I left my cell phone in San Francisco

The ever vigilant RangerBob sent me the attached article (link below) on a kayak 'rescue' by the Coast Guard in San Francisco Bay. In a nutshell, two guys went for a day paddle to watch the Escape from Alcatraz triathalon, the weather got a bit nasty, and they decided to spend the night on Angel Island in San Francisco Bay. The problem was that they didn't notify anyone about this change of plans and about midnight one of the wives called the Coast Guard and the search began. The next morning they were found paddling toward shore near Alcatraz, both by the Coast Guard and also by a news crew who wanted to hear the story. It's at this point the routine rescue effort becomes a news story. In my opinion and in the opinion of the majority of folks who commented on the story in the San Francisco Chronicle, these two guy acted like a couple of self centered, smug jerks. Take a look a the video here and see what you think. It seems like they just can't be bothered to tell the reporter the story and are far too busy stowing gear and getting their boats squared away. The comment that the rescue attempt, "was disturbing a beautiful sunrise." was the clincher for me.

I've interacted with the US Coast Guard a number of times over the years, one of which involved an evacuation of one of our paddle group from Oak Island in the Apostles. They are unfailingly professional, helpful, well trained, and efficient. And they refused the case of beer I delivered as a thank you for their efforts; now that's professional! I'm sure our fellow bloggers from the Swanage RNLI lifeboat are cut from the same cloth. These two yahoos were apparently more concerned with the 'lovely moonrise' than letting anyone know they were OK. The one guy even told a radio reporter, I would imagine disdainfully, that he didn't even own a cell phone. They had been on Angel Island since 11am on Sunday, likely walking by dozens of visitors as well as park buildings, all of which would have some way to contact the mainland. Irresponsible, self centered behavior; it would have been so damn easy to call home. But I'm not the only one that has this opinion. Check out the comments following the story. "Kayaking Klowns","ungrateful idiots", "send these jackasses the bill", and "sweet little Brokeback getaway" were just a few of the milder opinions expressed by readers.

Stuff like this, as well as the article a couple months back in USA Today do absolutely nothing to help the image of kayakers in the public perception or in the eyes of the Coasties and other folks who may have to haul us out of the water. The comment by the coroner in the recent Chicago kayaker drowning and the statement in the USA Today article, "it's putting a strain on Coast Guard and other marine search-and-rescue crews and prompting calls for new laws requiring kayakers to take boating safety courses" does not bode well for the sport. I know I'm preaching to the choir in this post since most readers of a kayaking blog are interested enough in the sport to get training and try to improve their skills. Clubs and individuals need to redouble their efforts to educate the general kayaking public. A lot of times this needs to be done one person at a time. I few years back I tried to talk a guy out of paddling out to the Meyers Beach sea caves in the Apostles, the site of a couple fatalities in past years. He had a 12' rec boat, no spray skirt, paddle float or pump, and was not dressed for immersion. I was getting nowhere with him until I suggested that we continue the conversation while standing knee deep in Lake Superior. As his lower legs quickly became blue and numb he realized the dangers if he went over a half mile off shore. If I was lucky, he mentioned this episode to a few of his rec boat buddies and maybe the word was spread. We just need to be relentless with the message, even if its one person at a time, and maybe we can avoid or forestall the inevitable government regulation. In the meantime, shoving a camera in the face of a couple of 'kayaking klowns' does not help the cause at all.