Safety

One Paddler's Achilles
by Doug Alderson

An experienced kayaker paddling solo close to home capsizes unexpectedly and suffers a disabling injury. Floating alongside his kayak, he drifts and waits.

On a calm July afternoon, Patrick Simard set out to paddle alone near his home in Victoria. Patrick is a skilled kayaker who likes to paddle for fitness. He has a good roll and has experience paddling and rolling a kayak in surf. He has taken a number of courses and clinics to keep abreast of effective paddling techniques and good judgment for sea-kayak touring, and over the past year, he’s concentrated on developing his offside roll.
His plan was to launch from Cattle Point and cross Baynes Channel to paddle out to Strongtide and Chatham Islands. The air temperature was about 70˚F, but the water was in the mid-50s, so under his PFD and spray skirt, he wore a 3mm wetsuit. The arms of the suit chafe a little, but Patrick puts up with it knowing that the sleeves of his suit will keep him warmer in the cold British Columbia water than a sleeveless Farmer John suit would in cold water.
The wind was calm, and the sea was smooth. Visibility was more than a mile through light overcast. The marine forecast was for continued calm weather throughout the day. The flood tide, pushing eastward from the Pacific Ocean and through the Strait of Juan de Fuca at a speed of two knots, accelerated as it curled around the southern tip of Vancouver Island. The tidal stream at Baynes Channel, well-known for its strong currents, would be running at about four knots at its peak.
Patrick launched from Cattle Point at 2:30 and headed along the Vancouver Island shore, then across Baynes Channel to Strongtide and Chatham Islands. The crossing was uneventful, and Patrick had only to make a small ferry angle to compensate for the current. After a short time exploring the shores of the islands, Patrick headed back across Baynes Channel. The tide was now flooding near its predicted maximum of four knots, and Patrick had adjusted his course to the west to make a good ferry angle that would set him on a course back toward Cattle Point.
A sea-going tug crossed Patrick’s path, and he set up to surf its wake. The waves were only two feet tall and didn’t provide much of a ride. Patrick was relaxed and unconcerned about the tug’s wake. After it had passed, he noticed a larger wake closing in on him from a different direction. Three feet tall with a breaking crest, this wake promised a better ride. The tidal current probably contributed to the wave’s steep slopes and slightly breaking crest. The source of the wake was a mystery—possibly a large freighter out in the shipping lane.
Before Patrick had time to set up for surfing, the wake hit him broadside on his right. Patrick let the crest pass beneath the kayak, but the back side of the wave was surprisingly steep. Patrick began to capsize down into the trough and prepared to high-brace into the trough as the kayak slid down the back of the wave. He had to reach well down with his paddle to reach the water. He capsized only far enough to dip his shoulder in the water; his brace kept him at the surface but didn’t right the kayak. After a quick sculling stroke to hold him at the surface, he put additional effort into a second attempt to high brace, but he lost his grip of the paddle from his right hand and capsized fully. Something had happened to his right arm. He released the spray deck and exited his kayak. He emerged and held onto his kayak with his left hand. His paddle was floating nearby, and as he reached for it, he realized that he had dislocated his right shoulder.
While in the water, he assessed his situation: He could see the tug that had made the smaller wake heading away. A sailboat, the only other vessel in the area, was also heading away from him. Although his right shoulder was badly injured, it wasn’t very painful for the first few minutes; however, with the joint between his upper arm and shoulder now distorted, his arm and hand were weak and unresponsive.
He tried to keep his injured limb very still—he held onto the boat with his left hand and held the paddle with his weakened right hand. The flooding tide was pushing Patrick out of Baynes Channel into the open waters of Haro Strait. He drifted in the current for about 15 minutes before he saw a sailboat under power approaching him from the northwest. With only one good arm, it was very difficult to hold onto the kayak and raise his paddle above the surface to signal for help, but fortunately the sailboat responded to his signal and altered course toward him. By the time the sailboat reached him, Patrick had drifted a mile or more from where he had capsized and was approaching the much-less-traveled waters bordering Haro Strait.
The skipper of the sailboat put a boarding ladder over the side, and Patrick passed over his kayak’s bow line and began the difficult task of getting up on the first step of the ladder. He had been in the water for 30 minutes but was still comfortably warm, and although he was seriously disabled, he was not in excessive pain. With Patrick and his kayak aboard, the sailboat skipper headed to shore for the emergency medical treatment that Patrick needed.
Patrick felt cold and began to shake. The pain of the dislocation increased rapidly, and his hand had grown numb. The sailboat’s small motor struggled to make progress against the current. It took another half hour before they made it to a marina in Oak Bay. At the dock, Patrick’s kayak was locked up securely before his rescuer drove him to a nearby hospital.