San Diego Kayak Club Meeting

The monthly meeting of the San Diego Kayak Club was held last night at Aqua Adventures. The topic was incident management. Jen divided the attendees into 3 groups of 5. We then took turns picking from a set of various items ranging from VHF radios to trash bags. After we had assembled our 'kit', we were each assigned a 'victim'. The lovely Jane Hardy was our paddler in distress.

The basic scenario was during a paddle from La Jolla Shores to Mission Bay, about halfway, Jane became sea sick. After falling out of her boat, we then began working through the incident. We got her back in her boat, but she was unable to paddle. I assigned two other paddlers to raft with her to keep her upright, then started a towing system. As we continued, she worsened, so we opted to call the Coast Guard for assistance. Jake was watching us, and was impressed how quickly we handled the issue and our choice of gear (VHF radio, tow line, trash bag, duct tape, boat repair key, a large first aid kit, paddle float and a light). We had used the trash bag as a make-shift poncho to keep Jane warm from her 'swim'. 

So Jake started to expand the incident. First was a lost day hatch cover. Inflate the paddle flost inside to fill the space. So now we last a large hatch. Duct Tape over it, maybe using the trash bag again. Now fog descended, and we had to land. Since we were clear of the Bird Rock, we knew we had a sandy beach. 

To solve this, we sent the second best paddler ashore to direct the landing, keeping the best paddler on the water to assist in the crisis there. We removed the paddle float and secured it behind Jane to serve as additional floatation during her swim. Depending on her state, we decided to send one or two other paddlers sans boat to help her ashore. The remaining paddler would try to keep the boats out of the surf zone until the swimmers were ashore, then he would send them in.

Jane could then be warmed up with pfds, while help arrived.

The other teams also had various issues to solve. Although not a real crisis, my BCU training just kicked in (I hope if needed it does on the water).

It was a fun and informative evening.

Just a reminder, the Southwest Kayak Symposium is fast approaching. I'll be there, but sadly not on the water.