Earlier this year, Rob Mousley organised a surfski exercise day with station 10 (Simon's Town) crew.Both rescuers and surfskiers gained much valuable insight. Rob tells us more. As anyone who reads Surfski.info knows, there have been several incidents in recent years where the NSRI has been called out to rescue surfskiers in trouble. The purpose of our exercise was for the NSRI to gain some familiarity with surfskis under controlled conditions, and for the paddlers to understand the challenges facing the NSRI. We also wanted to try out various types of safety gear, and to learn more about the drift rates of disabled skis.

Sea Rescue made available the Vodacom Netcare911 Surf Rescue helicopter, as well as the Station 10 (Simon’s Town) rescue vessels. We were fortunate with the weather, which saw us paddling in classic downwind conditions: the 25-30 knot winds and 1-2m breaking waves provided realistic conditions. We decided to do two runs, one with the helicopter and one with the sea craft.

We had three skis at our disposal – two were plain white, and one red. I was wearing an orange longsleeved shirt and a red personal flotation device (PFD); Wayne Borchardt wore a blue shirt with a bright orange PFD; and Gordon Brown wore a black sleeveless wetsuit with a black PFD.

Air searches and visibility
The first item on the agenda was for the helicopter to search for us and, having found us, to execute runs at various altitudes to work out the best height at which to search.

In the debrief after the exercise, the helicopter crew emphasised just how difficult it was to see the skis on the water, especially the allwhite skis, which blend in with the breaking waves. We could see the helicopter long before the crew onboard spotted us.

Here are some of their other findings:

• The red ski was always spotted first and could be seen from about 600m.
• The white skis became visible at a range of about 300m.
• Clothing made little difference to the paddlers’ visibility.
• The best search altitude was 700-900 feet.

Search aids included a space blanket and pencil flares. Gordon had a space blanket with him. It’s a thin sheet of silver foil often used by rescue crew to wrap around victims of hypothermia. He unfolded it and held it by the edge so that it fluttered in the wind. The helicopter crew reported that it was highly effective as a reflective device. The folded-up blanket weighs a few grams and can be stored in the pocket of your PFD.

We obtained permission to shoot a couple of red pencil flares. The chopper crew reported that the flares were easy to see, even in daylight. Although the flare itself lasted only a few seconds, the smoke trail remained intact moving downwind with the mass of moving air acting as a pointer for the chopper crew. The NSRI emphasises that you should always keep one or two flares for when the rescue craft is close to your position.

Sea searches
We all headed back to the NSRI base for lunch. Gordon, Wayne and Elsa were replaced by Dawid and Nikki Mocke and Dale Lippstreu who had agreed to be the test subjects for the second part of the exercise.

We sent them off to Millers Point to start a second run. Alain Jaques and I joined the crew of Spirit of Safmarine III to search for the errant skis. In contrast to the airborne crew’s findings, we discovered that, from sea level, the colour of the skis made less difference, while the brightness of the paddlers’ clothing was important. It did strike me, however, just how little visibility there is from a surface craft going upwind into a 25-30 knot breeze! Sheets of water swept over the bow of the craft and we could see virtually nothing. Once again the paddlers spotted the rescue craft long before they became visible to the rescuers.

Dawid called us using his mobile phone. We could hear him clearly, and he was able to guide us to his location by telling us to steer left or right until we finally saw him and the other two paddlers.

He also tested the VHF (a waterproof handheld Icom M71 Marine VHF radio) and again we were able to hear each other clearly.

The VHF is much easier to use than a mobile phone simply because you only have to squeeze the talk button. Some cellphone screens are difficult to read in sunlight, and it’s often quite tricky to dial a number through the thick plastic of a waterproof pouch. It’s much easier to answer a call than to make one, so it’s helpful if rescuers have the number of the casualty. Dawid tied a small neon-orange flag to his paddle, which was also quite effective.

Measuring drift rates
We persuaded Dawid to volunteer by getting into the cold water and hold on to his ski, while Nikki and Dale simulated rudder and paddle failure and rafted together. We allowed them to drift for 15 minutes.

Dawid allowed his ski to drift downwind parallel to the wind and waves while he tried to keep as much of his upper body out of the water as possible. He drifted about 800m at a speed of approximately 3km/h. Nikki and Dale drifted at a higher speed, and then discovered that by using their rudders, they could make their skis point directly downwind. In short order, without paddling, they found that they were now moving at nearly 6km/h. (It’s worth noting, if you raft with someone, you can proceed downwind with a fair amount of directional control. On a Millers run, for example, you’d eventually get to Fish Hoek. You’d take a bit longer than normal, granted, but you’d get there in the end.)

Then it was Nikki’s turn to get wet. She let go of her ski and, in no time, it was rolling downwind, much faster than she could swim. Dawid paddled alongside her and she climbed onto the rear deck of his ski, lying face downwards behind him. She placed her paddle underneath her and was able to ‘swim’, assisting Dawid who paddled to where her ski was still rolling its way downwind. They were able to recapture the ski and she remounted, only to be told to do it again, this time tethering her paddle to the ski. When she let the ski go, it still rolled downwind. However, the paddle did slow it down, and she was able to swim after it to retrieve it.

Remember:
Skis are incredibly difficult to spot, from the air or from the sea. Choose a brightly coloured ski and wear bright clothing!
You will see your rescuers long before they see you, so you must have communications equipment to attract their attention, and ideally to enable you to ‘talk them in’.
There is no single measure that you can take that will keep you safe 100% of the time – but every precaution you take and each piece of safety equipment you carry will work in your favour.

Thank you to the NSRI and, in particular, Ian Klopper (the search and rescue helicopter coordinator) and Darren Zimmerman (Station 10 station commander). Thank you also to Wayne Borchardt, Gordon Brown, Dale Lippstreu, Dawid and Nikki Mocke, and the photographers, including Elsa Borchardt and Alain Jaques.