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Intro | ABK Sports
| Peninsula | North Bay | Eastbay | Safety Issues Safety Issues Report SFBA Efforts and Tips for Safer Sailing The first time I sailed Crissy ten years ago, I sailed with immense caution and admiration for the challenging site. I remember with great clarity, my shortness of breath as I launched into a sailboat regatta and out in between two ominous ocean liners. After 20 minutes, I called it a day as the boat traffic and strong flood freaked me out. I had tremendous respect for the Bay. As the years have gone on and my confidence and sailing ability increased, a false sense of security transformed me into feeling invincible on the Bay. That was until I broke my universal last year and spent an hour in the frigid water during an ebb tide. An old 3.2 wetsuit and sailing without flares or radio left me helpless. However, I was fortunate enough to be spotted and picked up by the Coast Guard before going out the Gate. This incident has been the catalyst to remind me of our vulnerability on the water and for my involvement with the Safety Committee in SFBA. Coast Guard Tips Jay Valentine has been the lead on this committee and has worked hard to help improve
relations with the Coast Guard. The Coast Guard has been very helpful and excited to work
with us. They are working with us on creating the "ideal" safety pack and on
improving rescue operations (with a focus on treating our gear more gently). The Coast
Guard recommends the following for creating a safety pack: Communication is Key Many windsurfers have started to carry cellular phones wrapped up watertight plastic bags. Another suggestion is to carry one of the smaller conventional marine radio telephone equipment that is capable of operating on the international maritime distress frequencies 156.8 MHz (VHF Channel 16) or 2182 kHz. Although conventional marine radio is the best means of alerting nearby shipping and Search And Rescue (SAR) services to a distress situation, the carriage of an Emergency Beacon will much improve your chances of being located should conventional means fail. Beacons which operate on 121.5 Mhz, 243 Mhz and 406 MHz are now detected by satellite, in addition to aircraft, and re-transmitted to a Coastguard Rescue Center. These are fairly expensive ($200 at the cheaper end), but would be well worth the money spent if ever needed. The Important Sailing Buddy Perhaps the greatest safety advice is to sail with a buddy. Carlos Merino's story is a prime example of the benefits of sailing with a buddy. Without his friend Mike, he may never have been located. However, with the strong independent nature of most sailors, it is often difficult for most of us to wait for our friends to finish work before we sail off on those 4.0 days! (Or any day for that matter!) Therefore, we are in the process of investigating an ideal tracking system for all sailors. The White Board One system that has been strongly considered is "the White Board System." This system would request all windsurfer s to mark down their time of departure, type of sail & rig, and estimated time of return on their white board and then leave it on their dashboard. At the end of the day when only a few cars are left in the parking lot, fellow sailors can ensure that everyone makes it in. There have been several occasions that the Coast Guard has been called out to look for someone who is thought to still be out sailing, but is actually on a mountain bike ride - leaving their car with alltheir gear in the parking lot. This system seems to be the simplest, however there are a few others that the SFBA is
considering. Any comments can be directed to Safety on the water should be a priority for all of us. By sailing safely, we will help ensure our rights to sail in one of the most amazing sailing locations in the world. Carla McGrew Life is Precious & Unpredictable - Be Careful Out There! By Carlos Merino This is for my 3rd Ave friends and all those sailors that may find themselves, from time to time, in desperate situations... March 28, 1998 Forecast looks good; the weatherman is calling for 20 to 30 knot trade winds on the coast. It is unusually cold this weekend, and I've been fighting this cold. Not good. The Bay is supposed to have a strong ebb this afternoon. Small crafts have been posted for the entire area. I think I'm going to 3rd. What a great day! It's only about 1:30 pm and the weather is already 4.7. Perfect ebb and wind. Brand new wave board! The swell is big out in the channel, great for jumping and slashing around. Harry, a friend of ours had gone down with a broken mast. What a pain? He'll have to paddle his board all the way back. We helped bring his rig back to shore, then it was time to go back and look for him, but first, had to go down to my 4.2. The wind was whipping big time. I sailed back out and looked for Harry all afternoon. No luck. The Coast Guard helicopter was above me the whole time. Looking for Harry I thought. Where is he? He must have made it to shore already. Oh well, I'll keep sailing, this is too much fun to stop! Around 4:00 pm I decided I had enough and headed back in to the shallow area. Perfect to practice some high wind tricks. Great! Did that for about 1/2 hour, until I decided was time to call it quits. Had invited a couple of friends for dinner and I was getting tired. This was a good time to stop. Hey! There is Mike! "Where have you been dude!?" "I've been looking all over for you", he yelled. Looking for Harry I replied. I was sailing up wind, oh well I'm done. "No, no" he says, "the swells are big out in the channel, one more run dude? Let's go!" Ok I said, let's go! We were sailing along, cruising towards the channel marker. When we got there the swell was big, the wind very strong, great jumps and just all out fun. I took a big jump and as I approached the landing, nose first, something was wrong. Wham! Crash. Came out of the water, laughing hard, yelled at Mike and cheered him on. As he went by, I notice the board was loose! It had separated from my sail. Shit! For a fraction of a second I thought, ok Mike can get it for me, then a big swell came from behind and the board took off. Damn, as I see it accelerate down the swell I find myself, in disbelief, watching it go, floating in the water holding nothing but my sail. Mike!, Mike!, Mikey, my board, my board!, get my board! Mike! He realizes what happened and attempts to go after it. He is way overpowered and can't sail downwind. Slam! Try another waterstart Slam! The board is far now, cruising along, shit! What am I going to do? Mike takes off after it, the swells are big. He soon disappears, can't see him anymore, he is gone, he is gone! My blood is rushing; my heart is pounding. I'm *%@#ed! What am I going to do? The sail is sinking, ok I'll try to keep it afloat until Mike comes back. This is hard, very hard. I'll just float until Mike comes back, Mike, Mike, Oh God Mikey, you have to come back, where are you Mike, come back, come back... The coast guard helicopter has been flying around searching for Harry and other sailors, I see it! It is coming, it's coming, Shit the helicopter is about 200 yards away, it can't see me waving. "I'm here! Over here!"Nothing, it's gone! it's gone! I see the helicopter fly by, I'm thinking it will come back, but this time it does not, it is gone! There, way over there, almost by Coyote Point. God, it is gone, it is not coming back! Kick hard, keep kicking, hold the sail, keep it afloat. The swell is pounding, the wind is ripping. *%@, this is not easy. This is a great sail; I don't want to go let go of it yet. Mike will get the coast guard and come after me. I'll just wait a while and he'll be back. God it's cold, keep kicking, stay afloat God damn it! Panic settles in, I'm *%@ed, I'm really *%@ed. Oh God, help me, help me please. I don't want to die today, not today, not like this! Mike, somebody, Mikey, where are you? Maybe another sailor, nobody is around. The swell is pounding, keep afloat. Shit! I'm taking too much water... I have to relax, calm down. I'm not going to die today, I can'tdie today. Mike went down wind after my board, the tide is changing. I was looking for Harry all day and couldn't find him. How in the world is he going to find me? Oh shit, I'm alone, he is not coming back, he is not going to find me, how could he? There is no way, I'm *%@ed! I'm cold, Ok calm down, calm down. I got to go for it, I got to swim. Land is far, very far, about 4 miles, but what can I do? I'm alone, Mike is not going to find me. I've got to go for it. I said my good-byes to the sail and let it go. Start swimming; paddle nice and easy, conserve energy as much as I can. This is going to be a long day! The swell is pounding, can't freestyle, I'm taking too much water, I'm getting trashed by the swell and the wind - splashed around, man handled. I'm tired, I'm cold, my legs are starting to cramp! Ok, let's try backstroke, this is better, but can't kick anymore, my calves are cramping bad, no matter, kick anyway, long easy backstrokes. I'm cold; I'm taking too much water. I'm going to die! Keep going, keep going! At least one hour has passed since I lost the board, I'm making little progress, Mike, Mikey where are you? I can't go anymore, my arms are cramping bad, my legs can't move, I'm going to sink, I'm going to sink to the bottom of the Bay! My baby, I can't leave her, I can't loose her, she needs me! She is going to cry, I'll miss her. What's going to happen now? Oh baby I don't want to leave you, not yet. You'll be so sad, Oh God, No, No, oh God, don't let me die. Oh man, there is no hope. I AM GOING TO DIE! Can't swim anymore, just try to stay afloat and wait, wait for the inevitable. Silence, complete silence. Can't feel my body anymore, can't move anymore, I'm going under... Silence... Complete Silence... Could this be possible! There is someone coming, a sailor, a red sail, Oh God, is Mike, Mike, Mikey! Over here! Oh God, over here, over here! I'm here, please God, over here, I'm here, I'm here, I'm here! I can't believe it; Mike sailed right up to me! how did he find me? This is not possible, how did he find me? Mike, over here, over here. "Are you ok?" he asked. "No dude! Come over, help me, help me, help!" I grabbed his board and breathed a sigh of relief, I could finally stay afloat without working so hard, I was saved, I put my head down on the board and I thought to myself - I am not going to die today, not today. Mike said that he handed my board over to another sailor, he also told the coast guard boat to come over right away. "Let's just paddle to stay warm until the coast guard gets here." Keep paddling, keep paddling. Oh Mike thank God you are here! That was close, that was very close. I'm not going to die today. You came dude! You came! Keep paddling, keep paddling. Another hour and nothing! No coast guard in sight. The sun is starting to set. Mike is worried now. "Where are those *%@ers?" He is yelling out of the top of his lungs. "I told them you were swimming with no board, with nothing! Where are they? Where are they? It is going to get dark soon. We've got to make it to shore. "Mike says, he'll swim. I'm supposed to sail the thing and we'll keep an eye on each other. Mike starts swimming. I'm trying to waterstart. The wind is still strong, the swell is pounding. I put my foot up on the board and my whole body cramps! Oh shit! Can't waterstart like this? No matter, keep trying, keep trying. I get up, I sail a few yards, I fall, I waterstart again, cramps everywhere, sail a few yards, fall. Mike is swimming, the sun is setting. I'm cold; I'm very cold! This is not good. This is going to take a long time. A very long time. Land is still more than a couple of miles away. I'm very cold, I'm starting to shiver, I can't control it very well. Take a break, calm down, calm down. Ok, waterstart again and keep going. It's getting dark, I can see rain coming, the weather is changing. Oh shit - the wind shifts. It's blowing offshore now! *%@! It's cold, it's cold. Maybe "I'm going to die after all!" Mike is yelling, "keep going, I'll swim, you paddle." I can't Mike, I can't, I can't move, I'm cold. It is getting dark; it's getting dark. We are *%@ed! Silence, complete silence... "Carlos! Carlos! The Coast Guard! The Coast Guard! They are coming, they are coming! The boat nears; they are not close enough so it looks like they want to circle. I yelled, "NO, NO! You have to get me out of here! Get me out!" They see me, they realize I'm in trouble. Immediately they throw a line, I swim to it and I grab it with all my might, I ain't letting go of this shit. They drag me quick, I'm bouncing all over the place, body drag, the water is cold, I don't care, I ain't letting go, no way I'm not letting go. I get to the boat; they pull me out of the water. I can't move a muscle. They throw me over the railing, my face goes flat on the ground, I'm staring at the ground, ropes, life vests, yellow dog with life preserver jacket! I must be really *%@ed! I stay there, I can't move. Three or four guys pull me up. "This guy is bad, this guy is bad, they yell. Take him down, take him down!" They drag me inside the boat. "Take your wetsuit off. Got to get you warm, What's your name? How long have you been out there? What's your name? What's your name?" Take the wetsuit off; warm blankets, warm plastic bags. "Don't go to sleep, stay with us! Stay with us! What's your name? What foot am I touching? What hand? What's your name?" The shivering starts, my whole body, I can't stop, out of control. My mind wonders off, I feel I'm watching someone else shiver, don't feel anything, don't see anything? "Stay with us! Stay with us! Don't go to sleep! What's your name? Stay still, we need to get you on an IV. Here it goes. We are going to the hospital, stay with us sir, stay with us!" I'm shivering, I can't stop. The boat is bouncing, we are cruising now. We are going, we are going. "I'm not going to die today!" They kept me under observation for hours. They shot hot air under dry blankets. Constant flow of nice hot air. Oh man! That was wonderful. I was warming up; I could feel my body. It took awhile to thaw out, but it was warm, it was nice cozy warm. I made it. I made it. I WILL LIVE TO SEE ANOTHER DAY! What a day, talk about a tough day at the office! Things I learned: - Life is precious, every minute counts! Life is not predictable. One day, without knowing, we may wake up to see our last day. Enjoy it while you can... - Sail with a buddy. He may save your life. I would not be writing this story if Mike hadn't been there. Thank you buddy. From this moment on, until the day I die, beers are on me! - Hold on to your board. No matter what happens. Your board is your life! - Check your equipment. I had about $1000 worth of rig, $1300 board, yet a $20 part may have failed of which we think a pin (probably a couple of dollars worth) almost kill me! - Have a safety/rescue kit. Extra toe line, strobe light, flares, whistle, something! They may come in handy Unbelievably, my sail washed out to shore the next day! The luff sleeve is a bit torn, but repairable. The rest of it looks in perfect condition! Two days later I got up on a helicopter looking for my board, which apparently was left on the water by the "unknown" sailor who took it. We combed the entire South Bay looking for it. Nothing! Oh Well, the ride was fun. Time to get another one. I'm doing ok, my whole body is still very sore, and occasionally I get cramps in my upper back and thighs. My legs at the back of my knees are bruised badly from kicking for so long in a wetsuit. My calves are shred to pieces from all the cramps, I'm sure. I have problems standing up in the mornings. I believe I have pulled/torn a few muscles, but I will be ok. My mind seems to drift into intense thought, flashbacks, pictures come and go and can't seem to stop it. I figured I needed to write all this up hoping I will put it to rest. I believe I'm having some post-survival mental shock, or whatever the medical terminology is. I'll be back on the water soon. I think I'll stick to waves though. They are much safer... -- Carlos -- Intro | ABK Sports
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