Safety

A respected paddler died last night of a suspected heart attack during a weekly ocean race in False Bay, despite a co-ordinated rescue effort by lifesavers and the NSRI to save him.

[Editor: Here's a story just in from Sydney, Australia, that illustrates just how important it can be to carry a communications device when paddling offshore.  Well done to Dale Jackson and Steve Randall for having a mobile phone that they could summon help with when they got into trouble.]

 

No matter how many times I've rounded Cape Recife - and I've been going there all my life - I feel a mixture of respect and fear; if you don't it will eat you. -Richard von Wildemann

Richard 'Chopper' von Wildeman rides a biggie near Cape Recife - Dec 22, 2008

ABC News, Austrlalia: Police hold grave fears for a man who has been missing since telling his mother he was going for a quick paddle on his surf kayak on the New South Wales Central Coast.

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The surf only cranks seriously at Bikini Beach a few times a year. So when the forecast came in late last week we started to dribble with excitement.

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I watched the ski roll downwind, and knew that I'd blown it - big time.  Not only was I faced with a 300m swim to the beach but the wind was blowing it offshore - with my paddle and my GPS.  And I'd just started advertising the ski for sale.  DAMNATION!

[Editor: Paul Rosenquist took part in the recent Dubai Shamaal race.  He's from Sweden and is one of a small but rapidly expanding group of Swedish surfski enthusiasts.]

After Dubai I headed home with even higher levels of enthusiasm for the sport of Surfski Paddling - the game of using superior strength to catch waves which gives one even more superior speed.

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[Editor: Steve Price from Hobart, Tasmania contributed this salutory tale of a less than pleasant experience.  I know of at least three paddles that have broken in the last couple of weeks - are you prepared for this?]

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[Editor: Six weeks ago, David Scheen disappeared during a paddle near his home town Peterborough in Victoria, Australia.  Some of his gear, along with his smashed ski, was found the next day.  Here's a follow up report from The Standard online.]

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Editor: It's with a heavy heart that we publish this story - David Scheen from Victoria, Australia is missing after setting out on a training paddle yesterday.  I met David in Hawaii earlier this year where he paddled the Molokai Challenge - he's a strong paddler, but the story looks grim.  Keep him in your thoughts and let's hope for a positive outcome...