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Huge Thank You for Hatch Search and Rescue

 
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eversummer



Joined: 12 Jul 2011
Posts: 9

PostPosted: Sat Apr 28, 2018 2:47 pm    Post subject: Huge Thank You for Hatch Search and Rescue Reply with quote

I am extremely grateful to Doug from Seattle who towed me to shore after I got separated from my windsurfing gear at the Hatch. I was exhausted from swimming and wondering if I could make it to shore. I would also like to thank all of my friends who noticed my rig without me on it then stepped up to start a search and rescue. JP, Rob, Alex, Pink Car, Scott, Temira, Cookie, Dave G, Royn, Tina, and Patty (sorry for those I'm sure I left out). I really appreciate that and feel bad for disrupting what was an otherwise epic day. Many thanks! Ron
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eversummer



Joined: 12 Jul 2011
Posts: 9

PostPosted: Sat Apr 28, 2018 3:10 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

And, of course, a big thank you to my wife Meredith and an apology for making you worry about me.
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surfalex



Joined: 08 Aug 2008
Posts: 73

PostPosted: Sat Apr 28, 2018 5:55 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Glad you are ok Ron, we were worried to say the least...Alex
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Spencer.Berry



Joined: 28 Sep 2000
Posts: 14

PostPosted: Sun Apr 29, 2018 12:34 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Very glad that there was a happy ending!
See you guys on the water soon.
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doug_needs_wind



Joined: 02 May 2005
Posts: 35

PostPosted: Sun Apr 29, 2018 1:02 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Ron you are welcome!

I'm glad you got back OK.

it was a crazy day!

later out at Roosevelt I found Mike Fick without his rig so, we got him back. Beric towed him back to Washington. He's OK, just mad! I don't know about his rig though.

Swell at Arlington was epic. The wall was lousy, no swell.
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isobars



Joined: 12 Dec 1999
Posts: 20935

PostPosted: Thu May 03, 2018 3:11 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Decades ago a couple of us launched to rescue a damsel in distress near dusk one summer evening in the corridor. She was the only person left on the river, was drifting west at a good clip, and appeared to have given up hope. After we got ashore, I said, “I hope you learned a valuable lesson today”.

Still shook up, she responded, “Yes. I don’t belong in the Gorge. I’m heading home to [Iowa, or some other heartland state. They all look alike to me Smile ].”

“No, no … the lesson you just learned is that this is a river, with shore and help always nearby.”

I got a hug and a grin, and she expressed and displayed renewed enthusiasm for a long stay in the Gorge. (Was it the hug, or the lesson; I'll never know.)

We may not always land where we’re parked, but our vehicle is just a thumb away, and people here will go WAY out of their way to help a hitchhiker in a wetsuit.

doug_needs_wind wrote:
at Roosevelt I found Mike Fick without his rig so, we got him back. He's OK, just mad!.

Whoa, Doug. Mad? Anger never entered my mind. What I DID feel included:

Disappointment ... that I let myself get in that much trouble (I often sail alone until dark ... sometimes later ... at Roosevelt).

Sorrow ... to see such a great board on its certain way to its grave on the rocks despite your valiant efforts. I have seen only a couple of boards out of hundreds, from the 80s up through 2017, with its blend of high speed, insane slashing, tracking precision, light weight, smooth ride, and full confidence in any point of sail in heavy chop, big swell, and too much wind. It’s a great hoot and holler board.

Appreciation ... for the sailors and first responders who rescued my butt, tried their best to save my gear, and verified that I was fully recovered from an hour in the water. (Always dress for the swim.)

Satisfaction ... that my gym time had paid off. Being towed by one hand gripping a 6mm downhaul line for maybe 8-10 minutes was a lot like doing one-armed pullups on a clothesline (you have to flex the arm to guard against shoulder dislocation at the speed I was being towed.)

Uncertainty … whether the problem in catching my board was due to all the CRAP I was wearing or to this being my first day in the water since Thanksgiving.

But "mad?" Don't know how I gave that impression. In fact I was joking with the paramedics and the trooper. $#!+ happens, ya deal with it.

BTW, anyone have a primo red w/sky-blue swoosh Mistral wave board (1998 swallowtail 253 with A-box or 1999 pintail 256 w/powerbox) they want to sell? I'm down to two spares in two sizes. (All three cost me $120, altogether, in virtually mint condition.)

A general suggestion for easier towing, from threads a decade ago:

Towing the easy way involves virtually no effort or balance from the person doing the towing (the "tower").
The procedure:
Towee de-rigs nd bundles his gear, if he has any.
Tower sails up to him, luffs, drops his butt to towee from lee side.
Towee grabs tower's harness* with one hand and hangs on to his own gear with other hand, and they sail off into the sunset with the tower remaining in water-start position and HOOKED IN.

* This is why I use kite harnesses; they have a handle or cable on the back just made for this task. It even helps the towee breathe air rather than water.

I once towed a guy across the Gorge at the end of a 4-hour session, quite overpowered, and if he weren't a good conversationalist I would have fallen asleep while towing him, because I was just lying there in my harness, feet on the board and butt in the water, steering with my fingertips on the boom.
By the time we reached the far shore I was rested enough to keep going for another hour. This stuff doesn't HAVE to be work; a 100-pound GURL could do it.

Another description …
Have the towee de-rig, bundle his gear on his board, and lay one arm over his gear. Then the tower gets in the waterstart position with both feet on his board (I prefer ‘em in the straps for this task), the towee grabs the tower’s harness with his free hand, tower hooks in, and away you go, buttsailing off into the sunset in a broad reach. Towing distance is limited by towee’s hand endurance, your food supply, and how long you can stay awake. It’s very relaxing for the tower, as his hardware is doing all the work, and steering is simple within the broad reach regime. For the tower, it’s much like butt-sailing through Roosevelt’s midsummer shoreline weed bed. (A guy broke his mast pumping through the weeds last year, and they get worse every year.)

Buttsailing is also an easy (and maybe even painless) way to rescue yourself after destroying a knee a mile offshore (as I found out on July 4, 2013), crossing a wide wind shadow on a sinker, heading upriver when the wind backs off in strong current, and much more. It’s an important skill to master.
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doug_needs_wind



Joined: 02 May 2005
Posts: 35

PostPosted: Sat May 26, 2018 4:15 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Mike, yea, you're right, I was the mad one, mad at myself for not being able to save your rig!

I'm glad you are well.
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