Coyote Point Windsurfer Rescued at 1.30 AM - San Mateo

[Epenrose]

http://www.ktvu.com/news/25340688/detail.html

Anyone care to add?

SAN MATEO, Calif. -- A windsurfer was rescued early Saturday morning in the waters near the San Mateo-Hayward Bridge several hours after being reported missing near Coyote Point Friday evening, a U.S. Coast Guard spokeswoman said.

The 18-year-old man was reported missing at 6:09 p.m. Friday by other windsurfers in the area who did not see him when they came in at the end of the day, Coast Guard Lt. Simone Mausz said.

The Coast Guard sent a helicopter and three vessels to the area, while San Mateo and Foster City emergency crews also responded, Mausz said.

The windsurfer was eventually found clinging to his surfboard at about 1:30 a.m. near the bridge, Mausz said.

She said he had mild signs of hypothermia but "had on a half wetsuit that protected him a little bit from the temperature of the water."

Some of the other windsurfers said the man may have been inexperienced, leading to him becoming stranded in the water, Mausz said.

"They said it looked like he was struggling, but we really don't know," she said. "It was pretty windy yesterday so that also could be it."[url][/url]

[windward1]

A windsurfer was rescued by the Santa Cruz Harbor Patrol yesterday off of Natural Bridges. Wind shutdown suddenly and he was about 3/4 of a mile to 1 mile out. Harbor Patrol came out in their boat picked him and his gear up and took him back to the harbor. Approximately 6 P.M.

Items of interest:

He was signaling for help with the overhead double arm wave. I was looking for him from the top of the cliffs, wondering if he still was out and could not spot him.

A commercial fishing/tour boat nearby did not come to his aid and it is unknown if they just did not see him or did not want to respond to his signal.

He had a radio and called for his own rescue and was able to direct the rescue boat to him.

Items to note:

You may feel like you look pretty big out there, but you might as well be invisible. It is very tough to spot a downed windsurfer, even if one is searching for you. Look at the time difference between 'reported' and 'found' in the previous post.

This windsurfer could have rescued himself, but as it was getting late and he had the means, so the call worked and he got all of his gear in without incident. Rescuing himself would have meant more time and subjects one to more hazards. I was stung by jellyfish the day of and the day before. Minor item in itself, but there are bigger critters in our midst.

As the season nears it end, the winds are more apt to change quickly from the more predictable summertime. One should think twice before milking a few extra runs out of the day.

Just some thoughts for everyone's consideration.

[dabull1]

Sounds like you SF Bay sailors should invest in one of those cool, oversized mast base pads with the stash pocket for flares, glow sticks, smoke bombs, etc. At Leo, downwind is a beach called Zeroes, so when the wind dies or something breaks, we take the infamous "walk of shame" after a nice swim through the kelp beds. Not sure but I think Da Kine makes it and I believe it's called the "Reefer" , for carrying sandals when launching on rocky beaches . Aloha [pray for snow] Bull

[pierre]

Actually I prefer to wear my rescue kit around my waist rather than on the rig. This way if you get separated from your rig you still have access to the kit.

Pierre

[SwellRipper]

Recently I saw windsurfer calmly come ashore, put down his rig, take off his harness, and then look panicked as he realized his waist pack safety pack had somehow slipped off during his session without him realizing it.

Some people, wear a radio up front under the wetsuit in waterproof bag hung from a neck lanyard. However, crashing on it, into something hard like the mast, could result in a sternum bash or getting the wind knocked out possibly. Not good. But it's not going to fall off without you realizing it.

[SwellRipper]

From the article that Epenrose posted above, it's not totally clear how the rescue went down. I assume the Coast Guard did eventually rescue him. But, I had heard at the time that Coast Guard gave up looking for him after dark, hopefully that was not the case. I also heard that there was some disgruntlement among rescue workers, about the fellow not having a light and radio making the task of finding him obviously more difficult.

I don't fault the young guy because he apparently is a Bay windsurf newbie and got in over his head when the wind picked up. It would be nice to hear his first person account of events though. Too bad coyoteandre was not floating along side him with cameras rolling to document the real-life drama. Seriously though young guy, hope you're OK, share your story if you can, we can all learn from adventure, or misadventure as it were.

Along those lines, it would also be informative to hear even more details about the recent Natural Bridges rescue that windward1 mentioned above.