Aided remount?

Some basic safety and rescue questions

Are there any particular methods to assist another paddler who is struggling to remount his ski?  Or even help with general rescuing someone else in trouble. There are plenty of instructables with sea kayaks and the like with regards to pulling the bow across the other boat, and rafting up, but what is the easiest method on a ski in potentially rough water, given that a paddlers inability to remount is probably one of the biggest risks in this sport.

Also with sea kayaks towing and rafting up are common skills taught. What happens if someone, or boat, is incapacitated in a ski, how do you get them back to shore.

In our part of the world if you are more than 2 miles, I think, offshore in a kayak you are supposed to carry back up paddle & EPIRB (not PLb), who does this and how would you do it? given the ability to carry gear on a ski is pretty limited. If you snapped a blade off given the tippy nature of skis there is a fair chance most would not be able paddle one bladed back to shore in anything other than very calm conditions

Interesting question. 

What are the factors that prevent a successful remount:
Exhaustion - lack of functional strength to pull yourself out of water and on to ski.
Stability - either lack of personal ability or rough water meaning that you tip straight out before you can get fully in boat and paddling.
Gear issues - could be leash tangle, could be something you are wearing that is catching on the ski as you try to remount.

I think that a fellow paddler could assist by stabilising your ski - probably holding it by the bow with their ski in a T-shape. That would help with the bottom two problems, 
Not sure about exhaustion. There are 'ladders' formed of webbing that the sea kayak community use. I think they'd be very awkward in rough waves.

waverider wrote: In our part of the world if you are more than 2 miles, I think, offshore in a kayak you are supposed to carry back up paddle & EPIRB (not PLb), who does this and how would you do it?

An Epirb is a PLB and vice versa.  Same SAR rescue system when activated. 

Epirbs are mounted in vessels with additional power supply, bigger antennas, more watts etc.  They blast a super strong signal up because they can.  Used on ships/aircraft/ anything that can carry them.  They make many, many versions of Epirbs.

PLB activates the same SAR system.  Much more robust and reliable than a phone.  Phones are toys compared to PLB's and Epirbs.  Look it up.  VHF radio on channel 16 is also very robust and better than a phone on the water - in a true emergency.  All boats have them and monitor channel 16.      

IMO, If you are 2 miles offshore, have an emergency and cannot call for help, you are dead.  Too many stories on this forum of people dying because they were not prepared.  

Old but good. Like Bob himself. 

vimeo.com/90942303

LaPerouseBay wrote:

waverider wrote: In our part of the world if you are more than 2 miles, I think, offshore in a kayak you are supposed to carry back up paddle & EPIRB (not PLb), who does this and how would you do it?

An Epirb is a PLB and vice versa.  Same SAR rescue system when activated. 

Epirbs are mounted in vessels with additional power supply, bigger antennas, more watts etc.  They blast a super strong signal up because they can.  Used on ships/aircraft/ anything that can carry them.  They make many, many versions of Epirbs.

PLB activates the same SAR system.  Much more robust and reliable than a phone.  Phones are toys compared to PLB's and Epirbs.  Look it up.  VHF radio on channel 16 is also very robust and better than a phone on the water - in a true emergency.  All boats have them and monitor channel 16.      

IMO, If you are 2 miles offshore, have an emergency and cannot call for help, you are dead.  Too many stories on this forum of people dying because they were not prepared.  

yep I know difference between PLB and EPIRB, in Aus PLBs Do not meet legal requirements for being 2 nautical miles offshore an EPIRB is required. So for kayakers you really need both as EPIRBs are useless if you get separated, and to be honest the longer battery life is not much use as if you are not found within 24 hours its too late. Offshore fishing kayakers and sea kayakers often have EPIRBs fitted to them, but yet to see a surfski with one. As you say i reckon a PLB is a must. They are small and easy to carry in a/on a PFD

waverider wrote: Some basic safety and rescue questions
In our part of the world if you are more than 2 miles, I think, offshore in a kayak you are supposed to carry back up paddle & EPIRB (not PLb), who does this and how would you do it? given the ability to carry gear on a ski is pretty limited. If you snapped a blade off given the tippy nature of skis there is a fair chance most would not be able paddle one bladed back to shore in anything other than very calm conditions

Ah, I see now, you live somewhere near Australia, so PLB/EPIRB/SAR laws are different than here in the US. 

I like the idea of Australia limiting PLB's to 2 miles from shore.  Probably a hint to the tourist adventure seeker.  Maybe the taxpayers want to charge the tourist adventure seekers.  "Mate, it's the law, if you rent that ski - take it out beyond 2 miles and activate the SAR beacon - the authorities are going to bill you for the rescue."   That law has probably saved a few lives.

  

As far as aided remounts, I have no idea how to pull an injured paddler into their own ski, and I dont think that is likely possible. 

But stabilizing a ski so that someone else can remount under their own power is super easy. All you have to understand is that if you are grabbing their ski and leaning heavily on it, both your ski and their ski are very stable. Pull up parallel to them. Skis facing same direction or opposite does not matter. Stash your paddle under a bungie, or if you have a paddle leash on just drop the paddle. Grab the deck of their ski with both hands and lean your weight HARD on it. You should be leaning out at like a 45 degree angle or more. The more weight the more stable you will both be. You can do this with legs in the cockpit or dangling over the rails in the water. 

If you are practiced in sea kayak rescues this will be very familiar. 

The basic assisted rescue as described above is something that sea kayakers know and practice (or should). I don’t see why it wouldn’t work for surfskis, especially since their narrowness would make it easier to properly weight the rescuee’s ski. You are just counteracting his weight on one side to prevent it from reflipping the ski, or even both of you.

A big difference, though, is that sea kayaks have peripheral lines to help with grabbing a loose ski in the first place. You don’t use them to hold the rescuee’s boat during the remount or reentry, but it is easier to corral a runaway boat that has lines instead of all slippery surface.

I once assisted a sea kayaker while I was paddling a short SOT (Prijon Twister). The guy decided to practice wet exits and solo re-entries while wearing a Farmer John...in November in Colorado. The water was very cold. He became uncoordinated within moments of being in the water. After one or two failed attempts, he agreed to do an assisted rescue instead. The rescue went fine. This was in calm water, so like all other rescues, practicing in increasingly rougher water would be wise.

Hi! Risking to be the guy who sings the same song over and over, I'm gonna refer to a solution that is very close to my heart:
www.surfski.info/forum/35-surfski-innova...rt.html?limitstart=0

I hope some ski or gear producer is gonna solve this issue properly and this will become standard safety gear on a surfski. Basically carrying two deflated paddle bags attached to the ski hull, so that the paddle can be fixed to the ski and stabilize the ski and paddler in a near-hopeless situation..

Here is a view from a GoPro mounted behind me in a real life winter (albeit a warm Israeli one) conditions. The guy I'm with is a better paddler than I am, so I felt confident of letting him complete the remount on his own, but the initial stance is there... Grabbing it near the footplate does make it easier to maintain a grip, as there are more edges to the boat as opposed to stern or bow. But, naturally, it makes it harder for the rescuee to climb and swing the leg over the ski. Also, the overall raft becomes narrower and therefore less stable slightly.