Comments for Survival in False Bay at http://www.surfski.info , comment 0 to 13 out of 13 comments http://www.surfski.info Fri, 05 Sep 2008 18:49:11 +0100 FeedCreator 1.7.2 http://www.surfski.info/content/view/146/154/#pc_276 Latest thing in the UK is to have GPS on your SIM Card of your cell phone. Mainly used for parents tracking their kids. A site I picked randomly where info regarding this is www.followus.co.uk/where_it_works.html. As long as there is a signal the position can get tracked. - Guest Wed, 12 Apr 2006 18:17:01 +0100 http://www.surfski.info/content/view/146/154/#pc_150 Here in Sydney Australia no surf ski paddlers ever where lifejackets, whereas nearly all sea kayakers do where them. Bearing in mind these guys in SA found their lifejackets very effective I reckon when I make my switch from an epic 16 sea kayak to epic V10 sport ski later this year I?ll keep wearing my lifejacket. An interesting DVD to watch is called ?Open Water? about 2 scuba divers accidentally left behind at sea by their charter boat; they have some interesting tips about survival at sea at the end of this DVD. Every paddler would know it only takes a few strokes of the paddle to be seriously far out to sea Gary Auer Sydney - Guest Mon, 20 Feb 2006 11:29:45 +0100 http://www.surfski.info/content/view/146/154/#pc_121 I would say a cell phone is way more useful in an emergency than flares are, I take both. I noticed on the Strand race last weekend, where life jackets were declared vountary and conditions were fine, that many paddlers still chose to wear them. Heading up the lifejacket-wearers was none other than the winner Dawid Mocke - a fine example. Looking at the pictures from the Durban series it seems lifejacket are a rarity there. - Alain. - Guest Fri, 17 Feb 2006 12:13:45 +0100 http://www.surfski.info/content/view/146/154/#pc_111 I agree a cell phone would make a lot of sense. We have used it in very high winds and being in the pouch you don\'t get any of that wind noise. About the conditions: This is what it?s all about. Every Surf Ski paddler that has any down wind experience always wants to paddle down wind. It?s very exciting and in my book the bigger the better. In SA, especially in the Cape we are seeing more and more paddlers realising the need for their safety equipment. Some of the water here gets down to 9 deg Celcius and your survival time is not very long. At least in this case it was on the warm side but has the side effect of those big ankle snappers. These guys are experienced paddlers and can handle these conditions and as can be seen they did just fine. - Guest Thu, 16 Feb 2006 08:37:38 +0100 http://www.surfski.info/content/view/146/154/#pc_106 Great story and important reality check for those of us (like me) who love the thrill of high wind conditions. I\'m interested to know why a cellphone would not have helped - I would have thought that a cellphone in a waterproof pouch could be used for sending an SMS to a buddy who could then coordinate a rescue ... at least, that\'s what I\'ve always thought. wgb - Guest Wed, 15 Feb 2006 11:40:57 +0100 http://www.surfski.info/content/view/146/154/#pc_60 The guy from the US was me, and I made the post about the Uniden Mystic not the harsh comment about conditions. Thanks, Jason San Francisco - Guest Thu, 09 Feb 2006 20:28:16 +0100 http://www.surfski.info/content/view/146/154/#pc_59 I can see the comments from the guy in the USA are a bit harsh. I understand as they have so many rules nobody does anything without a chance of litigation. I love these kind of conditions and in 40knots I think I would use a leash form my paddle to the ski. Herman and I did a paddle like this in Durban, South Africa and it was crazy. I have to admit with no leash. You could catch a run with just one wing blade in the air. The only difference, we had warm water and a 30ft ground swell. Also no great whites. I think if you experienced enough you can go out in just about any condition. Surf Ski paddling is far safer than paddling down any river, not to mention class V rapids. If you ever go out in huge conditions make sure you can swim to shore with or without your ski. If the wind is blowing off shore don?t go. We have one of the safest and most exciting sports in the world lets keep it that way. Oscar Chalupsky Epic Kayaks - Guest Thu, 09 Feb 2006 17:20:27 +0100 http://www.surfski.info/content/view/146/154/#pc_58 With equal respect, I think your judgement a little harsh. The conditions were not unreasonable for experienced, fit paddlers. They had no way of predicting that the equipment would fail. And once it had failed they had no way of pulling out of the paddle; they had only one way to go - downwind. In the circumstances they did pretty much all they could. Rob M - Guest Thu, 09 Feb 2006 09:34:32 +0100 http://www.surfski.info/content/view/146/154/#pc_57 I think this paddle was relatively safe, provided you have a lifejacket and the wind keeps blowing onshore (not that I\'d go out in those conditions). In 20 degree celcius water of False Bay you have about 12 hours in the water before life threatening levels of hypothermia are reached. If this had happened in Table Bay you\'d be in serious trouble after about 4 hours in the water. The site http://www.hypothermia.org/inwater.htm advises against trying to swim to shore if hypothermia is a risk and suggests methods of conserving your body heat in water. Alain. - Guest Thu, 09 Feb 2006 09:33:19 +0100 http://www.surfski.info/content/view/146/154/#pc_56 with all due respect, surely the lesson to be learnt is: when you have a wind so strong you cant paddle into it, and a 9-12 ft steep pitched swell that has pitch-poled your ski, maybe you should put away your macho pride and stay in-shore or pull out of the paddle. having safety gear, and survival knowledge, doesn\'t mean you can abrogate your responsibility to exercise commonsense and sound judgment. Arguably, the lesson here is to put a reality check on your exuberance when faced with these sorts of conditions. - Guest Thu, 09 Feb 2006 03:18:22 +0100 http://www.surfski.info/content/view/146/154/#pc_55 I recently purchased a Uniden Mystic which is a VHF / GPS radio combo that is submersable. It has a one button distress signal which can be triangulated by the coast guard (US?). The only problem I found with it is that I submerged it in the sink and it sank! So, I have to fit it with some kind of floatation device. Jason San Francisco - Guest Wed, 08 Feb 2006 21:24:09 +0100 http://www.surfski.info/content/view/146/154/#pc_54 Someone questioned the estimate of the windspeed. Here are the stats for Muizenburg for the period in question: Time Wind speed in knots 2006-02-05 10:00 48,3 2006-02-05 10:10 41,8 2006-02-05 10:20 48,3 2006-02-05 10:30 35,4 2006-02-05 10:40 40,2 2006-02-05 10:50 48,3 2006-02-05 11:00 43,5 2006-02-05 11:10 43,5 2006-02-05 11:20 40,2 2006-02-05 11:30 41,8 2006-02-05 11:40 41,8 2006-02-05 11:50 35,4 2006-02-05 12:00 46,7 2006-02-05 12:10 37,0 - Guest Wed, 08 Feb 2006 14:54:02 +0100 http://www.surfski.info/content/view/146/154/#pc_53 On Sunday Helicoptors reported sighting two brown stripes extending many miles from Monwabisi!!! Only thing that might not have been done correctly was informing the seconds what they should do if their paddlers do not arrive within a certain time period. Helicoptors can fly in almost any wind strenght. Other than that I think that they were well prepaired and this certainly aided their survival. Rule No 1 never leave your ski..... - Guest Wed, 08 Feb 2006 14:14:57 +0100