https://www.vicpolicenews.com.au/news/police-seek-information-on-paddle-boarder-in-rosebud

Yep, I saw him. We were sitting our VHF radio licence course at Safety Beach yacht club and not long after the Coast Guard boat headed out , one of our group saw "a head popping up in the water" about 1 km offshore around 4:30pm. But then we could see it was someone actually standing up- had to be someone on a SUP. They didn''t seem distressed or tired- they were standing virtually all the time and might have fallen only once in the 3-4 minutes we were observing them. I would have thought if they were exhausted they'd be sitting or lying on the board, rather than standing. They were heading down wind at a reasonable speed. Not sure if they would have made it in to Safety Beach, or been down-winded a bit further west towards the cliffs.

After our course I went for a sail out from Safety Beach around 6pm. The Coast Guard, Water Police and another boat were doing a line search parallel with the beach upwind of where we say the person, who I expect would have made landfall a long way downwind by then. At this stage I didn't think they were looking for the paddle boarder still (plus they were looking in the wrong location.

When I got back to Melbourne I was told there was a news report that they were looking for someone, and I put 2 and 2 together. Rang Safety Beach Coast Guard and the guy said he'd contact WatPol, who would ring me if they needed any further info, but that if they didn't ring, the matter would have been resolved. Didn't get a call, so assume all has ended well.

As I was blasting back and forth past the search boats, I was wondering what they were looking for. Thought crossed my mind to ask them if I could get close enough, but I also didn't want to interfere, and it would have been tricky to get close in the very lumpy (but friggin fun) 30kt conditions.

MORAL OF THE STORY. I should have got close to one of the boats and asked what they (read WE, as we will always keep a look out for SUPper, kiter, windsurfer in distress) were looking for, and to tell them what we had seen earlier that afternoon. It was very unusual to see someone SUPping in 30kt winds, very lumpy seas, doing a huge downwinder. It could have saved several hours of fruitless searching.

So I hope the person got in safely, avoiding the rocks. I expect they might have been in what looked like distress way back at Rosebud when they realised that they couldn't get back upwind, but they certainly looked pretty comfortable and not exhausted when we saw them, albeit from a distance.

And the final irony is that here we are, learning all about making MAYDAY and urgency calls over the radio, and search and rescue ship to air radio channels, when a real life situation is underway right before our eyes.

I know who it was (and no it wasn't me).. He was in no trouble or distress.

Something I now do is call the Water Police and let them know how many of us and where we are starting from and where we are finishing our downwinder.. They really appreciate my call.

I remember once years ago I was windsurfing down in that area and it was about 40-50 knots.. I was having a ball.. Anyway I saw this police car pull up and they waved to me. I sailed in and I walked over to the police car.. They asked if I was the only one out.. I said yes.. They said someone had seen me and thought I was in trouble and reported it.. and while I waited they advised the police helicopter that there was no problem and no longer needed.. Apparently they were on their way.

So.. If you're going out on the water in wild condition it's a good idea to let the water police know so when some concerned do-gooder reports you for no reason the police have a heads up.

I think some of these bystanders might have bad eyesight. I once heard that someone was just paddling along on a calm day and they called the police saying it looked like someone was standing on an upturned boat and waving their arms in the air for help.

Yes it was me and I was not in trouble.I also was only 250 off shore. I seen the coast guard come out of the marina and thought they seen me as I was only 200 meters from them obviously they didt. So didt think anything of it.My fellow paddlers let me know they were looking for me so I contacted them and showed them my GPS reading and they were amazed that I was so close to shore.
Id like to thank the people involved and the sea police they do a great job.
kev

Select to expand quote

itbjam said..
Yes it was me and I was not in trouble.I also was only 250 off shore. I seen the coast guard come out of the marina and thought they seen me as I was only 200 meters from them obviously they didt. So didt think anything of it.My fellow paddlers let me know they were looking for me so I contacted them and showed them my GPS reading and they were amazed that I was so close to shore.
Id like to thank the people involved and the sea police they do a great job.
kev

Hope you had a fun downwinder, itbjam. I did say to my friends "Nah, he (assumption) looks like he's having a good time out there. No signs of distress." Meanwhile, I'm itching to get out there for a blast ( which ended up being an awesome session once school was out).