Talk story Kanaha

[sailwave]

I'm windsurfing along well inside the reef at uppers, 25-35 mph day. I hear a call for help up wind but can't see anyone, I tack and actually make it, sail upwind, botch next tack, sail up wind more and there is a camo clad snorkel diver yelling for help and now yelling shark. The swimmer who was on his way out to help turns around and heads back to beach(smartly). I pull up next to the diver ( about 100 yards off beach of beginner windsurf cove), drop sail, and ask if he is bleeding, he says no, I ask if he was bit, he says yes, he looks very scared and nervous. I tell him to stay close to the board, hold footstrap and we make way to the beach with me in water under sail scissor kicking and feathering sail for a bit of power (wind very up down messy in there). We make it to about 1/2 way to beach and a gracious paddle board foiler comes to help. I grab his leash and we make faster headway with paddler sitting on his board. We get to beach and I stand up in about 2 feet of water and there is the shark ( i guess 6 feet and not tiger from what I can tell), struggling/churning to get at something at the tail of my board near diver. There are a few people on the beach now there and we all yell shit get out the water! The diver is kinda struggling to get out of the water and we realize why......he is dragging a 4-5 foot spear gun with a stringer of about 6 1ft long fat fish tied off to the end of the spear gun! We so called rescuers wail OMG WTF, you said nothing about the fish! Lifeguards show up on jet ski now and want to know if anyone is hurt, luckily NO, and head off to find his dive partner upwind who turns out was on the beach at this point.

So, the diver says thanks, gives paddler and I a fist bump and marches off with his about 25 lb of fish all intact and no fish for us. Well, in retrospect, I can't help but to feel used to help him save his fish. If he had just fed the shark the fish, none of this would have happened I suspect. Any thoughts from locals? I would love to be wrong about feeling used.

[windsrf]

Not just used - Seriously Endangered!

[SAS]

It also sounds like he did not have a dive flag/float on the surface. When the surface is choppy it's hard to see the divers even when they have a flag. Diving without a flag is not only illegal, it's stupid.

[sailwave]

There was a dive flag in the area earlier, I assume it was theirs and his dive buddie took it in. Why they separated....now that is the stupid part...I can postulate....

[dllee]

It's on you..
Should have noticed he was holding the Speargun or towing something. As a would be rescuer...and thank you for your service...it's up to you to assess the situation.
I've towed over 15 guys in at Crissy. It's always up to me to tell them to pack things up MY way.
My 125 lbs then g/f towed a 215 lbs guy back across the mouth of Flying Tigers. She forced him to constantly kick his feet, and use one hand as a rudder...and paddle when the wind dropped a bit.
As the rescuer, YOU take charge which means situational awareness.
And thank you for your service.

[windfind]

Hi Gang,

Here is my take as someone who, long ago, gill netted and spear fished from Ke'Anae Peninsula to Thousand Peaks with my "adopted" Hawaiian family.

When you are spearfishing in Hawaii, you mostly get smaller fish. (Very different than Baja where we shot one fish, swam to shore and fed the entire research camp, again long ago)

So, in Hawaii, it is common to carry fish on a stringer tied to your waist. Dead fish sink and once on a stringer through their mouth and gills they are pretty streamlined and easy to tow.

But it is impossible to put a thrashing fish on a stringer with one hand while holding a speargun with the other. So you also tie the speargun to your waist. That way you can drop the spear gun while stringing a fish.

This works great unless you have a hungry shark snacking on your fish and potentially you. The last thing you want to do is take your eye off the shark while you look at your belly button and untie this entire mess.

If you are smart, you would have a weight belt or line around your waist and the line to the gun and fish attached to the belt with a shackle. That way you could dump the fish fast with one hand and retreat.

This guy was not smart, nor was I.

So, my guess is that the last thing the diver was thinking about was telling his savior about all the line and the fish.

Or maybe he had incredible situational awareness and realized that maybe it was better NOT to mention the fish since his rescuer might not jump into the water to effect the rescue.


Incidentally, "situational awareness" is easy when you are just towing a sailor with a broken mast. Add a thrashing shark to the equation, and unless you have had a lot of shark experience, you get tunnel vision and just want to get the hell out of there.

Either way... great job sailwave

And, dlee, I remember some of your many rescues. Thank you!

Mike Godsey
Weatherflow.com

[sailwave]

Nice perspective Mike. Thank you. With the strong wind the water visibility was poor and you could not see the bottom nor any chance of seeing the spear gun and fish trolling along below. In hindsite, I do realize he appeared weighted down and kind struggling to keep his head above water, more than a weight belt, that was a missed strong clue that some mass was down there. Lessons..........

[jse]