LAKE MICHIGAN RESCUE PRACTICE REPORT: SOME LESSONS LEARNED

Bharat Meshwani was one of a dozen paddlers who spent a Sunday morning (7/19/09) at Rainbow Beach in Chicago working on a variety of self and group rescue techniques.  Tom Bamonte convened the group.  Some of the attendees were paddling on Lake Michigan for the first time.  Others were old salts.  Everyone learned something.  Below is Bharat's report followed by a few comments from Tom Bamonte.

By:  Bharat Meshwani

I just wanted to thank you (and some of the experienced paddlers) for teaching us many ways to do rescues and giving us tips on a lot of things.  You taught us so many things that I almost forgot a few when I was describing it to my wife.  It tells us how short human memory is unless we practice it frequently.

 

That made me write down all the things (if I remembered) in a small document so that I can read it after a week/month or two and practice it again and again during the winter pool sessions so that it gets reinforced in my brain and muscles.  I hope you take a minute of your time and read it and provide me your feedback as I truly value a your opinion.  Please correct me wherever you feel I made a mistake.

 

 There was something else I learned that was not a part of the curriculum or practice for the day.  I am so glad you picked Lake Michigan for the rescue practice because practicing there on that day taught me something else.  Last Sunday was not a typical mid-July day.  Air and lake water temperature, both were colder than normal.  While the water was not freezing, it was certainly colder.  

I had a wet suit on with one layer below it.  But repeated immersions in cold water takes its toll.  I saw that I was not the only one getting tired during the last hour.  Whenever I was out of the kayak, I was still cold simply because I did not empty my kayak and so I was essentially sitting in my kayak filled with cold water.  I was wet for nearly 4 hours except for the part when we were eating lunch.  That was kind of exhausting.  Muscles get tired quickly and you lose energy.  For a short time (15 seconds or so) I also experienced a mild muscle cramp in my leg.  No big deal but you can see what happens with prolonged exposure to cold water.  

While this has nothing to do with rescues (directly), it also means that if someone were to capsize in cold water, it does not take long before the person gets exhausted and rescue of any kind gets difficult.  I call this a good way to learn what happens when you repeatedly capsize and get immersed in cold water without a dry suit.

 

Here is the summary of what I captured:

 

Self Rescues:

1. Underwater re-entry and using paddle float – paddle combination as an outrigger and executing a hip-snap.  Use one of the legs to hold/secure the kayak while attaching the paddle to the paddle-float and blowing up the float.
2. Underwater re-entry and using paddle float – hands combination as an outrigger and executing hip-snap (not sure where the paddle is secured when the individual is preparing or executing the maneuver, is there an assumption that the paddle is lost?).  Use one of the legs to hold/secure the kayak while blowing up the float.
3. External re-entry using paddle - paddle float as an outrigger but climbing up from stern (facing rear) and sliding backwards from the stern facing the water backwards and slowly sliding into his kayak, then slowly turning and facing front (all the while putting pressure on the paddle-float side so as not to capsize again.
4. Self rescue cowboy style: requires climbing from stern facing forward and moving slowly forward towards the cockpit and making a re-entry (not sure where the paddle is secured when the rescue is executed).

Assisted Rescues:

5. Bow (only) Rescue: Requires using partner’s bow (requires holding breath and waving hands along the side of your boat) but eliminates re-entry and removal of water from kayak.
6. Bow (and paddle) Rescue: Requires using partner’s paddle (side to side rescue, requires holding breath and waving hands along the side of your boat) but eliminates re-entry and removal of water from kayak.
7. T-rescue: Where the rescuer lifts the victim’s kayak on top his/her kayak, empties as much water as possible, floats it right side up in the opposite direction and then holds it for the victim to re-enter his kayak.  Victim then climbs (swims-climbs) the kayak from stern (facing rear) and sliding backwards from the stern facing the water backwards and slowly sliding into his kayak, then slowly turning and facing front.
8. Hand of God: Used when the victim is unconscious or is not able to respond to any other kind of assisted rescue.  Requires holding victim’s PFD and pulling it upwards with one hand while pushing down victim’s boat (side closer to the rescuer) with the outer hand.  
9. Contact Tow: Victim holds rescuer’s boat and rescuer tows the boat to safety, victim not capsized.
10. Short Tow: Victim cannot hold rescuer’s boat; use a short tow to tie victim’s boat and tow to safety, victim not capsized.
11. Tow a capsized victim (assuming he lost his boat or paddle) having the victim hold a rope with face in the direction opposite to the direction of kayak.  This helps keep victim’s face upwards.

Maneuvers:

12. Hanging draw: Used to shift moving boat sideways fast towards a capsized kayaker (requires momentum).
13. Sculling Brace using paddle: Capsized paddler uses paddle as a sort of moving outrigger to keep face above water and avoid a complete capsize.
14. Sculling Brace using bare hands: Same as sculling brace using paddle but instead use hands in doggie paddle movement.  Cannot do it for long.
15. High Brace using paddle float – paddle combination: Do high brace to practice hip-snap.
16. Move around the victim’s kayak closely holding victim’s boat rigging.
17. Lateral draw: Needed to move closer to a victim.  

  

By:  Tom Bamonte

Thanks Bharat for the summary of what we covered during rescue practice.  Thanks to all those who participated with enthusiasm and good attention.

The participants included Jan Archer, Michelle Perry, Tom Heineman, Laurent Yen, Haris Subacius, Denise Poloyac, Hether Hoffman, Richard Stiers, Bob Mallon, Paul Doughty, Tyler Vaughn, and Ray Gaynor.  I'm sure I missed a few.

Rescue practices tend to focus on what to do when someone is out of their boat, such as the T-rescue and the rescues using the paddle float.  When I planned the session it was going to be limited to that repertoire. 

While on the water I had the sudden realization that rescue practice should be just as much about two other things:  (1) techniques that allow a capsized kayaker who cannot execute a roll extend the time they stay in their boat, and (2) techniques that help paddlers in the vicinity of the capsized paddler get to the overturned boat more quickly.

That realization prompted me to expand the practice to include a variety of techniques that allow you to stay in your boat even after capsize.  Haris demonstrated how to swim in your overturned kayak.  I modeled how you put your paddle on the top of your overturned boat and scull with your free blade--you catch your breath by laying back and looking at the sky.  Both techniques provide the paddler with a chance to get enough air to stay in their boat for some seconds or minutes.

We also worked on various draw strokes in order to demonstrate ways to maneuver to an overturned kayak quickly.  I'm partial, for example, to the shovel method where you lean over perpendicular to the boat, grab the water as far out from the boat as possible and then pull the boat to the paddle using your core muscles.  Others prefer standard draw strokes to do the same thing.  We also got comfortable with using the deck lines on the other person's boat to maneuver rather than relying on paddle strokes to put your boat in good position for a rescue.

Paul Doughty underscored why working on these two families of techniques should be a central part of rescue practice.  He relayed to me that most of the real-life rescues in which he has been involved could have been avoided if the paddler had been able to stay in their boats 30 seconds longer.  In other words, if we can work on staying in our boats 15 seconds longer and getting to capsized paddlers 15 second faster, the need for the classic and tricky rescue techniques for kayakers out of their boats would be much reduced.

Bharat mentioned his experience with the cold water.  Both the water and air temperature that day were in the low 70s so readers can extrapolate from his experience what it must be like to have prolonged exposure to water and air temperatures in the 50s or colder.  Note the recent account by John Puskar of a Lake Michigan crossing in July where both paddlers were in the early stages of hypothermia by the end of the trip.

Bharat was not the only one affected by the cold.  Several people cited the cold when they broke early from the group to paddle to shore and call it a day.  I noticed a general correlation between experience level and layers.  You can see from the photo above that Tom Heineman, for example, was wearing a neoprene hood, as was I.  

My sense is that there are four key considerations when dressing for getting wet.  First, protect the head with something that retains heat.  Second, protect the core with a variety of layers--e.g., wetsuit covered by fleece.  Third, have an outer layer such as a paddling jacket that protects you from the wind.  Finally, have gloves, an extra hat and ideally an extra layer like a cag available to mitigate the heat loss once you are back in your boat or on shore.

The Atlantic Kayak Tours Expert Center is a starting point for information about cold water paddling safety (and lots of other things).

Bharat also asked where to store your paddle when executing some of the rescue techniques.  I find that tucking it under my armpit is a good way to free up both hands and still keep in touch with my paddle.

Finally, I think the reentry and roll technique should be renamed, at least when executed with a paddle float.  The "roll" in the name deters non-rollers from using the technique.  This is a shame.  When we practiced the reentry and "roll" using a paddle float most non-rollers found it easier to execute than the standard flop-on-back-deck paddle float rescue.  How about "paddle float dipsy doodle" so non-rollers will no longer be scared off from trying what may be the most effective self-rescue technique.

Thanks Bharat and thanks everyone for a fun and productive practice session.  We'll do another before the summer paddling season is done.

Photos:  Richard Stiers

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