The day started off quite well, good forecast, I rigged the 7.0 and had a bit of a blast. The wind picked up a bit so I changed down to a 5.0 and practiced my duck gybes. I managed one, the first one I've ever done, and was feeling pretty cocky so went across from Manly to Wello a couple of times to improve my distance and nautical mile scores on the challenge site.

On the way back from wello I was pointing as high as I could upwind, but couldn't quite make it to the point, so gybed around near the rock wall and went back towards wello for a bit. The wind was starting to drop by this point so I was slogging along, trying to get as much ground upwind as possible, gybed and was in a good position to get home on that tack ...

... when the wind turned off.

www.seabreeze.com.au/gallery/gallery.asp?imageid=6431

And when I say turned off, I mean you couldn't tell which direction it was coming from. I tried about a dozen times to uphaul, but it was useless.
There was no way I was going to be able to sail home.

This grabbed my attention.

The closest land was a fair way away, and there was about half an hour of sunlight left.

So what else was there to do but start swimming?

At this point, all sorts of things started running through my mind... like:
"Who knows I'm sailing today?" Answer: no-one.
I thought I was making good progress with the uphaul wrapped around my foot, doing normal freestyle.
"What time do sharks feed?"
I tried kneeling on the board and scooping water backwards, but that didn't work.
"How far is it to shore?"
Backstroke seemed to work well, without tiring me too much.

A marker pole that I'd taken note of when I'd first started swimming didn't seem to be further away, and the shore definitely didn't look any closer.

"How will I navigate if it gets dark?"
Sidestroke wasn't very tiring, but didn't seem to be gaining me much ground.
"I wonder if anyone can see me?"

Paddle, paddle, stroke, rest. Paddle, paddle, stroke, rest.

Eventually I made it to shore, clambered up the rocks, and made it back to the car with the help of a tow across the marina mouth from a friendly boat.

The distance swum was only 700 metres or so (from the GPS track), but I tell you it felt like a marathon when you're dragging a board and sail. Check the white line in this picture:

www.seabreeze.com.au/gallery/gallery.asp?imageid=6432

If the wind had turned off 15 minutes earlier, I would have been halfway from wello to manly, and would probably still be in the water right now, panicking and getting dangerously tired.

The moral of the story: Never sail where you're not willing to swim back in. And pulling a windsurfer is not the same as just swimming normally. I won't be doing the manly to wello trip without buddies from now on

Scary innit? I almost drowned once and the feeling when you have no gear to hang onto is not nice. It is also not nice to know there is nobody around watching you.
Nice pics by the way! 700m in 35 mins is what I do without towing WS gear behind me

Thanks for that anyway, was looking at my new spot today where the wave is 1km out and if you break something you have to be able to self rescue and be fit etc. I have only sailed 4 x in a year and am unfit to blazes so hmmmm.....

Went out today with Leech to our usual. With a sketchy seabreeze that wasnt really forecasted and a 5m sail on my 76L I was quite surprised. I planed 98% of the time. The other 2% was getting past the breakwall. But I too had those same questions running through my head.
We didnt get out until after 5pm and the sun was disapearing quickly.
Leech got harrased by a seal and I kept saying to myself "just one more run just one more run"
Looking back 3km to shore makes you realise that if sh1t hit the fan Im gonna have to swim all that way... IN THE DARK!!!
Usually I have my phone in an Aqua Pac and some spare rope but this time I was in too much of a hurry to get out there.
Im yet to have a wakeup call but everytime I go out I think will it be this time?

I had simular experience and told my self never ever sail after dark again. Period. Having said that its just magical sailing into the sunset

Thanks for sharing and good winds!.

Hi Nebbian, good to see you made it home.

i've had a few of the same experiences before too. these days i always donate when i see air sea rescue becasue i've used them twice in the past. once off old woman island on the sunny coast and once at redland bay.

another 3-4 times i've done the self rescue that easty posted. it really is a good thing to do, especially when the wind dies. self rescue is part of the ayf course. that's where i learnt it. so i guess that's a big thumbs up to windsurfing schools because i've found it invaluable.

the big thing here is never leave your board and swim in.

i guess the thing with windsurfing is taking on the elements. gives that adrenaline rush we all need. unfortunately the elements do their own thing from time to time.

one of the wanderers who sails at mooloolaba by himself doing long runs up to alexandra headlands told me last summer he takes his mobile phone and some extra rope and stuff in a waterproof pouch on his arm just incase. like what we put our gps's in. he said it gave him piece of mind.

quote:

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Originally posted by Greenroom


Usually I have my phone in an Aqua Pac and some spare rope but this time I was in too much of a hurry to get out there.

---

What I said

Broke my tibia last friday right in front of hardies run, wife just happened by, but yes, I was by myself. Did'nt know how serious it was till I tried getting back on the board. Thing was, if I was actually going faster I would have splatted lenghtways instead of landing on one foot, bugger

Hey Nebs, check this photo that Troppo took of me swimming back, I'd sailed to a boat (in the back ground)in dodgy conditions and paid the price, swam in from nearly where the boat is

www.seabreeze.com.au/gallery/gallery.asp?imageid=6434

I'm good at this, have done it more than a few times, haven't learned
I have pack it up out there, but if it's real windy and rough, I always lose something. If wind dies I just drag it home doing the old side kick.

I even got a small personal Epirb for my boat and for when I sail too far off shore alone, haven't used it for windsurfing yet
I broke a mast extension half way back from Green Island once, gear separated in 25 knots, lucky I had a mate with me and we managed to tie it together so I could dredge back, long trip

Bugger it, I still sail too far out, life's short, and I love sailing out to yachts cruising past

Doing downwinders about 3 Nm out on my own, trying to get good GPS results, does concern me but that's where the best wind is here, beggers can't be choosers

Easty, great article, but I bet thats a lot harder then the pool they showed if you are in heavy chop.

Nebs, glad you made it back safely and you and Firie, you guys make good shark bait I think I would be rollin my kit up, if I lost somthin then thats a good excuse to upgrade This has happened to me on a smaller scale, and its the worst feelin

Thanks for all the replies.

The thing that got me was that I didn't know how long it would take, or even if I was making any progress. For all I knew there was a bit of a tidal rip that was taking me out to sea faster than I could swim in (not hard at the pace I was going at).
Eventually I saw a marker pole and lined it up with a spot on the horizon, and saw that the spot on the horizon was moving so therefore so was I... this calmed me down a lot and let me relax, knowing that I would get to shore eventually. Bear in mind that I'd already sailed over 100 k's that day, and had only eaten some toast and two muesli bars several hours beforehand.

Not being the strongest swimmer in the world doesn't help either!

Firie, that is a heck of a long way, how far would you say? 1.5 k's?

If it happens again I'll try either lowering the boom (which means the sail doesn't drag in the water) or derigging as per the boards method. Hopefully this post prepares someone for when it happens to them.

IMO if your looking at a worst case scenario disconnect your rig from the board and say "bye bye", keep your board and then at least you can paddle in without the cumbersome rig.

If it saves your life then thats a good thing! If you got time on your hands you can unrig in the water and paddle with the rig, mast and boom somehow.

Sometimes you gotta make the hard calls.

take a phone with you, especially if your on ya todd, offshore.
buy an aquapak from a surf shop, u can still make calls with phone in pak,think there about $30...not a bad price for life insurance plus u can chuck yer car keys in too!!

another one is to ditch the rig and paddle in on board,,,carry 100m of strong fishing line and a crabpot float, tie line to rig, sink the rig, look for float next day in your mates boat and retrieve rig!!

Hey Greenroom, I think I had a swim in from where you sail, and lost some of my gear, also you end up o looooong way up the coast if it goes easterly at 18 knts, which you may not see happening till its too late, cause it starts at the beach and works its way out

A very well presented drama and something most windsurfers have experiencd to some degree.
If the tide had been running out and we had had a lot of rain you could b anywhere.
Manly and Wello are windy places and thats what attracts us but these storms brewing and changes coming through from (usually) the south have stranage effects on what we consider usual weather features.
Mate you experienced my worst nightmare and dispite all the advise offered if the wind is zero and the tide is against you your going with the tide, kit or no kit.
Anything is possible but well done for keeping your head and getting back.
Regarding feeding time....i would guess no self respecting knobby clark could resist a sitting duck and i believe they are always on the prowl,actually manly/wello have a few tigers hanging around.
I had a similar experience in the Canary Island went out, thought i would go to a island i could see, accidentaly got in the lee of the island, miles from anywhere with no friends(i know you find that hard to believe)HAD TO SWIM .5K Then caught the wind but totally scared,just rammed it up the nearest beach and got a taxi, feet cut to pieces with oysters but glad to be back.
Well done,to you, who will be next, its the nature of the sport.

Yeh Nebs, I'd say about 1.5

As Poida said, if you have to, ditch the rig and come in on your board, treat the rig like a weight belt and flick it.

I work on the theory, that I'll hit coast somewhere

Also Nebs, the sharks never worry me, I don't even think about them, it's the bloody crocs
If you Google Yorky's, you'll see a creek north & south of the area we sail, both are known to have crocs in them. I think it was Troppo who has taken some photos of them from my boat, in the northern creek.

Glad you made it back Nebs.

Hopefully you didn't have a bad Tory Amos song stcuk in your head on this day. That would have made matters so much worse.

like mama was a cornflake girl

Had a similar situation with a friend in Waterloo Bay 10 years ago.

We were sailing from Wello, with an an early evening storm brewing. We all finished and derigged in the dark, when we realised one of the crew had returned. Now its dark and the storm has now hit and we are terrified. Called out the air sea resuce and the cops.

We figured he would blow in (it was a northerly) to the bay, so we walked/waded all the way around the foreshore as far as we could - scared we'd find his body or gear washed up.

He had got caught with the "one more run" syndrome and broke his old rubber universal right in the middle of the bay. Right on dark, he hailed a passing tinnie and hitched a lift with his gear into Lota Creek. He was having a beer with guys who rescued him in their boat in the creek. It was about 8pm when we found him. The police were just calling out a rescue chopper.

Moral of the story. Sail with friends and keep an eye out for each other. Also, make sure your gear is top notch.

I've broken gear off Home beach at Straddie and employed the technique Easty posted. Great - scary when there is lots of current and you don't seem to be making headway.