Yellow Peg washed up

It was mine. And I hear there's quite a bit of aggression headed my way. Mostly to the tone of: "How stupid to go out by yourself!" and "You are going to make us all be required to wear life vests!"

So before everyone gets their rant on... hear me out.

Was it too gnarly to go out from the south side yesterday? In hind sight, yes, I freely admit it.

But I wanted to give it a shot and I thought once I got outside the break the conditions would permit a phenomenal run to Lihue. I made it out past the sea wall and surf break at Kukuiula and looked up the coast to Makuena point. The endless whitewater convinced me to try another day. I saw my wife had not left yet, so I turned to head back into the harbor. I was pulled into the break and huli'd. The next wave snapped the leash and the boat made a bee line to the rocks on the far side of the harbor. By the time I swam in, it had been smashed pretty good. A couple of construction dudes pulled it up onto the lawn. But apparently someone on the fishing/boat pier didn't see me exit the water and decided to call 911. I had literally been standing on the grass for over 10 minutes looking at my damaged boat when I heard the sirens. Overall, pretty unremarkable.

About going out by myself. I don't go out alone in the normal sense. Someone is always expecting me within +/- 15 minutes at my destination. If I don't show, I know someone will start looking for me. I am physically fit and a decent swimmer. And I typically wear bright colors.

On at least two occasions that I have gone out with other paddlers, we have lost physical sight of each other.

Not that being with other paddlers isn't safer, but I would argue having someone waiting for you at the far end is not much worse.

#1 Wed, 12/05/2007 - 11:03pm

Holly KD
Take it easy. I paddled my whole life and my kids are paddling now and I figured now at 43 maybe Ill set a example so I bought a lifejacket and a waterproof cell phone bag . at the end of the day I want to be with my kids.
take care
chillax

#3 Thu, 12/06/2007 - 6:42am

KD,

Let me see if I understand this correctly.

You risked your life by paddling alone in massive white capped swells, generated by gale force winds. You risked the possibility of your wife losing her husband and fellow paddlers losing a good friend. AND you damaged your OC1 beyond repair, which is a sin in itself.

You know, if you wanted to paddle that day you could have practiced in the OC6 with the team and stayed inside of Nawiliwili Harbor where it was nice and calm.

Although, you would have had to spend a few minutes prior to practice in “The Tank” with the coach like everyone else. On second thought, you may have made the right decision.

Paddle On.

#5 Thu, 12/06/2007 - 9:42am

This past week on the Big Island paddlers have been making downhill runs in Kona. Did anyone here of any problems with paddlers getting into trouble. I made one run with a group of guys and it was great how the group looked out for eachother. There was a lot of Aloha on the water.

mcpi21

#7 Fri, 12/07/2007 - 9:49am

Live and learn. As a result of this disaster, I am picking up a couple of items that Rambo suggested in earlier threads. I will still do runs "alone." But with a cell phone bag and fanny-pack PFD, I should be in good shape.

As for people showing disapproval. Most of it's been, "we don't want you to die." Which I take to heart.

As for the "You give paddlers a bad name" people. I haven't gotten much of that. And I would argue situations like this, are much more detrimental to the paddler "reputation" than my little faux pas.

I am grateful the FD was available, and had I actually needed them, I would be more apt to give the "bad reputation" argument some credit. But the fact of the matter is, thought I got myself into a bad situation, I got myself out of a bad situation, end of story.

#9 Fri, 12/07/2007 - 12:46pm

Check it out.

Verizon has a water proof cel-phone.

http://www.verizonwireless.com/b2c/store/controller?item=phoneFirst&acti...

This could be handy out in the water.

#11 Fri, 12/07/2007 - 12:46pm

mumbojumbo

Our Hawaii Kai to Kaimana run is not too bad to do alone. There are always a lot of people out there with us, also a lot of places to go in in case of physical or mechanical trouble. The Poipu to Lihue run is an entirely different story. It is NEVER wise to do that one alone....you probably won't find very many experienced paddlers doing that. Sounds like KD should review basic water safety. Time for all of us maybe. Basics are always good to review.

#13 Fri, 12/07/2007 - 7:50pm

I've been out w/ other people when the buddy system actually caused more danger. Downwind run, December in Puget Sound, air and water about 45, 30-40mph winds-my partner turned his head around to look for me, hulied, lost his boat(leash not on very well I guess), and his boat starts rolling away like a log on the ocean. It was a Mako kayak. I caught up to his boat, stopped it but he couldn't swim down to me- a pretty good paddler but not much of a waterman. Anyway, I let his boat go, never to be seen again, and paddled in to shore about a mile with a two hundred pound plus guy laying on the back of my boat holding on to the rear iako. Ever since then we've all been way more safety conscious, especially w/ regards to cold water gear. We only had on rash guards and shorts w/ booties that day, pretty retarded, and it almost cost both our lives. So I'd say choose partners wisely, cause an unseaworthy person could end up hurting everyone.

#15 Sat, 12/08/2007 - 8:18am