fun! With >the irregular offshore wind, the wind strength
difference between all >the different \223zones\223 there, the
choppy waters... > >I guess, in the San Francisco area there aren't
that many nice long >sandy beaches with sideonshore winds and no
currents, so it almost >forces the kiters to launch where they
shouldn't. I live in France now >and here for the most part they go
to miles-long beaches with >side-to-sideon winds, and you never see
them going more than a few >hundred feet away offshore. > >And why
would they? They don't need to since they don't need to work
>upwind as hard as most windsurfers, they don't need the stronger
winds >on the outside, and the smooth water between the waves seems
a better >playing ground than the chop outside. > >I hate
regulating beach usage where it comes to watersports, but maybe
>this is a rare case where a \223no kite\223 sign would be
appropriate? > >Disclaimer (to avoid blame :-). I do not even live
in SF any more, so >I may not know the extent of kite beach
shortage. BTW, I do a bit of >kiting myself, and I think I do have
an appreciation for the issue. > >- Lev > >--- Eyes4Hire@aol.com-DeleteThis.com
wrote: >> 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 \223heavy vessel >>
traffic\223 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 >> >> [HTML file part2 deleted by listprocessor] >> > >
>
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