by Haris
Two Young Men
Two young Midwest men, Kevin and Mitchell, what do they have in common? In 2011 they were both on the verge of adulthood; healthy, active, athletic, and well liked by peers. That's not it, though. The two share spots #47 and #77 on the list of 86 drowning victims on the Great Lakes in 2011. Rest in peace fellow kayakers! My heart goes out to the families and friends.
It's chilling to realize how similar the stories of these two young men are and how eerily alike are the circumstances in which they ended. Both involved kayaks not well equipped for paddling the conditions they faced, these conditions exceeded the paddlers' abilities and, in the end, the water temperatures proved too cold to sustain blossoming human life. A group of kayakers has gotten into trouble in both cases but only one in each group ended up lost. Kevin waved off the help of his two friends and sent them to shore with another friend in trouble. Mitchell re-entered his boat after all three in his group capsized. He attempted to help his friends back into their boats as the waters around them raged. Both of the guys who tried to help their peers in trouble had perished themselves.
In many critical ways the accidents so similar in outcome were very different. In the early summer when Kevin's group set off form Little Sand Bay to Sand Island of the Apostles archipelago, the water was deceptively calm at the launch site. The day was beautiful and so warm that the group decided not to wear the wetsuits they brought along. There was a small craft advisory in effect but the youths were either unaware of it or did not know what the warning meant face-to-face. The group did not heed the water temperature below 50 degrees. Undiscriminating power of the waves and life-draining water temperatures were probably abstract concepts to them, not real and present danger. The group paddled out enthusiastic and inspired by their youthful energy.
Before long, once the protection of the island was lost and the wind got a hold of them, they met conditions they could not handle. Two of them capsized and could not get back into their boats. The body of Kevin was found several hours after he entered the 47-degree water. Nobody is expected to last one hour in water that cold without thermal protection. Given the time it took for Kevin's friends to notify the rescuers and time it took for the rescuers to find Kevin, the tragic outcome was horrible but hardly unexpected. What happened in the Apostles did not raise many questions or threaten the sea kayaking community. It only brought sadness to our hearts.
The conditions into which Mitchell and his two friends ventured were black-and-white different. The trio launched into the mouth of a raging maelstrom. The waves were over 10'—at least two or three times larger than what should have scared the living daylights out of them in the first place. The wind gusts topped at 40 knots or close to the limit beyond which even the most efficient sea kayakers can no longer hold their ground. There was nothing ambiguous or abstract about what awaited them beyond the break walls protecting the mouth of the Galien River in New Buffalo, MI.
Witnesses reported that the three put up a heroic fight against the raging Mother Nature just to get out through the protected river mouth into the open water. They were pushed back into the harbor by the storm but the more the Lake resisted them the more determined seemed their efforts to prevail. Just painting a picture of this in my head I can taste their zeal, ambition, the tunnel vision developing with a singular focus on overcoming the force that stood between them and their target.
Once they made it out through the mouth and turned north, sideways to the waves, in the words of New Buffalo Police Chief "They were done for." All three boys capsized immediately just to the west of the northern arm of the sea wall. Back in his kayak, Mitchell attempted to help his friends re-enter their boats but was unsuccessful and, eventually, all three were helpless and thrashing in the waves.
The water in Lake Michigan on that day was around 60 degrees—definitely cold and unpleasant but a long way from 47 degrees. The accident took place in front of multiple witnesses on shore who immediately called 911 and the rescuers were on site within minutes. One of the boys drifted to the east just north of the sea wall and reached the sandy shore on the other side. Another one caught a rescue line thrown to him from the tip of the break wall. Otherwise, he was "on his way to Wisconsin" according to the rescuers. Whether he would have made it to shore or shared the fate of Mitchell we will never know. The last of the three was pushed out into the open water north of the break wall. There, mysteriously stuck to one spot, the rescuers were trying to reach him with safety lines from the sea wall. Mitchell was swimming for safety with all he had for a full hour and a half! All of thirty feet separated him from solid ground.
How is this Possible?
Those of us who kayak in rough waters of Lake Michigan were unable to comprehend: How is it possible that someone can perish with so much time available to swim to safety and professional help on the scene? At the time, also, we were operating based in information from the USCG news brief which clearly stated that the accident took place inside the harbor walls. Wind, waves and current was pushing everything to the east-southeast or back into the river mouth and onto the shore. According to the news reports all three boys were wearing flotation aids, helmets, and wetsuits. Local rescue crews were on site and USCG helicopter was shown in the pictures hovering above. So how is it possible that a healthy, athletic young man can be lost in this after the rescue effort that lasted for well over an hour!? The unknown, what we can't understand, is the ultimate fright.
We know now that Mitchell was not inside the harbor when he capsized. Second, the media was also wrong about the wetsuit—as far as I could find out he didn't have a waterproof jacket either. And the USCG helicopter arrived on the scene after Mitchell disappeared under the surface. It was summoned from Traverse City, MI where the rescue choppers go to stay in the off-season. During the season they keep watch from Muskegon and Chicago—much closer to the scene of the accident. The New Buffalo rescue services did not have divers or anybody who could safely enter the water in the raging conditions. The storm was so severe, in fact, that the USCG did not even launch their 47' Search-and-Rescue ship—the state of the lake exceeded its operating limits. New Buffalo police tried to reach the open water with their brand-new smaller rescue craft but the boat was not able to exit through the harbor mouth. The rescuers on the seawall throw ropes to Mitchell who was 'stuck' right in front of them only feet away. With the winds over 30 knots blowing at the time it is easy to understand why they were not successful in hitting their target.
So why wasn't Mitch able swim to safety or wash out on shore!? I've taken my boat and other paddlers into similar conditions many times and, until this incident, I had not even considered doing so as all that dangerous, much less deadly! It was hard to reconcile the personal history of safe high octane fun with a cold fact of a young man in his prime, someone familiar with the kayak safety protocol, cut down in his prime. Mitchell worked at a local kayak business, so he knew a fair amount about kayaking and had seen how kayak rescues are done.
A step back: I am fully aware that there are many things that can quickly go south when a huge body of water like Lake Michigan goes wild. I think of the risks in terms of crossing the street. Surely, a speeding car can send you across the river Styx but do we really consider crossing the street dangerous because of that? No we don't! We prepare and take precautions—pick or spot, time, and look both ways before we cross. It does not really take a rocket scientist to figure out the basic rules.
The acute risks when you take your vessel into rough water are any hard things around you: other boats, floating wood, ice, sea walls, and so on. After capsize, even your own boat is a hazard. In shallower water, the sea floor, even if it's gentle sand, can hurt you. The shoreline is even more dangerous as you lose the cushion of the water and the landing spots are often littered with rocks and ubiquitous hard and sharp man-made objects. If you decide to fight the water in the ways that your body cannot support, you can pull out your shoulder of twist your back or cause a hernia. Offshore wind and currents can briskly take you out to sea much faster than you can swim against them. Your ability to return to shore is severely compromised if you find yourself out of the boat.
Last by definitely not least, once out there, your worst enemy is cooling—a combination of temperature, insulation, and exposure time. The water is almost always too cold and the human body is just not naturally insulated against its life-sucking effect. Given enough time, you will cool to the point where, muscle control, consciousness and, soon thereafter, life itself will leave you. When the water is 60, it's not that much time. Once you lose consciousness, most likely you will inhale water and drown.
The list of things waiting to get a kayaker out there may sound long and daunting. Luckily, though, if you are aware of these dangers, protecting yourself against them is not much harder than crossing a busy street. Aiming your bow into the storm is more fun than dangerous. Water itself can't really hurt you—10-15' waves are sparing partners, not deadly killers. As long as you can get out of the water relatively fast, you should be safe. So I keep asking myself again and again and again—why did Mitchell die? Why wasn't he just washed ashore like I and many others have been time after time?
Possibly the most suggestive and at the same time most mysterious circumstance revealed by New Buffalo Police Chief was information about a strange spot to which Mitchell was repeatedly deposited after he capsized. According to this officer, when waves, winds and current align just right, they conspire to hold anything that gets to this mystical spot in place. Mitchell tried desperately to swim toward safety but he was not able to make progress against the forces of nature. Time after time he would swim, get exhausted and be promptly returned to the place from which he started—just out of rescuers' reach.
In the beginning Mitchell held on to his capsized boat adhering to the sea kayaking safety protocol. Eventually the sea separated the two. He was not in danger of being overlooked by rescuers, though, and he had adequate flotation on his body. There was no way he was paddling out of the situation so the loss of contact with the boat was not all that important.
Well over an hour had passed in desperate struggle until, eventually, all the strength left Mitchell's body. He went unconscious. Shortly thereafter the waves slipped his PFD over his limp arms and he disappeared under the surface. The police described Mitchell's life vest as "appropriate and well-fitting."
So this is the best I can report—Mitchell was not able to swim the short distance to safety and paid the ultimate price for the risks he took because there is a "weird" spot just north of the tip of the seawall in New Buffalo, a spot that tends to suck and hold everything in when stars line up and Lake Michigan feels like it. Personally, I have never heard of anything like this on our tideless sea before. It does sound a lot like an eddy in the river, a recirculating rip current perhaps, or a whirlpool, or a vortex in the title race. Great Lakes Coastal Forecasting System reported a slow 1-1.5 knot current flowing to the northeast past the seawall at the time. As this current encountered the obstacle on its way, it somehow created a death grip that clutched Mitchell in its vice. Rest in peace!
Risk Assessment
Can sea kayaking safety protocol shed some light in evaluating this tragedy? Stripped down to its pure essence, risk assessment is deceptively simple: before you head out (1) find out what you're up against, (2) evaluate your personal skills, equipment, and group assets and liabilities against the challenges identified in step one; and (3) act based on how well you are prepared to meet the challenges and what consequences you're willing to endure. There are always alternatives. Your actions can include proceeding as planned, changing your plans to mitigate the risks, or cancelling the plans altogether.
One of the big items on the risk assessment inventory is checking the weather forecast to make sure that you don't end up in conditions you're not ready to face. In the case at hand, I cannot imagine what additional information the boys could have gleaned from any forecast source. All they needed to know was right in front of their eyes and ears. Deaf and blind they would have sensed the power of the storm on their faces. With winds that strong, simply standing straight up requires conscious effort. The inevitability of capsize should have been blatantly obvious. I can't imagine that the young men did not know they will swim. Seems more likely that they just accepted such contingency as part of the deal.
With the obvious risk of capsize facing them, the trio must have assessed their abilities and their options. Anybody who's been there would tell you that self or assisted rescues in 10-foot breaking waves are not really feasible or extremely difficult and dangerous at best. Swim (drift, more like it) to safety is just about the only option. I can't think of any other abilities that would have mattered. I know I would not count on my roll on the best of days.
Launching from the safety of the river is appealing; however, entering the raging storm right next to a huge pile of sharp boulders and no safe place to land safely was a puzzling choice. The sandy beach just to the northeast was a far safer option. The wind at the time was blowing predominantly onshore and a steady current flowed parallel to it. In the case of capsize everything would have been blown back onto the harmless sand. Had the group launched from the sandy beach to the northeast, not only would have they been safer, most likely they would have never gotten far from shore to begin with. Rather than protect them from the storm, launching from the river mouth was a Trojan horse that lured them from safety into the heart of darkness.
Next on the list of checks are your gear and clothing. All three were paddling plastic kayaks in 10-foot range with a closed compartment in the back—bigger than the whitewater boats but shorter and wider than the sea kayak—most likely a variety of "recreational" kayak. Not the best tools for the job. No spray skirts or hatch covers were found in the evidence locker; however, Mitchell's boat did not sink after capsize and he held on to it for some time. The hatches must have been lost after capsize. I suspect that the spray skirts were also ripped off their bodies by the waves.
I'm not convinced that even the best boat for these conditions could have prevented the tragedy. The chances of capsizing in waves that big were very high even for the most experienced rough water paddler in the most sea-worthy kayak. A proper sea kayak would have offered more positive contact with the boat for improved bracing. It would have had more dynamic stability in turbulent water. Sea kayaks are also faster and have more flotation. Nevertheless, none of these boat characteristics would have kept Mitchell upright or in his boat. It does not seem like any of these boat properties mattered after the capsize either.
Sea kayaks are significantly easier to roll compared to 'wreck' boats. In theory, with a spray deck, one could resurface and continue paddling after capsizing without taking on much water. In the real world, no one would look down on even the most experienced roller for wet-exiting in conditions as extreme as we had this past October. The three paddlers with no rough water experience were doomed to end up in the water even if they knew how to roll.
I was not able to ascertain for sure if the boys wore the spray skirts when they headed out. This article of equipment was not found with other gear in the evidence. First, without spray decks the boats should have flooded and submerged preventing any further forward progress long before the paddlers got out of the harbor. Additionally, the spray skirt does one no good once in the water out of the boat. Paradoxically, I would count the presence of the spray skirts in the strike column in the present scenario. Without them the boys should have flooded their cockpits which would have forced them to turn around prevented them from clearing the mouth of the harbor.
Tow lines, pumps, paddle floats, rescue slings, signaling devices, float plans, etc. would they have done any good in this situation? Maybe a pair of diver's fins could have helped Mitchell swim faster, maybe they would have enabled him to escape the vortex.
To the best of my knowledge, all three boys wore PFD's, helmets, but only minimal thermal protection such as rash guards and fleece. Based on the description, it did not sound like there was any neoprene or even a waterproof outer layer. A wet or dry suit on Mitchell would not have helped him swim to shore. It may have allowed him to remain conscious and floating on the surface until the helicopter arrived about 30 minutes after he disappeared. One would have to be a very conservative paddler, however, to conclude that Mitchell was critically underdressed. This fit young man continued to fight for well over an hour after he capsized. Personally, I know I don't dress for more than that when I go out paddling in cold waters. The lack of insulation was another small detail that, when combined with others, brought about the outcome.
There is reason to think that Mitchell might have been better off had he done absolutely nothing but hang on to his boat after a few failed attempts to reach the rescuers. Young men are normally blessed with high metabolism rates and thin layers of their own fat insulation. While desirable on land, in cold water, these ingredients make up the recipe for deadly accelerated loss of body heat. Simply curling up in a defensive heat-saving position, covering his groin, armpits, and neck may have bought Mitchell those precious 30 extra minutes of consciousness. Second, if what stood between him and the rescuers was a re-circulating rip current, by threading water Mitchell would have been taken farther from shore first but eventually the current would have deposited him on the sandy beach where one of his friends got out from the water. Peaceful defensive resignation in the face of the raging storm is easier said than done, however—especially if one is as invincible as I know I was as a teenager.
Conclusion
In the end, I have to conclude that, despite several questionable choices, the major factor in this tragedy was just luck. Had the boys launched from another location only steps away, had Mitchell not been able to remount his kayak after the initial capsize, had they capsized just a few second earlier, had the waves been just a hair stronger and kept them in the harbor the story would have ended with three cold wet boys chattering their teeth and having some quality laughs while sipping hot chocolate at McDonalds somewhere. A capsize and a long swim in cold water were not risks for this company—it was a certainty that they embraced going in. Landing on the rocks in 10' waves is a bit more risk than I would have agreed to but that was the risk the group accepted.
What really led to the tragedy was something they were not prepared for—the inexplicable black hole just to the north of the tip of the break wall. The trio clearly did not anticipate the invisible hand of the Lake that will demand one of them as a sacrifice. In my opinion, every one of the debatable choices this company had made would have been forgiven if not for the deadly grip of the angry lake. As it often is in kayaking, however, drop after seemingly insignificant drop finally make a crack big enough for a dreadful tragedy to sneak in. Lake Michigan can be fun to play with. "You must have healthy respect for the big water," resound the words of the New Buffalo Police Chief to summarize the ordeal.
P.S. I wish to thank Chief Larry Pitchford of the New Buffalo Police for his assistance in gather this information and showing me an example of what a public servant should be to his constituents.
Additional related reading:
- Tom Bamonte's Post about Kevin Dammen's death on CASKA Blog
- Keith Wikle's Blog post on New Buffalo accident
- Discussion of New Buffalo accident on CASKA Yahoo! Group
