Wednesday SE?

[Michael]

How difficult was it to do/roughly how long did it take you to get it all sorted before swimming??

Also, please tell me you'll be coming out with an epic GoPro edit of the derigging + swimming + ambulance and cops (preferably to the tune of the Prodigy)

I'm just looking trough the files now. I might have been out there a little longer than I thought.

[Chris Klohn]

Hey Michael,

I'd be happy to give you the old nickname 911 I had two Coast Guard pickups, one 5 hour swim from Point Atkinson to the Jericho pier with a broken mast, one swim across Howe Sound at Furry Creek with a broken fin box, one two hour paddle from 1km off of the ferry terminal in the strait to lighthouse park with a broken u-joint, several hour plus swims at Whidbey and one across Nitinat at the campsite.

I spent three hours at the hospital in Ladner with hypothermia after blowing the zipper on my steamer 2 kilometers offshore as the wind died. That was a fun one because I can remember fully hallucinating swimming parallel to the shore thinking I was getting closer. I couldn't talk or walk very well when I hit the beach and my friend Byron had to take me in.

I always used to paddle straight downwind to the shoreline then either catch a cab after dialling from a nice person's farm house or walk back on the dyke depending on how beat I was. This was all before the age of 21 and I like to think I'm a bit smarter now 20 years later

Seriously, it's tough to call it quits when the conditions are so good. I'm glad you made it back safely in one piece with all your gear. Ditching your entire rig except for your uphaul and board sucks. Take it easy Michael and rest up for tomorrow afternoon.........it looks good again!

Cheers,

Chris

[C36]

Sorry to hear about the (mis)adventure M. Glad you are back on shore safe and sound!

[Chris Klohn]

Hey Michael,

If you ever find yourself way offshore and are questioning if you can make it back.........

1.) Take your uphaul, downhaul or outhaul line off and tie one end to your back strap and the other to your ankle like a leash........make sure it's tight.

2.) Ditch your rig and let it sink

3.) Paddle your board back like a surfboard

You'd be surprised at how easy a 2-3 km paddle is in big conditions if you are taking breaks every couple of minutes. Slow and steady wins the race here every time. I know there's several masts, booms and sails buried somewhere in the muck at BB

Cheers,

Chris

[AdrienGrelon]

Thanks for the instructional pic, Richi. I like the Michael Phelps nickname, haha.

...one 5 hour swim from Point Atkinson to the Jericho pier with a broken mast....

Would it not have been quicker to swim into West Van and catch a cab?? Or were you in need of some extra exercise back then? I guess I might've risked the swim to save 40 bucks on the cab, now that I think about it

[Alton]

Alton --- you're on news 0.40

http://www.theprovince.com/news/bc/Heav ... story.html

Epic water start

[Brian C]

Welcome to the club Michael. A few years ago I had the same experience but wasn't quite as successful at my self-rescue: lost half a mast and my favourite 5.2 Ezzy getting knocked about in the waves, but did paddle back with the rest of it de-rigged. For those who haven't had this fun yet, note that it is much harder in big swell and offshore wind than the swimming pool demo implies, but if you are far from shore or the wind turns offshore it's MUCH better than trying to swim your gear in fully rigged.
My hierarchy of self-rescues is: 1) short and easy swim, just drag it all in fully rigged (but it always seems to take forever to go nowhere); 2) moderate to long swim but still have energy and daylight, then de-rig and try the full self-rescue; 3) tired, cold, or it's getting late: ditch the rig and just paddle the board in because life is too valuable in comparison to gear, but the board is useful as a swimming aid.
Looking forward to joining everyone on the water again soon,
Brian

[Alton]

What a day!

First, we need to congratulate our new local hero Matt (normally only windsurfs the Gorge) who paddled out on his 97L Tabou windsurfer to pull in 2 kiters (Les then Jerry) who didn't quite make it back to shore (Centennial) when the wind clocked west at 10am. They were over 100m offshore but struggling to swim back against the opposing offshore wind.

... Just wanted to say thank you and sorry to everyone who stayed around and helped me out.

No need to apologize. As fellow mariners, it is absolutely our duty to make sure nobody is left behind. Today Matt, Brad, Ryan and I watched you fighting against the offshore wind. Since time is of the essence, Ryan explained the situation to the Delta police women waiting in the parking lot. I was ready to call the Coast Guard (*16) but the police took care of it. 18 Delta policemen were looking out the shoreline for you. Over 1 hour later the police women with Brad and Ryan spotted you swimming in towards Centennial Beach Cafe. Brad took Greg's 115L Futura and Peter's paddle to fetch you but apparently you had enough energy to swim in yourself. Just after you reached shore both the hovercraft and Crescent Beach Coast Guard arrived.

Sorry to hear about your workout there Michael Phelps ...

Michael Phelps is right. I swam out to help Michael carry in his gear but he had enough energy to bring it across the sandy beach to the grassy area. All Michael wanted was to take a leak.

I was able to practice the Wyatt Miller self rescue he taught us by de-rigging and tying everything down.

You did an amazing job with self-rescue de-rigging. When Ryan and I took your gear back to your van we noticed it was neatly tied up into a single bundle.

Michael - well done !

[Young]

Hey Chris,
Further to your list of calamities, you forgot the time at Acadia you were walking back up wind along shore and, crack! a tree limb fell across your nose breaking it. (Did I get that right?) And what about the Bear Creek incident?
As I heard it, we were both nick named by the same person. I got "Graveyard Chris". ha ha

[Alton]

Double session! Morning windsurfing session at Centennial started with AJ (3.5/83L), Michael (4.7/80L) and Matt (4.7/97L) as wind dummies before Ryan and I committed to 4.4/74L and 4.7/74L. SSE 23-28 with clean waist to chest high waves with lots of space for hero gybes! I can't blame Michael for staying out so long. I was tempted to do the same. Unfortunately, it clocked SW to WSW prematurely at 10am so I only scored 1 hour - short but very sweet. Other windsurfers included Greg, Brad, Dave, Bryan and Liviu but not sure if they made it on the water.

Afternoon (12:30pm - 2pm) 10m kite session in Delta SSW 16-20. Smooth flat water. Enjoyed by Joe, Jerry, Clay, Cash, Rob, Roxstock, Jeff and Les. Tons of floating debris enough to chip my surfboard fins.

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