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Safety—December 1997
Surf Landing - Thrown a Curve by the Surf
by Matt Broze
Looking over his shoulder, Scott saw a huge breaker looming over him, the crest arching forward into a giant tube. What had appeared to be three- or four-footers turned out to be more like eight- or nine-footers in the break zone. Worse yet, there were around five lines of breakers covering a hundred yards before the beach.
Scott Ashworth, his brother Burr Gourlie and two friends, Tim Wells and Bob Brown, began a two-week kayak trip north from Port Hardy, a town on the north end of British Columbia's Vancouver Island, on September 15, 1996. They paddled north and camped the first two nights on the Echo Islands. Scott paddled an Aleut (an old kayak built in Bellingham, Washington). Burr paddled a Kevlar Necky Tesla. Tim left his Chinook in San Francisco because he flew up for the trip. He borrowed a fiberglass Tesla from Scott's wife. Bob drove from Michigan with his Aquaterra Chinook.
Pushing On
After paddling for five and a half hours on Tuesday, September 17, they discussed whether they should camp in nearby Skull Cove or push on to a beach and campsite the brothers had enjoyed in June. Although they were a little tired, it was only about 2:30 p.m., the day was windless, and a long, smooth ocean swell made for nearly ideal paddling conditions. The extra six miles would make for a long day, but it would also save breaking camp and packing up again tomorrow. They decided to "Just do it!" and turned north. The water got rougher at the mouth of Slingsby Channel. Tim considered this a "local effect" due to the current flowing out of Slingsby Channel. Scott and Burr, who had previous experience with Slingsby's sometimes weird and dangerous currents, thought so as well. They had paddled in much rougher conditions, so they continued on. However, north of the channel, the waves got even bigger and rougher as they focused on and reflected off the cliffs of Buccleugh and Bremner Points. It was around 5:30 p.m., just about high tide, when they rounded Bremner Point, at the south end of Burnett Bay. As is common in the vicinity of a point of land, the swell energy was focused on the point as the shallower water off the point slowed the waves, concentrating the wave energy and increasing the wave size. These bigger waves, shortened and steepened by the shallows, reflected off the cliffs on the point, creating a steep cross-chop. Dealing with these conditions exhausted the already tired paddlers.
Big Breakers
Once they could see into Burnett Bay, they were disturbed to find it full of sizable breakers, some of which appeared to be breaking well out from shore in the bay. This was nothing like Burr's and Scott's memory of the idyllic eight-inch waves that had patted the beach back in June. In fact, the protected beach they had once landed on now had breakers slapping the beach logs. They knew from experience that the breakers would be smaller at each end of the bay, but from the outside it was difficult to judge just how big they really were. Tim estimated they were about four feet high.
A Fateful Decision
With the expectations of an easy landing shattered, the tired paddlers had to make a decision. One choice was to turn around and look for a camping spot. The only camp they knew about that was sure to have a surf-free landing was six miles back in Skull Cove. It would soon be dark and to get back to Skull Cove they would have to paddle through an area that had several rocks that were awash. Bob had never paddled in surf, but had paddled in big, steep waves on Lake Superior and had lots of river canoeing experience. He didn't want to go back through the rough water they had just come through, and was sure he didn't have enough energy to make it back to Skull Cove in those conditions. The north end of Burnett Bay, two and a half miles away, or some rocks near shore in the bay, one and three-quarter miles, might be more protected than where they were now, but they couldn't be sure of that without paddling there. Also, it looked like they would have to make a wide detour to get around the breakers that seemed to extend the break zone well out into the middle of the bay.
Scott thought that, because the swell was so long between crests, they might be able to race the waves into the beach between breakers. Scott and Tim had paddled in surf before. Burr said two-foot breakers were the biggest he had previously been in, and Bob was game to try, especially given the other options. Burr estimated the breakers were three- to four-feet high, and he figured that they were breaking pretty much right on the beach. He knew he was going to get wet, but figured if he capsized he would just bail out and wade the kayak to shore. Everyone was tired and wanted to get camp set up. It was obvious they were going to get very wet going to shore, but it seemed to be their best option.
Scott had not been wearing his PFD, but he stopped and put it on. Burr's PFD was on his back deck, but he didn't bother putting it on. They watched the surf for about five minutes, looking for a lull in the waves. They took off for the beach, but Burr held back a little to avoid colliding with anyone.
Tumbled by the Waves
Scott figures he must have gone about 100 yards when he saw a huge breaker looming over him as he glanced over his shoulder. He looked up to see the crest arching forward into a giant tube. What had appeared to be three- or four-footers turned out to be more like eight- or nine-footers once they were in the break zone. Worse still, they had misjudged the distance and the number of lines of breakers before shore. What looked like one line of breakers and a wet landing on the beach was more like five lines of breakers covering a hundred yards before the beach. The breaker broached Scott and tumbled him over and over, stripping him out of his kayak. Burr watched the others just in front of him all slide to one side and get trashed and wondered what they had done wrong. The next big wave broached and dumped Burr, and soon he was swimming as well. He was still a long way from shore, the water was deep, and the breakers were big. He wished he had put on his life jacket. It had been right behind him on the back deck, but now Burr couldn't even see his kayak.
When the breaker finally released Scott, he saw his kayak floating right-side-up about 15 feet toward shore. He started to swim, but his knee boots bogged him down. He quickly removed them and swam until he reached his kayak's 10-foot-long bow line, which had been dislodged by the breaker and was floating free, in his direction. Scott felt lucky to reach the line, because he wouldn't have had time to reach his boat before the next breaker hit and carried it away. Scott thought he should hang onto his kayak so he wouldn't lose all the gear in it that he would need to survive once he reached this deserted wilderness beach. He wrapped the rope several times around his hand so the kayak couldn't be pulled free by the breakers. Scott was a strong swimmer and had done some body surfing, so he wasn't too frightened to find himself suddenly swimming in breakers. About 50 feet away he saw Bob and Tim in the water near their kayaks.
Broached and Injured
Tim had been an all-American swimmer in high school and, later, had taught swimming and coached swim teams. He also had surfboard and body surfing experience. He wanted to hang onto his kayak, because he felt it would help tow him to shore, like his experiences with a surfboard that was tethered to him. Once in the water, he quickly reached for the five-foot-long carrying bar he had on the back deck of his Chinook before the next wave could sweep his kayak away.
But this wasn't his Chinook. He grabbed the 1/16-inch-diameter stainless-steel rudder cable of the Tesla and felt a sharp pain, then jerked his hand back. He looked at his hand and saw a loose flap of skin about 1 3/8 inches long and 3/4 of an inch wide lifted away from the inside of his middle finger exposing the bone near the fingertip. He said to himself: "I've got to deal with this laterI've got to get out of this cold water." He tucked his injured hand inside his life jacket and backstroked with his left arm while facing the breakers so he could see them coming. He could feel the wave troughs pulling him back out to sea by his boots. He pointed his toes and the high boots were pulled off his feet. The next breaker removed both of his socks.
A Dangerous Spot
Scott was exhausted by the long day's paddle and the race for shore with the first breaker. Wearing only shorts over polypropylene long johns and a lightweight sun shirt under a short-sleeved wool shirt, he felt the sudden shock of the cold water. As each breaker passed his kayak, it jerked him forward and towed him a little closer to shore. After several minutes, he noticed his brother's Tesla upside down and floating toward him. He had the horrible thought that his brother might still be in it, so he grabbed hold of the cockpit as it passed and twisted it right-side-up. He was relieved that Burr wasn't there. Then he saw a large breaker bearing down on him and he realized that he was between two fully swamped sea kayaks. They probably now weighed well over 500 pounds each and were about to be slammed together. Scott knew he would have to duck underwater just before the breaker hit the first kayak. His timing had to be perfect, because his life jacket would quickly bring his helmetless head back to the surface. He timed his duck just right.
Rolling Logs
Scott's feet touched bottom for an instant, giving him hope his ordeal would soon be over. Soon he was able to touch the sand, but he had trouble wading to shore, as a strong current kept sweeping him off his feet. Even when he was able to resist the current, a breaker soon knocked him off his feet and the current swept him to the side. Again and again after each breaker he had to fight to regain his footing to continue his struggle against the current. After about ten minutes, Scott slowly emerged from the deeper water still hanging onto both kayaks.
Now he was struggling not only against the along-shore current, but also against the backwash off the steep upper beach after each dumping breaker surged up the sandy slope. The water was now only knee deep, but his progress was stopped by the pile of logs that the dumping breakers were surging against. Each surge threatened to slam the kayaks into the logs, and the backwash tried to pull them out of Scott's grasp and back out to seabut he was determined not to let them get away.
For a while there was nothing he could do but stand there, barely holding onto the beachhead. Luckily, the tide was receding, and finally Scott was able to dump the water out of the cockpits and drag the kayaks, still full of gear (and now also lots of sand), over some of the logs to where the surf could not get to them. Scott had seen Bob and Tim being swept further out toward Bremner Point by the current. With the two kayaks safe from the breakers, he went looking for them.
Ashore at Last
Tim doesn't think his swimming was doing anything more than keeping him on the surface and oriented to face the breakers. He believes the current and breakers took him to shore. Luckily, he reached shore on the last pocket beach before the current could sweep him out to the cliffs of Bremner Point. He figures he was in the water about fifteen minutes, and was glad to see that Bob had made it to shore ahead of him. They were both shaking and shivering violently from the cold water. Fortunately, Bob still had his kayak, and it had dry clothes and a first aid kit in it.
Scott found Bob and Tim on the other side of a rocky headland about 150 yards away from where he landed. He ran over to where they were busily getting into dry clothes and bandaging up Tim's injured hand. Scott asked if they had seen Burr. Scott was very concerned that his brother might not make it to shore because, although he was a good swimmer, he was not wearing his PFD. He was also wearing a heavy raincoat and pile fleece that might interfere with his swimming. Since Scott had just dragged Burr's kayak to shore, he knew his brother hadn't been able to hang onto it for flotation. Scott was worried, and troubled by thoughts of what he would have to tell Burr's family. He ran back beyond where he had landed and climbed a hummock to get a better view of the area.
Treading Water
Once Burr made it back to the surface after exiting his cockpit, he started treading water and looking for his kayak and the PFD strapped to its back deck. It was nowhere to be seen. He was stunned to realize the water was over his head and it was a long way to the beach. Burr was wearing a fleece jacket, raincoat, jeans and big rubber boots. He still had a tight grip on his paddle. He knew he was in serious trouble but wanted to hang onto the paddle so he would have it if he was able to find his kayak and get back into it. As unrealistic as that hope may have been, it didn't last long, because the next eight-foot breaker ripped the paddle from his grasp.
He sorely wished he had put on his PFD, but then remembered a tip from a Navy survival manual. He removed his knee-high boots, dumped them out, and held them upside down to trap air in for flotation. Holding onto his boots meant that he couldn't make much progress swimming. He managed to hold both of the boots with one arm and made an attempt at swimming to shore with the other arm. He wondered if he should remove some of his clothes that were hindering his swimming, but thought better of that because he was having enough trouble just keeping his head above water. He also thought that the clothing might keep some warmer water trapped next to his body like a wetsuit would.
Swept Toward the Cliffs
As he neared shore he was caught by the same along-shore current that kept sweeping Scott off his feet. The current had been carrying him south. His distress that he didn't appear to be making any progress toward the beach was now replaced by alarm that he had turned the corner and was drifting west, back out to sea. He saw Tim's Tesla floating upside-down about fifteen feet away. It had made the same circle he had. He was not that far from shore, but it may as well have been a mile because the shore was the surf-pounded cliffs on the north side of Bremner Point. He was beyond the last beach and the current was taking him out to sea much faster than he could swim. He swam away from the shore toward the kayak. He hoped to climb out of the bone-chilling water onto it. A minute later he caught it and put his boots in the cockpit. He climbed up on it once but a wave soon knocked him off. He contented himself with hanging onto the cockpit for a rest from the swimming and treading water. The kayak seemed to be floating toward the last outcropping of rocks before the Point (or was it just wishful thinking?).
Burr hoped to scramble onto those rocks regardless of what damage he was sure to suffer from being slammed into them by the waves. He managed to hang onto the kayak for a few minutes before another big breaker reared up and stripped it from his grasp as he was swept past the rocks. Although it was fully loaded and totally swamped, he saw it flung well into the air by a breaker shortly after he lost his grip on it. He found himself with neither kayak, PFD nor boots to provide buoyancy.
Swimming to the Surface
Burr was on his own. He had come full circle with the current and was now back in the area where he had capsized. He started swimming on his back to save energy and keep track of the breakers about to hit him. Just before a breaker would hit he would roll onto his stomach and hold his arms out so the breaker might drag him along with it toward shore. After most larger breakers he would have to swim back to the surface. He was now extremely cold and tired, but he had been able to rest a bit while hanging onto the kayak and had gotten a second wind. One of the big breakers pushed him down to where he felt the bottom for an instant. Now, with all his flotation aids gone and no PFD, he swam for shore with all the reserves he could muster. He swam frantically until he got to water shallow enough to wade in. Once he made it to knee-deep water he dropped to his knees from exhaustion and crawled the rest of the way up the beach; it had been over twenty minutes since his capsize. Once out of the water he began to shiver with a violent, convulsive shaking.
Beached at Last
From the hummock, Scott spotted the Tesla about 150 yards away and saw Burr slowly rising out of the water nearby. He scrambled down the hummock and ran over to where Burr was still crawling out of the surf. The Tesla had already been swept up on shore nearby. Scott noticed that Burr slurred his words and seemed a little disoriented. Scott realized he needed to make some decisions for his brother.
He told Burr to drag the kayak up the beach, beyond the reach of the breakers, and get some dry clothes out of it to put on; Scott was going to run back to his kayak to get his VHF radio. Burr didn't change his clothes; he doesn't remember hearing Scott telling him to get into dry clothes. He did manage to drag the kayak up the beach a bit and found he still had a waterproof lighter and Leather Man knife with him, so he set about shaving some cedar scraps on the beach into kindling. He wanted to keep his mind and body moving to counter the effects of the cold. He soon had a small fire going. Tim says Burr can start a fire quickly under any conditions. Apparently it is so habitual he succeeded even though he was hypothermic and not thinking very well.
Cold but Alive
Scott found the radio and told the others that Burr was very cold but alive and functioning. On his way to get the radio he had recovered several items of gear that the surf had stripped off their decks and washed up on the beach. When they all got back to Burr, he was shivering violently. The fire hadn't helped him much, and he was stumbling around looking for more firewood. Burr wanted a cigarette, and to make a cup of coffee. Scott immediately realized he had underestimated how impaired Burr's judgment was, and wished he had stayed with him to help him get the dry clothes and put them on, instead of going to get the radio. However, it was dusk and Scott wanted to contact the Coast Guard as soon as possible to get help for Burr if he needed it, and to evacuate Tim before his wound became infected. With his finger gashed to the bone, it was clear he wouldn't be paddling home. They quickly helped Burr remove his wet, twisted jeans and change into dry clothes.
Summoning Help
Scott had to read the directions for his newly purchased VHF radio to find the procedure for calling the Coast Guard. He got a response from the Comox Coast Guard Station on his first try. After hearing that Tim had no feeling in the fingers of his right hand, the Coast Guard decided not to wait until morning to evacuate him by helicopter. They patched Scott over to the Port Hardy Coast Guard Station. The Coast Guard determined the location and said they would send out a patrol boat with a Zodiac that could make it through the surf. The Coast Guard estimated it should arrive in the bay in about two hours.
It arrived right on time at about 8:30 p.m. Even though the kayakers were talking on the VHF and telling the Coast Guard where to look for them, it took a while before the crewmen spotted the lights from their headlamps. The crew asked about surf size but now, after dark, Scott could see only the surf within about 50 feet of where he was standing. The crew made repeated attempts to get in through the surf with the Zodiac, but finally determined that the surf was too big at that location to attempt a landing. There appeared to be a more protected area about one and a half miles north. The Coast Guard agreed to land the Zodiac there and then walk back to meet the kayakers halfway down the beach. If they couldn't land there, they would have to wait until first light before they could send a helicopter.
Midnight Evacuation
By this time Burr had warmed up considerably, but stayed behind by the fire while the other three walked north to meet the Zodiac crew. The kayakers walked the full one and a half miles before making contact, because the two Coast Guardsmen both had to stay with the Zodiac. It was too heavy to drag up the beach in front of the rising tide and breakers.
The medic decided that the bandages on Tim's hand had been done well enough, and didn't want to reopen the wounds, so he left them in place.
The Zodiac crew didn't have any extra PFDs. (They assumed kayakers always wore them, so they wouldn't need any extra.) Unfortunately, in preparing for the walk north, the kayakers hadn't thought of carrying a PFD. This created a dilemma, but the surf was much smaller here and the chance of the Zodiac flipping was remote. Tim was evacuated at about midnight, and Scott and Bob were relieved to see the Zodiac get through the two lines of three-foot surf to the mother ship.
Over the course of the next several days, spare paddles and other gear that had been washed off their decks kept appearing on the beach until all that was missing were a pair of sunglasses, a chart, a stainless steel water bottle, three boots and a raincoat.
Repairing the Boats
During the next four days, the surf never approached the intensity of the day they had arrived. The fiberglass Tesla had been severely damaged by the surf and would require a more extensive patch kit than they had, so they stashed it in the woods to be retrieved and patched later. It didn't have a paddler anymore, so it would have had to be towed home anyway. The Kevlar Tesla was cracked on both sides of the hull behind the rudder pedals. Burr patched it with some gelcoat and put some duct tape over that for more reinforcing. Scott figures it was his dragging the loaded kayak over the logs that did the damage. Burr thinks it was damaged by the surf the same way the other Tesla was. The damage was to the same areas of the hull, although it was not as severe because the Kevlar held together better. Most of the group's gear had to be taken back by three kayaks, so even after a mighty effort to consume all the extra food, each kayak still carried a substantial deck load for the return trip to Port Hardy by way of Skull Cove.
A Humbled and Wiser Return
The same paddlers returned to the bay this June. Scott flew in early to repair his wife's Tesla before the others arrived by kayak. This time Burr wore his PFD, they each had a VHF radio, and they made more conservative choices (such as choosing to paddle five miles out of their way into Slingsby Channel rather than cross the steep seas at the mouth where an ebb current was steepening the swell into nine-foot waves).


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