A rescue at sea: cautionary tale

I spotted this account of a rescue at sea this fall (9/30/2010) of a jet ski operator who ran out of gas off Cherry Cove, Catalina Island, California.

He had a lot of things go south:

- his fuel calculations didn't account for the heavy seas,
so he ran out of gas 5 miles short of Cherry Cove
- his waterproof VHF radio failed soon into the trip
- his flares were duds
- His eventual rescuer had seen and dismissed his distress signal mirror flash as an accidental flash.
- " He had seen lots of boats but no one had seen his waving arms or heard his shouting voice or the flash of his signal mirror."

9/30 A rescue at sea - Cherry Cove, Catalina Island

Yikes! It seems like he took reasonable precautions. Plus, he's an ex-marine. Sometimes, things just don't work out. In the end, his survival was a success.

I wonder if he had a whistle, or maybe he lost it. I'd want my big Storm Whistle in that situation.

As for the guy who saw the flash, that's not comforting that he ignored the flash. Maybe it happens a lot. I would think that a flash at least deserves a look through some binoculars/telescope. Or maybe the rescuer didn't have those.

It may indeed happen a lot. I recall reading someplace that you are more likely to have someone stop and help you (say your car is broken down) on a lonely country road, then you are if you are on a highway with dozens of cars passing you every moment.

Apparently, it the presence of lots of other cars (boats?) in the area makes people think that there really can't be a problem or someone else would have stopped to help already, so they don't stop. On the country road, they can see they are the only one who can help, and are more likely to stop and help.

It sounds like there were other boaters in the area; perhaps the area is well traveled. So they thought if there was trouble, someone would have helped already. . .

A flash all by itself doesn't mean much; it could be a bit of chrome or even the water. To get someone's attention with a mirror, I'd think you'd need to flash them repeatedly, and hopefully in a recognizable pattern such as SOS.

On a personal watercraft, I'd probably prefer an air horn to a whistle, but I'd definitely put a whistle on my PFD.

I'd like a blow horn too. However, I'm not sure how practical that would have been, given everything else he was carrying.

Regarding the mirror, I'm not skilled enough to do SOS. My skill level is at being able to hit the target. My goal would be to shine a constant reflection. In this particular scenario (tired, capsized boat, hanging on for dear life), performing SOS with a mirror would be even farther beyond my capabilities. Note also that the rescuer never said he failed to see an SOS signal. The rescuer ignored the flash entirely.

Any signal in sequences of three should be recognized as a distress signal, whether it's a flash, light, whistle, flags, etc.

SOS is just three shorts, three longs, three short: · · · — — — · · · of anything.

A constant reflection may be seen as just that, a reflection not a signal.

That SOS (three shorts, three longs, three short) is just not going to happen in this situation with a signal mirror. If you could have done the simpler three shorts, pause, repeat, then you still have high skill.

I don't deny what an SOS means. I'm doubting that I could have done an SOS with a signal mirror in this situation. Merely hitting the target in this situation would have been a remarkable feat for me. Regarding an SOS with a whistle or a blow horn, I could have done that. A flashlight is irrelevant here because it would not have been seen. I don't think I would have wasted my energy trying to signal with a flag, which probably would have been a bandana in this situation.

He lucked out. Catalina is about 22 miles off the coast of California, specifically Orange County. Very well traveled - there are probably 20 ferries daily. And probably dozens of private vessels too.

Unfortunately, nearly the entire island traffic goes to Avalon, at the southern tip. There's a Boy Scout camp halfway up the island at the isthmus, and one at the northern end (Emerald Bay). Also a girl scout camp. There's also a small airport, serving Cessna-type planes.

I assume there's LOTS of flashes - it IS the ocean, after all. totally normal to ignore one.

The other interesting, and perhaps frustrating thing, is that he's probably within site of land. Certainly, from the beach on a clear day, you can see out to the island. From any altitude on the island, you can see the mainland (and all the ocean in between). Literally, hidden under the noses of thousands (milions?).

Having done my share of boating (27 foot sailboats and small motorboats in coastal waters, ocean kayaking, canoeing in Canadian wilderness, reading dozens of first-hand accounts of boating disasters, and many hours of monitoring VHF marine Coast Guard transmissions from coastal waters), I'm convinced that among the very best signalling devices are the large and expensive 25mm flares (day or night), and big orange smoke signals if the wind isn't howling during the day. Many times I have heard Coast Guard transmissions notifying that a flare was sighted in this and such area and investigations being initiated. Other signals can be easily overlooked and ignored, but those big 25 mm flares generally always mean someone's in deep doodoo (or soon will be if they've launched such a flare without being in any real danger). I don't count on anything less when on the ocean. Hand flares are excellent for guiding in rescue vessels from short range as long as they are held well away from the body and craft and over the water. But those 25mm flares are very bright and can be seen for miles, and really do attract attention.

EPIRB?

I am trying to restrain myself...

... oh-oh! It isn't working........


By all means, calculate your fuel to the nearest tablespoon.

After you've been in the water for a couple of hours hanging onto a jet ski, insist to any prospective rescuer that you're fine. That's why you were signaling, right?

He reminds me of a joke I heard many years ago: To civilians, it's 6 p.m.; to Army soldiers, it's 1800; to Naval seamen, it's four bells; to Marines, the big hand is on the twelve and the little hand is on the six.

Sorry, Marines!

Sue

Thoughts:

-Walkie-talkie to your friends boat? (10-35 mile range over water)

-spare gas in bottle? (bottle $10 gas $4 getting home safe? Priceless)

At least when sea kayaking, you don't run out of fuel so abruptly and you are a little less dependent on technology. Too bad you can't paddle a jet ski

I'll do some more arm chair quarterbacking...

I've been jet skiing. The only jet skiing I'm familiar with is having fun within a particular area. It sounds like this guy used the jet ski for non-trivial transportation. Is that common in that area near Catalina Island? That sounds like a dumb thing to do in the ocean. After all, it is the ocean, not a lake.



The article says he was outside of visual and radio contact from his friends (at least their radios). Also, in my opinion, a "fun" jet ski trip that requires spare fuel is a trip that should not be taken.

I don't know if it is, but there are supposed to be good surfing waves on the windward side. Maybe he was doing that to see more of the island? It's not well "road'd" to travel.

Not having ridden any jet skies (though I'd love to try once), I am still pretty certain that their cargo capacity is virtually nil.


My impression is that jet skis have the serious drawback that if you loose engine power your only option is to hang around while slowly sinking, hoping and praying that you'll be rescued before actually sinking, drowning or becoming hypothermic. Jet skis probably won't become submarines, but will sink partially - and make a really lousy life raft. Plan accordingly.


Evidently, he did have several backup plans for motor failure, including radio and flares. Those failed him. Electronic gear fails. A PLB as a backup to his radio would make very much sense. So would not riding alone. But having a backup plan, including water proof radios, flares and such makes him miles beyond your typical incompetent merciless-lost-at-sea nilly-willy.


Although I don't consider jet skis seaworthy vessels, I am in no position to say that he shouldn't have done what he did. We need to appreciate the fact that some people will accept higher risk levels than others. I'm fine with that, as long as they don't whine about it when things go wrong. He clearly doesn't sound like a whiner to me.