The Peconic Puffin

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How To Self Rescue On The Water

Ted Bretter has been telling me for months about an old Windsport article that did a thorough job of explaining how to derig at sea.  He told me that it once got him out of quite a jam.  “You’ve got to find a copy,” Ted’s been saying.

Windsurfing self rescue

Now after the Wolf’s misadventures on the Peconic (getting separated from his gear during at attempted derig) Ted reminded me again.   So I reached out to Windsport windsurfing magazine and said “Hey, a guy here says 8 years ago you had quite the article about emergency derigging…any chance you can find it and republish it?”   In less than an hour it was on Windsport’s website.

Spend some time checking out (I will be).  It is thorough.  It is Ted tested.  And it could save your gear (or your ass.)

Thank you Windsport! Good idea, Ted!

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3 responses to “How To Self Rescue On The Water”

  1. f messina Avatar
    f messina

    In my experience: It is better to just lose the rig, and stay with the board. Any time I have tied up my rig in a neat little package [especially when you are in big seas] the energy expended trying to save the rig would be better spent rescuing yourself.
    1. Stay with the board
    2. Kiss that $2,000, mast, boom and sail combo goodbye
    3. Paddle to safety, your life is worth more than your gear!
    Resources [personal experience]: one hour and a half swim, in the open ocean, Air temp 50’s, water 50’s.
    One hour swim in the sound, air 30’s, water 30’s.
    One two hour swim in a protected bay; air 60’s, water high 30’s. This was the only time I actually saved my rig. It was difficult. My center of effort was too high and I kept falling of the side of the board in dead flat conditions. I ended up swimming behind my board, and salvaged rig. Not worth it. I was in the early stages of hypothermia, and was having thoughts like “maybe if I take off my PFD I could swim faster”. The reason I survived that one was because Mike DaBaker paddled out to me on a longboard. We traded boards and he paddled my gear in the rest of the way.
    The other two swims were later in life, and I jettisoned my rig without hesitation both times. All three swims were in a drysuit.

    Reply
  2. Michael Avatar
    Michael

    Frank, I agree completely. Unless conditions (sea state, water temp) are friendly, ditch the rig and paddle the board.
    That’s worth a new blog post, I think. Will cogitate, ruminate etc-ate.
    Thanks for making the point!

    Reply
  3. Dave G Avatar
    Dave G

    I broke a mast (just above the boom ) wavesailing in Barbados, and did the self rescue routine and paddled. Well, 1 hour later and 5 miles down the coast in the heavy current I made it back to the beach just before dark absolutely spent.
    Learned from locals that if any mast intact it was better to sail it in, even if in watersart position, than paddle. A tip I’ll remember for next time, especially in cold water.
    Having the board saved my life.

    Reply

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