Kato

[Alton]

Another kiter tugged your windsurfing gear down towards Jericho. It should have washed up around there.

[Kato]

Thanks Alton and Faceplant for rescuing me, I owe you lots of beer(s)!

It sure sucked getting separated from my gear as I had no chance as the wave carried down it quickly.

My gear washed up on the Sunset Beach and no damage!
Went Jericho to sail more.

Besides the swim, it was an epic day.

I am sorry to everybody in the Vancouver windsports community
and yes, I will be careful...

Kato

P.S. Dave, Johnny and others,thanks for your concern.

[Brian C]

Glad you’re back safely, and no need to be sorry. These experiences can happen to any of us, and they remind me why we shouldn’t sail alone in cold weather and why we should “dress for the swim” when the water is cold.
Impressive that you even “got back on the horse” by sailing later at Jericho!

[LeopardSkin]

Wow a three session day. Kato takes yesterday's prize!

[telus022420]

How did you know where to get your board? Sunset is quite a few beaches from Arcaida; did you write name/phone number on the board?

[Faceplant]

Glad you scored another session! No problem on the ride into shore. Just out of curiosity. Would it be possible for a windsurfer to help someone back to shore?? If I had a 12 meter, I would've got you back in 30 seconds LOL. 7meter did the job just fine though.

[Kato]

Jericho Sailing Center called me that my gear was sited close to the Burrard bridge.
I have learned that a kiter name Dan (Thanks) drag the gear to the beach (it did not wash up)

[Kato]

Hi Faceplant,

I have done it with floatier boards on lighter wind days. (ask to hang on to the back foot strap)
Many of us have picked up and carried back abandoned boards a bunch of times.
Has anybody out there did that with >5.0 sails + small boards?

[ShonanDB]

I pulled a Kite back to shore while windsurfing at Point Roberts as well as helped at CNL and WR a couple times to get boards and Kites in when the wind died/switched off shore. Keep your eyes open and lend a hand when you can or notify others when you get back to the beach if you can't help, while out on the water.

[Brian C]

I have towed someone with their gear, while on my 95 litre board and 5.0 sail, using a 3m long tow rope. She had to keep her sail on top of the board and try and kick a little, but it was still tricky. Luckily it wasn’t more than a few hundred metres to tow. If it had been further, she would have needed to derig and bundle everything on her board like you do to self rescue (or be dragged in without her gear).

A few things I observed from that rescue (many years ago) :
- the amount of drag is immense. There’s no way you can plane, so you need a floater board that you can slog. It’s hard work because you usually can’t even hook in at that slow speed and with such an unbalanced load.
- people say you can have the person hold onto the back foot strap but that really only works if you are towing them without their gear. If you have a tow rope you can tie that to your back footstrap and their universal, or they can hold the tow rope while laying on their board.
- in a severe emergency and if they can lay on and hold onto their own board, they may be forced to ditch their rig so the board will function better as a rescue sled.
- when sailing with friends or family who are learning, I now carry a thin 3m long tow rope wrapped around the tail end of one boom arm. It’s outside the gripping area so not noticeable unless you’re doing duck gybes or freestyle. Some people also carry a piece of rope on their life jacket or harness.

As you can tell, towing with small or midsize windsurfing gear is difficult but not impossible.