Safety review for the September season
Scott McKay, windsurfing and newbie kiting waterman
September 4 , 2009
We’re just now heading into the windiest part of the year and there have already been several incidents this year at Cape Cod and Rhode Island locations that required that a windsurfer or kiter be rescued.
While the people in question happily managed to avoid very serious outcomes, the fact is, the whole windsurfing and kiting community suffers from these incidents. It makes the people charged with keeping the beaches safe much more inclined to close the beaches in weather that many of us might think is great for windsurfing and kiting. We've already seen beaches closed all over the Cape, in relatively modest storm conditions.
I think we, as a community, need to do a few things:
- Teach ourselves, and each other, about safety. We should have as a goal, the avoidance of incidents.
- Teach ourselves, and each other, about self-rescue.
- Acknowledge our own limits.
- Self-police. If there are people out on the water who appear to be in over their heads, we should all take it as our joint responsibility to either help them improve, or persuade them not to go out in conditions that are not safe for them.
Be safe
It never hurts to review the basics:
- Don't sail alone.
- Don't sail when it's getting dark.
- Don't sail when there's fog; it can cut the visibility to zero in the blink of an eye.
- Always check the weather forecasts before you go out. Don't sail when you see storm clouds rolling in; any accompanying shift of wind could be a serious problem.
- Always be aware of the tide direction and what time the tides start going out. A strong outgoing tide in storm conditions can sweep you far away from shore.
- Don't sail at a new spot alone. Ask locals for tips about new spots, especially about where there might be currents and hidden rocks. Watch people sailing there for a while before you jump onto the water yourself.
- Leave a "flight plan" with someone at home, and plan to call or text them when you get off the water.
- Keep yourself properly fed and hydrated. A hungry or thirsty sailor is an accident waiting to happen. You also get cold much faster if you run out of gas.
You should check your gear every time before you sail. Spend the extra minute while rigging to check all of these things, every single time:
- Check that the tendon in universal joint is not cracked anywhere.
- Check for frayed downhaul and outhaul lines. Make sure all your lines are properly tensioned, cleated, and tied off.
- Make sure the deck plate for your mast is solidly in place if you use a 2-bolt base plate; or that the mast base is firmly in place if you use a 1-bolt system. For storm and wave sailing, you should consider switching to the more secure 2-bolt system.
- Check that the mast extension is fastened securely to the base.
Periodically check your masts and booms for cracks, and your sails for wear spots and potential tears.
Consider getting one of those inflatable emergency rescue buoys at a dive shop, especially if you enjoy storm sailing. They give you some extra flotation, and they are highly visible.
If you get into trouble, stay calm no matter how bad things seem to be. You need to be able to think clearly. Do not act precipitously.
- Don’t abandon your board, ever, no matter what. Your board is the only piece of gear you have that will keep you afloat. If you have to ditch your rig, fine; but never abandon your board. If you have to rescue someone else, don’t leave your own gear to do it; you'll just end up with two people in trouble. Sail over to the person; or if you have to, ditch your rig and paddle over. The $1500 for a rig is worth much less than your life.
- Critical situations. If you are injured, figure out the fastest way to the beach, even if you have to ditch your rig and paddle your board in.
- Serious situations. If it's getting dark or you are worried about hypothermia, the same thing applies. Figure out how to get back to the beach as quickly as possible, even if you have to ditch your rig and paddle your board in.
- If the situation is not critical or serious, just stay calm and try to get you and your gear back to the beach. Take a minute to figure out your best course of action.
Learn self-rescue skills
Learn how to de-rig in deep water. Learn how to improvise so that you can get back to shore with broken gear.
Here’s a web page that describes some key techniques:
http://www.boards.co.uk/articles/index.asp?ID&A=6article_type=11
Also, it never hurts to carry 3-4 feet of downhaul/outhaul line. Some people even carry 10-20 feet of line that can be used as a tow rope.
Acknowledge your limits
In general, if you are not confident of your abilities, you should not be out on the water unless there are plenty of people around. If you are over-confident of your abilities, you should especially not be out there.
If you are not comfortable in 30mph wind on a small board (say, under 90 liters for a 175 pound sailor) and somewhat overpowered (say, 4.7 to 5.0), you should not go out in storm conditions where it can get much windier. In fact, if you think 30mph is “nuking,” you might think twice about going out in a storm.
If you are not comfortable sailing a sinker back to shore, both underpowered and overpowered, in both on-shore and off-shore winds, you should not go out in "cyclonic" storm conditions, where the wind can switch from on-shore to off-shore in a matter of a very few minutes.
If you are not completely comfortable in 3 foot wind-blown chop, you should not be out in storm conditions, where the waves can rapidly get much higher.
You should not sail further from shore than you know you can swim back, especially in storm conditions.
Be your brother’s and sister’s keeper
I hope that nothing above seems controversial, because part of what I'm about to propose just might be.
I think that we all need to pay better attention to other sailors, and if we see someone who appears to be sailing in conditions dangerously over their ability, we should all do the following:
- First, get a second opinion from someone else.
- If the other person agrees, the two of you should gently discourage the overmatched sailor from continuing to sail, or at the very least, offer him or her help getting back to shore safely. Treat this as a teachable moment: offer tips for how the sailor might do better. That's how we all learn. Be respectful.
- Perhaps the overmatched sailor has just not noticed the incoming line of clouds or some other changing condition. Let him or her know.
- I know how obnoxious this sounds, but if you and others are convinced that someone is in way over his head (and it is usually a “he”), you should try to find a firm, but polite, way to get that person back to the beach. It just might save the person’s life; or prevent yet another rescue that harms the whole community.
- See that the last sailor is safely off the water before you leave the beach. Don't leave someone sailing alone, especially if it's starting to get dark.