'I was just delighted to help': Kite surfer rescues swimmer in difficulty in West Cork

[Matteo V]

None of the rescues I saw last year required a pfd or restube and most everyone involved was doing their first rescue. I wouldn't mind a restube but it's just one more thing and I'm not sure how often I would remember to wear it. You just tow that drowning person into shore it's pretty simple. It's much easier for us to rescue someone than a life guard who has to paddle out or swim out and then swim back. They might be swimming for 30 minutes to rescue someone while it might take us 2 or 3 minutes to tow someone in.

Are you saying that a person in real distress and in fear of drowning does not have a chance of killing you while trying to survive? I kind of thought that fact was clear, especially if you crash the kite and are not wearing a life vest.

[Havre]

I have seen quite a few kiters in trouble. What typically happens is that those who are not skilled enough to help will just stay away - often half way pretending not to see. I lost my board in Zanzibar miles out and it was so obvious that many around me just didn't want to have anything to do with me (found my board and all was fine - and maybe they knew who I was and was therefore hoping I would drown - this was before Covid though so maybe not likely - the world didn't know who I was at that time).

I have been in that situation myself in Cabarete. Someone were struggling, but at my skill level at the time there was nothing I could do - other than check on the person - ride back to the beach and ask someone else to help him (which one instructor did). We had time so no worries, but if that person had been in bigger problems something like a restube would make sense.

[edt]

None of the rescues I saw last year required a pfd or restube and most everyone involved was doing their first rescue. I wouldn't mind a restube but it's just one more thing and I'm not sure how often I would remember to wear it. You just tow that drowning person into shore it's pretty simple. It's much easier for us to rescue someone than a life guard who has to paddle out or swim out and then swim back. They might be swimming for 30 minutes to rescue someone while it might take us 2 or 3 minutes to tow someone in.

Are you saying that a person in real distress and in fear of drowning does not have a chance of killing you while trying to survive? I kind of thought that fact was clear, especially if you crash the kite and are not wearing a life vest.

The first rule is don't put yourself at risk. My feeling is that swimmers tend to over overestimate their abilities and I've heard of fathers jumping in and drowning while trying to save their kids while kiters tend to underestimate their abilities. First things first don't put yourself at risk. The urge to help is pretty hard to stop tho so if you do rescue one stay calm and know that hundreds of kiters have done their first time rescue without training and been ok. It's hard to remember to gropro while doing rescues for obvious reasons but I think it might save lives to see how you do it so this year I'll try to record them. That above video is pretty typical tho.

[andylc]

I’ve always assumed that if and when it happened I wouldn’t have too much trouble getting someone to grab the back of my harness and get towed in. But this thread makes me think that maybe it wouldn’t be that simple! I like the Restube for other things like kayaking, open swimming and surfing and if I can fit one on my harness without getting in the way it seems a sensible plan just in case.

The earlier video looks less than ideal - could have gone worse than it did. Also other people around, not very far out and the person involved did not appear to be in all that much distress.

[Havre]

Flat water. 20 knots (with a kite so that you got just the right power - maybe slightly overpowered). Someone needing rescue, but they are still calm etc. Someone grabbing your harness shouldn't be much of an issue.

Waves. Underpowered. A stressed person barely able to keep his/her head above the water. Overweight (or heavy at least). Cold. Not so easy then I would imagine to just get someone to grab your harness and pulled them back to shore. You might even add offshore winds.

[Bille]

We probably should take first aid and life saving courses to know the best way to help. Also, figure out the best techniques for kite surfers to use in rescue situations.

Just for curiosity ; how many of you KF readers, have had a CPR class ?

I took a class, a year after, someone CPR'd me back to life ; so i figure
(IO-someone) the return favor. Haven't had to use it Yet !

Bille

[bataleon]

I have seen quite a few kiters in trouble. What typically happens is that those who are not skilled enough to help will just stay away - often half way pretending not to see. I lost my board in Zanzibar miles out and it was so obvious that many around me just didn't want to have anything to do with me (found my board and all was fine - and maybe they knew who I was and was therefore hoping I would drown - this was before Covid though so maybe not likely - the world didn't know who I was at that time).

I still don’t now who you are!?

[alexeyga]

Not sure if it is possible to give general advice in such a situation. If the person is flapping around like crazy you might just do more harm than good getting too close. If you can calmly communicate with the person I don't see any problem getting in close as long as you are fairly skilled. Not sure what I would do. Probably drop my board and ask the person to hang on to my harness/leash. Body drag back.

My leash snapped once leaving me in the middle of nowhere without a kite. It was a lot easier to swim back with the board than without one - or at least a lot more comfortable. So giving someone your board (even a TT) would help in my opinion.

I can't see it being mentioned but I really hope the kiter got a fine for breaking Covid-19 protocol. Keep your distance is the most important thing.

If we're down to that - then perhaps this world deserves to die out from Covid-19 and its derivatives...

I remember being born to the world where saving somebody in distress came before following some idiotic protocols. How did we get here?

For one thing - I'm really not looking forward being in trouble with this guy around. It doesn't look like I'll be getting any help - since there are more important things than my life - It seems.

[edt]

Ignore the trolls. Don't worry people want to do the right thing.

[Havre]

Keep on ignoring them by commenting them.

I mean we all have to be responsible here. Kiting or swimming during a pandemic shouldn't be allowed anyway (I have been told). Which makes me wonder who is the troll?