Written in April 2022
Twenty one years ago on July 21, 2001, while participating in a sea kayak rescue practice off Dana Point, California, I saved a fellow kayaker's life.
Try as hard as I can, I have been unable to find any photos from that day. We must have been too involved in practicing rescues to have taken them. Instead, I have inserted pictures from other sea kayaking adventures from the same time period.
All events in this missive occur in California unless otherwise specified.
This photo of Stan and me was taken in May 2004 – three years after my life-saving event while sea kayaking off Cabrillo Beach near San Pedro.
The above map shows the locations of our local sea kayaking adventures from Los Angeles to San Diego that are mentioned in this missive. Dana Point (where this missive takes place) is on the coast in the center of the map.
This map shows where our sea kayaking and whitewater kayaking adventures took place throughout the Western U.S. (refer to the map above for our local sea kayaking locations). My Location (in Rolling Hills) and Dana Point (where this missive takes place) are at the bottom in Southern California.
Preface
Fifty years ago in 1972, Stan and I met on a raft on the rapids of the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon. Twenty years later in 1992, we both took early retirement from our careers in the Space & Defense Industry (when I was 51 and Stan was 55). We bought a motorhome so we could travel with our four dogs, a Jeep to tow and carry our sports toys, and a double inflatable kayak to paddle wherever we roamed.
After a couple of years paddling on flat-water lakes, we became bored and wanted to try our inflatable kayak on some rapids. I was leery of doing this on our own without instruction, so I signed us up for kayaking lessons on the Kern River in 1995. There they put us into one-person whitewater hard-shelled kayaks (not in our inflatable kayak as I had thought we would be)!
Thus began 15 years of whitewater kayaking adventures on river rapids throughout the Western U.S. This included spending an intense week of instruction each summer for five years (1996-2000) at a kayaking school at Otter Bar in northern California.
In 1996 while skiing at Mammoth Mountain, we met Gary & Ann. They live in Grass Valley, CA, and spent much of the winters in their RV in Mammoth Lakes where they both volunteered as ski hosts on the mountain.
January 1997 at Mammoth Mountain: Gary, Ann, Stan and Barbara
We saw Gary & Ann frequently after that and introduced them to whitewater kayaking. The four of us had many adventures together in that sport. In return, they introduced us to sea kayaking.
Prologue
We purchased our first sea kayaks in the September 1999 so we could join Gary & Ann on an eight-day sea kayak/camping trip the following month on the Green River through Canyonlands National Park in Utah.
• We repeated our Green River adventure seven years later in 2006, for 10 days instead of eight, and in June instead of October. Check out my missive on this web page titled, 🛶 Kayak Camping Down the Green River in Utah 🦟, 2006.
Before purchasing our sea kayaks, we demoed them in Newport Beach and Marina del Rey. We next took a sea kayaking class at Cabrillo Beach off Palos Verdes Peninsula.
Late in the evening on September 13, Stan brought his new sea kayak home on top of our Jeep. He started building racks on the wall inside our garage to mount them. My new sea kayak* was delivered to our home four days later.
* I have to give Stan a big kudo here. He bought me my new sea kayak, and instead of getting me a fiberglass boat like his, he got me one made out of a much lighter and sturdier material called Kevlar** – my kayak weighs ten pounds less than his. He also bought me a lightweight, beautifully-shaped Kevlar paddle!
** Kevlar kayaks are constructed with layers and pieces of S-glass and Kevlar cloth sandwiching a high performance, marine foam core.
Top left, September 13, 1999: Stan & I are holding our new sea kayaking paddles. Stan just brought his new sea kayak home from the dealer on top of our Jeep.
Top right, September 14, 1999: Stan is building racks in our garage to hold our new sea kayaks.
Bottom left, September 17, 1999: I am standing with daughter Tiffany by my new sea kayak, which was just delivered to our home.
Bottom right, September 20, 1999: I am trying out my new Kevlar sea kayak and paddle in our pool to see if I can roll it back up after I tip it over. I didn't succeed!v
Our pool was finished three months earlier in time for Tiffany & Jason's wedding at our home. We designed the pool so that it was wide enough for us to turn our whitewater kayaks around so we could easily practice our rolls.
Our whitewater kayaks are eight feet long, whereas our new sea kayaks are are 17 feet in length. Our sea kayaks are designed to hold 250 pounds (including the paddler) so we can carry enough gear to camp for many days on rivers we plan to explore. Thus we can't turn them around in the pool, but we can still practice our rolls.
Stan was able to successfully roll his sea kayak in our pool in September, but I wasn't able to return to the surface in mine without bailing out. With some difficulty, Stan finally managed to roll mine up. I have never been able to roll my sea kayak in the following 23 years.
Five days after I got my sea kayak, Stan & I went on our first sea kayaking jaunt out of King Harbor in Redondo Beach. We carried both sea kayaks on top of our Jeep, and used the kayak "wheels" that we had purchased to roll them down to the dock where we launched them. We had a successful first paddle, even though it was a very foggy day.
On September 25, 1999, we had our first paddle in our sea kayaks out of King Harbor in Redondo Beach.
A brief synopsis of our sea kayaking adventures from September 1999 (when we purchased our sea kayaks) until July 2001 (when I saved a life during the sport) is shown in the table below. These adventures include two extensive sea kayaking trips with Gary & Ann – eight days on the Green River in Utah and a week in the San Juan Islands off Washington.
Of course, during these nearly two years, we were having many other exciting outdoor adventures as well, including: whitewater kayaking, skiing, backpacking, horsepacking, RV trips, biking, tennis, etc. We had been retired for several years since 1992, afterall.
A Few Sea Kayaking Adventures in the 2 Years After We Purchased Our Sea Kayaks in 1999
Left in June 2001: Stan & I are about to embark to find the killer whales (orcas) in the San Juan Islands off Washington.
Upper center in June 2001: Stan is paddling toward an approaching orca in the San Juan Islands. (I must confess – we did run into a pod of three carnivorous orcas* coming right at us, but I superimposed the two photos here. However, the relative sizes are approximately correct!!)
* There are three main types of killer whales in the North Pacific: Resident, Transient, and Offshore. Each ecotype differs in appearance, diet, habitat, genetics, and behavior. While all three types share at least part of their habitats, they are not known to interbreed with each other.
Unlike Resident orcas, Transients travel and hunt in small groups of 2-6 individuals – the Resident orcas travel in groups of a dozen or more, and are vegetarians. We had been taught this when we went out on a tourist boat the day before we kayaked, so we would know where to search for the orcas. When we found this group of three coming right at us, we knew they had to be Transients (i.e., carnivores).
Lower center in October 1999: Myself paddling down the Green River in Utah on the first of our two sea kayak/camping trips there.
Right in September 2000: Myself on the cover of Sea Kayaker magazine in 2000 about to kayak on Jackson Lake in Wyoming. ]This is a total spoof – I really am on the shore of Jackson Lake, but I created my own magazine 'cover' after seeing Stan's kids Tiffany and Dave on the covers of so many rock climbing and rock concert magazines.]
Self-Rescue Practice While Sea Kayaking
On July 21, 2001 – a year and nine months after we bought our first sea kayaks – Stan and I decide to get more practice in rescuing ourselves and each other in our sea kayaks in case one of us goes over in the ocean.*
* As tame as the ocean may seem at times, tipping over in the ocean when you are a mile or so offshore (especially during winter months when the water temperatures can be in the 40's) is more dangerous than going over in big rapids on a river – where the shore is only a short swim away.
True hypothermia sets in after about 30 minutes. Most victims never make it to this stage since 75% of individuals succumb and die in the earlier stages of cold water immersion.
In addition to our many sea kayaking adventures during these 21 months, Stan and I had several years of whitewater kayaking adventures on the Kern River in California and five intense weeks at the Otter Bar kayaking school in northern California. But in spite of all of that experience, I still could not rescue myself by doing an Eskimo roll* in my sea kayak if I tipped over. I was fairly proficient in performing this maneuver in my whitewater kayak by this time.
The Eskimo roll* is the most difficult combination of coordinated body maneuvers that I have ever tried to perform.
* A kayak roll (often referred to as an Eskimo roll) is the act of righting a capsized kayak by use of body motion and/or a paddle. Typically this is done by lifting the torso towards the surface, flicking the hips to right the kayak, while at the same time applying a force by sweeping the paddle to assist the torso back over the boat.
The skill of righting a capsized kayak was devised by the hunter-gatherer societies that also developed the kayak as a hunting boat – the Aleut and Inuit people. Their ability to roll a kayak was essential to surviving a capsize in the frigid waters in the Arctic. Several techniques were developed that allowed the kayak to be righted with or without a paddle, also using only one hand, or without hands at all.
In 1605, some Inuit men and their kayaks were brought back to Europe by a Danish expedition. They gave a demonstration of rolling and racing against rowing boats in Copenhagen harbor, watched by King Christian IV.
Two Self-Rescue Techniques: Stan and I had a previous lesson in how to do a self-rescue in sea kayaks in the ocean in September 1999, just before we took delivery of our new sea kayaks. There are two basic methods we were taught, if you can't perform an Eskimo roll.
The First Method
• After you tip over, you first grab for your boat. Next you grab for your paddle so you don't lose it. Then you flip your kayak over to the upright position.
• Next, you climb up onto the kayak from the rear (more difficult on my sea kayak because the tips point upward and the rudder is in the way, as you can see in a photo above), slide yourself along it until you are over the cockpit, and plop your body into the cockpit (if you still have enough strength left, that is).
• Lastly, you pull out your pump from behind your seat and hand-pump out the 200 pounds of water from your cockpit.
The Second Method (My Preferred One)
• After you tip over, you first grab for your boat. Next you grab for your paddle so you don't lose it. Then you flip your kayak over to the upright position. The following instructions assume you are on the port (left) side of your kayak.
• Next you reach behind the seat and get out your inflatable paddle float. Place the float over one end of your paddle and inflate it by blowing in the attached tube.
• Insert the other end of your paddle through the bungee straps in front of the cockpit opening to secure it to the kayak, keeping most of it hanging out on the port side. The paddle now acts as an outrigger to stabilize the kayak.
• Now reach behind the seat and get out your self-rescue strap. The strap has a large loop on each end. Loop one end of the strap over your paddle without the float on the starboard (right) side.
• Pull the other end of the strap under the kayak and loop it over the paddle shaft with the float on the port (left) side.
• Place your left foot in the hanging loop, pull yourself up while applying force on the other side of the paddle with your right hand, and plop your body into the cockpit (if you still have enough strength left, that is).
• Lastly, you pull out your pump from behind your seat and hand-pump out the 200 pounds of water from your cockpit.
If you are able to perform these maneuvers, and you don't have hypothermia by this point, and you still have enough energy left after all that effort to continue with your paddle, you are home free!
I Save a Life During Rescue Practice
On July 21, 2001, we join a group called the California Kayak Friends (CKF) at Dana Point, California, for Sea Kayaking Rescue Practice.
This is a photo from nine months earlier when we were sea kayaking with the California Kayak Friends (CKF) on November 24, 2000 out of Cabrillo Beach off Palos Verdes Peninsula – not on this day in July 2001 off of Dana Point when I was too busy saving a guy's life to take photographs.
We start out with a few lessons on dry land on the beach from one of the two leaders of our group. When she finishes, this tall, brash, self-assured male I call Big Guy steps up to give us further instruction.
After Big Guy is finished, we all get into our kayaks to practice what we have been shown. I notice that Big Guy has a whitewater kayak, rather than the sea kayaks that the rest of us are in.
We paddle out a fair distance into the ocean. At this point, we are supposed to tip over and practice our self-rescue techniques. I see that Big Guy is setting himself up to roll right away, with his friend spotting him for assistance if needed.
Whenever we have been on the river in our whitewater boats and we see anyone about to go over, we have been taught to immediately get ready to rescue them if necessary. The best method of offering assistance is to paddle directly to the upended kayak and run the bow of your boat along the side of their kayak.
The submerged person feels your kayak bump his, reaches up with a hand on the side that is bumped and runs his hand along his side until he can feel your bow. He then brings his other hand under the kayak, puts both hands over your bow, and flips his kayak back upright in the water.
In my very long sea kayak, I need nearly a minute to completely turn around and get ready to rescue the Big Guy. I immediately react and do just that.
As I am finishing my turn, I see Big Guy pounding on the bottom of his upside-down kayak. Then he pushes his friend's boat away when he tries to reach for it. He starts flailing around with his hands on the surface.
At first, I think the Big Guy is fooling around – he had been so brash in giving us his instructions in self-rescue, afterall. At any moment, I expect him to exit upside down from his kayak and bob to the surface. I finally decide he has been under the water far too long and might really need help. So I paddle rapidly up to him and slide the bow of my boat along the side of his kayak. He grabs my bow immediately, and I think he is going to capsize me as he pushes roughly on it in his effort to get to the surface and breathe. Luckily, he gets himself upright without tipping me over!
May 2004: In my sea kayak off La Jolla near San Diego
Our Own Self-Rescue Practice: After this incident, Stan and I successfully practice our own self-rescues using our paddle floats, specially created ropes and our hand pumps that I described earlier. I won't say it was easy nor that I became proficient at it, but at least I succeed in rescuing myself without outside assistance.
CKF Trip Reports
Later that day on July 21, 2001, the co-host of the the California Kayak Friends (CKF) Rescue Practice wrote the following Trip Report on the CKF website.
I thank Duane for giving me the life saving credit – except for referring to me as a grandmother (or great-grandmother)! I was a very young 60-year-old at that time!
The day after our Dana Point Rescue Practice, Big Guy (aka Kayaker X or KX) wrote his own Trip Report on the CKF website. He was very humble and gracious.
🎸A Song Called I Will Survive 🎶
And now it is time for a song to go along with my missive. Many thanks to Jennifer, our Personal Trainer, for suggesting this song.
I dedicate this song to Big Guy, because I think it must have been in the back of his head when he was trying to get out of the kayak he was stuck in and back to the surface to catch a desperately needed breath of air.
This song titled "I Will Survive" is by American singer Gloria Gaynor released in October 1978 as the second single from her sixth album, Love Tracks.
Although the song's lyrics describe the narrator's discovery of personal strength following an initially devastating romantic breakup, the chorus is applicable to many dire situations in life, including the near drowning during our sea kayaking adventure. Just picture Big Guy singing this instead of Gloria.
Chorus of I Will Survive
Oh no, not I, I will survive!
Oh, as long as I know how to love, I know I'll stay alive!
I've got all my life to live,
And I've got all my love to give, and I'll survive!
I will survive, hey, hey!
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