Otago Canoe and Kayak Club

I wanted to tell everyone in the club about a pretty scary experience I had out on
Otago Harbour recently. Others best judge the circumstances but 1 would put what
happened down to lack of experience, over confidence and poor judgement. I can
say without being overly dramatic that these combined came close to killing me
off.

I had gone out for a paddle at about 1030 on the 19th of August. There was a bit of
a Southerly breeze but nothing too intimidating. I wanted to go out and have a
slow paddle for about an hour and a half. I haven't been able to paddle much at all
for the past six months or so, so felt pretty rusty and wanted to get back into it.

From the Boat Shed I headed towards Portsmouth Drive so I would have the wind
behind me to get home. There was quite a chop and it was, for my current skill
level and confidence, a bit of a challenge initially but soon became easier as I got
into shelter. I messed around for a while playing with technique and doing some
surfing which took me to the Portobello side of the Harbour. I wasn't really
paying much attention to the weather as I was concentrating on surfing and was
pleasantly pleased with how 1 was doing.

I soon woke up to the time however and realised I had to get home in order to get
to work on time. I turned around and it was quickly brought home to me that what
was quite easy going one way was another story heading the other. The wind was
now a howling gale and the swell even close to the shore was quite large, waves
were breaking on my chest and the going was pretty slow. 1 managed to get back
up to Vauxhall where the wind died down and the Harbour seemed much calmer.
Looking at the time 1 was in trouble. My options were ditch the boat at Vauxhall
and try to hitch back to my car at the Boat Shed or paddle across the Harbour. The
paddle option a few minutes before was not an option at all. I had been pretty
scared by the conditions close m and didn't fancy trying them in deeper water but
now with the wind a lot quieter I thought I would try my luck.

I headed up the Harbour toward the city a bit further so I wouldn't be beam onto
the waves and headed across. The waves were easier than those I had experienced
earlier and I was getting close to halfway across before I knew it. I'm not sure
quite how I managed to screw it all up but I did. I remember trying to put a stroke
m and the water dropped away in a trough, I was off balance thinking "Oohhhh!"
Over I went. Here we go I thought. I put in a roll - something I haven't tried since
late last year got halfway up and got a breath. Had another go almost made it but
got knocked back over by the next wave. That was me, bail out. Typing now in a
warm room that seems a real cop out, but at the time I thought it wasn't going to
be such a big deal. After all I would just have to hold on to the kayak and paddle
and get to shore. So there I was in the drink in the middle of the Harbour I would
guess about five hundred metres from either shore.

My background is Army and then Ambulance Service. I have been a member of
Search and Rescue and Helicopter Rescue Teams. I only say this because having
seen lots of accidents I wasn't about to make the classic mistake of panicking or
doing something rash. Things can always be made worse. I tried to work out
which way the current was going, which shore was closer and what my options
were. I had formed the opinion over the years that it is always wisest to stay with
your boat, car, aircraft or whatever. That coupled with the facts that I'm not a very
strong swimmer and of course didn't want to lose my wing paddle or boat
probably had a hand in convincing me to keep a firm grip of my gear and stick
with it. I had had some training on cold-water survival and knew that I would
retain much more heat if I kept my knees in close to my chest and didn't exert
myself. That was all well and good but if nobody saw me I could expect to be
there for some time. As all kayakers know, time in cold water is a luxury you
don't have. I decided to try and work with the waves and swim toward the Boat
Shed. Attracting attention at this stage was not high on my list of priorities. I
wasn't sure if I would be seen and thought it might just waste time. Of course I
also wanted to avoid the embarrassment of being rescued!

I was wearing a poly prop top, shorts and buoyancy aid. Fortunately I was also
wearing a kayak white-water helmet because I wanted to get used to wearing it for
the Coast. I say fortunately because I normally wear a baseball cap that would
have been long gone when I went over.

I stuck my hand in the ribbon loop on the bow of the boat and started kicking. I
was a bit chilly but nothing too bad. However, after about half an hour I had to
accept I was going nowhere. I hadn't moved a jot. I remembered that when I went
past the inlet at the top of Portsmouth Drive the tide was going in but the waves
were definitely heading out to sea. I guess the tide and wind were working against
each other which resulted in stalemate for those floating on the top attached to a
kayak.

I was beginning to tire and get cold. I tried to bring my knees in to my chest to
conserve heat but found that with the way the kayak was pointing whenever I did
this I was covered with wave after wave that left me spluttering. I had to extend
my legs to keep my face out of the water. This was not going well. I was down to
one option that was to try like hell to attract some attention. I moved up the boat to
try and straddle it so. I would be more easily seen, I had tried this earlier with a
few seconds success but found now I didn't have the strength to pull myself up.

I moved back down to the bow and got my hand back in the tape after quite a lot
of difficulty. My hands were completely numb and I determined that I would not
take my hand out again as I might lose my main source of buoyancy, the boat. I
thought again about swimming but decided that I was too cold and tired to risk it -
with hindsight I thank God I didn't because I hadn't realised even then just how
cold 1 was.

So that was me. I had no way of getting myself out of the situation I had got
myself into. It was a pretty uncomfortable realisation as I have always been self
reliant but now I had to face the fact that I better hope like hell someone had seen
my flailing around and organised the Cavalry.

It seemed quite a while before I saw a Police car parked on Portobello road about
opposite me. This raised my spirits quite a lot but as there was no signal from
them that I could see, despite some frantic paddle waving, I only hoped that they
had seen me and weren't there for something else. A little while later I saw a tug
start to pull out and head toward me but it stopped a few hundred metres away and
didn't come closer. I had now reached the point where dignity was not in the
equation and a few loud "Helps," were forthcoming. The tug came no closer
though and I remember thinking that the channel wall was between me and them
and if someone didn't hurry up and get out to me they might be too late. I felt that
this was all a bit ridiculous it was the middle of the day in the middle of Otago
Harbour but I was very cold and numb.

Finally, just as I was really getting afraid I saw a small yellow boat come
chugging toward me and a few minutes later the Water Rescue guys had joined
me. 1 was dragged into the boat and put into some old oilskins. Unless you have
been in a similar situation you will not be able to understand the relief and
gratitude I felt just then.

I was quickly taken to the Portobello side of the Harbour where an Ambulance,
crewed by a good friend of mine, waited. I was helped out of the boat and found 1
could hardly walk. A TV cameraman was there so the sorry sight I must have been
is recorded for eternity; hopefully it will gather dust somewhere!

In the Ambulance I was quickly stripped off and wrapped up in multiple blankets.
I was shivering uncontrollably and my initial core temperature was 30C. Normal
body temperature is 37C and at 28C one can expect to be unconscious. I had been
in the water a little less than one hour. I know this because I had been checking
my watch before leaving Vauxhall to go across the Harbour and at the time that
the Ambulance left the scene to take me to Hospital. I don't know how much
longer I would have been able to cope with being in the Harbour but certainly it
wouldn'fhave been much longer before 1 would have lost those two vital degrees
of body temperature. The alarm had been raised after about half an hour.

At Dunedin Hospital I was taken into one of the resuscitation rooms (the place
where the people their worried about go) placed in a hot bed warmed by a hair
dryer type machine and given warm fluids intravenously. Within about forty-five
minutes I was keen as to go home feeling like a complete fake.

This all happened this morning (Monday August 19th). I am still a little
emotionally numb as to how easily I could have died today. I am also of course
embarrassed about the whole thing. If I heard this had happened to someone else I
would laugh and think something like "Christ, what an idiot."

Lessons Learnt

• Don't underestimate the Habour!
• Ensure your are wearing a hat that won't come off. I don't remember the figure but a huge amount of heat is lost through the head and in the end I had very little of that to waste. I'm also greatful that it's bright red
• I intend to put some hose or similar through the tape on my boats bow/ I had great difficulty getting my hand into it when I was cold and I wouldn't have been able to hand on otherwise.
• I'm tempted to buy a top hat that will keep muy core warmer if anything like this happens again.Of course this has to be balanced against getting heat  stroke when racing!
• You might believe that you have the skills, experience, saby, whatever to assess risks and keep yourself safe. Your might be right,but I thought I did and I was proved wrong. Be careful out there.