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Safety - April 2010
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A jagged, rocky coastline stretched out under gray skies and seas. The wind howled at more than 25 mph, hurling rain against the exposed faces of the two figures being tossed about. Not another soul in sight for miles—the figures looked south toward their destination—Homer, about 100 miles away.
Gadi Goldfarb and Albert Kachesky had traveled about 100 miles in the eight days they been paddling. Caught in a storm, tired, alone, beset by twenty-foot swells they made a call for help. The distress call was heard by the crew of the fishing vessel Inlet Sunrise and relayed to the Coast Guard Command Center in Anchorage.
The flight crew wriggled into two layers of long underwear, drysuits and life vests. Helmets in hand, they headed for their helicopter aircraft. About 30 minutes after the call had come in the blades were turning and the rescue crew was en route.
While the aircraft was in flight, the crews of the fishing vessels Vigilant and Northern Mariner passed to Search-and-Rescue controllers at Sector Anchorage that they were within about a mile of the kayakers’ relayed position and would assist. The Inlet Sunrise continued to help with communications, but was engaged in fishing and couldn’t break away.
With rescuers on three platforms closing in, Kachesky and Goldfarb huddled together in their kayaks. They activated their 406 emergency position indicating radio beacon (EPRIRB) to help rescuers locate them. The location of a transmitting 406 beacon can be determined within approximately three miles by the first satellite pass, and to within one mile after three satellite passes. The 406 EPIRB uses the COSPAS/SARSAT system of polar orbiting satellites which gives worldwide coverage. About a half hour elapses between satellite passes. The EPRIB/PLB the men were using was not GPS enabled, so location coordinates could not be transmitted. Instead the helicopter crew vectored in on their exact position using the VHF radio signals.
As the helicopter drew closer, its crew began to hear the kayaker’s transmissions over the radio. The rescue swimmer, Aviation Survival Technician 1st Class Charles Ferrante, had just transferred from Air Station Cape Cod, Mass. This was his second duty day and he’d only been in Kodiak for three weeks. Ferrante was on the radio working with Kachesky and Goldfarb to try to establish their location.
“They had an ICOM handheld radio which is how the pilots located them,” said Ferrante. “It basically saved them since we could not DF [direction find] on their 406 EPIRB, which seemed a little dated, but the radio is the same radio we use as helicopter rescue swimmers.” Avionics Electrical Technician 2nd Class Tito Sabangan, the flight mechanic on the third year of his tour in Kodiak, scanned the horizon for a flash of color that might be the two men. The helicopter arrived in the area at 4:18 p.m., about a half hour after departing Kodiak.
The crew tried to use the radio signal to search for the men. “Sir, please give me a long count, 10…9…8…,” said Ferrante. Goldfarb responded. He repeated the count several more times.
“Locating the kayakers was a bit of a challenge due to the low visibility, the search pattern’s close proximity to land (which made maneuvering a little restrictive), a lot of radio traffic from the good Samaritans [the fishing vessels Vigilant and Northern Mariner] and a language barrier with the kayakers that made communications hard,” said Sabangan.
The rescue crew used Goldfarb’s VHF radio transmissions to vector in on the kayakers. After a half hour on scene, a red and yellow dot—the two rafted kayakers—came into view. The crew of the fishing vessel Vigilant arrived right on their heels.
Ferrante donned his fins, hood and snorkel and prepared to drop into the water. The helicopter came into a low hover about 40 feet above the water, several hundred yards from the kayakers. It was necessary to drop the swimmer at a distance to prevent up-ending the kayaks with the 120- to 140-mph rotor wash from the helicopter. As a swell passed under the door Ferrante pushed himself out of the helicopter for a 20-foot free-fall into the frigid ocean. After a quick thumbs-up to Sabangan, Ferrante began his swim over twenty-foot swells toward the kayaks.
“They’re OK,” radioed Ferrante when he reached the kayakers. “Tired, cold, mildly hypothermic but OK.”
Ferrante offered the kayakers a choice: They could be hoisted by the helicopter or they could go aboard the Vigilant. In the end they chose the Vigilant because they could take their kayaks. Over the next thirty minutes Ferrante swam the kayaks alongside the Vigilant and assisted each man out of his kayak and onto the fishing vessel.
According to Ferrante, the sea state made getting the men out of the kayaks a bit of a task. It caused the fishing vessel to pitch and yaw.
“During the first attempt to get near the fishing vessel, the vessel almost ran us over with the starboard quarter, said Ferrante. “Later I found out this was due to the captain of the fishing vessel leaving the pilot house to help his only deckhand. Once he left the pilot house the vessel went broadside into the seas and the back of it came right at us.”
Ferrante was forced to push off of the fishing vessel and swim the two kayakers away to safety.
“It was difficult to communicate with the deckhand due to the wind and seas,” said Ferrante. “I had the deckhand throw a life ring to us. He was dead-on with his throw.”
Ferrante dragged the men out of the kayaks and, one by one, put them into the life ring. Then the deckhand pulled them to the vessel and Ferrante pushed them up on deck.
“I would have to say that I believe putting them on the fishing vessel was harder than if we had hoisted them from the helicopter,” said Ferrante “The pilot and I discussed this prior and during the evolution. After three attempts I decided I would give it one more try. I knew we could have hoisted them to the helicopter safely, but they would have had to leave their kayaks behind and there was a good chance they [Goldfarb and Kachesky] would have ended up in Kodiak with us. If I could safely get them on the vessel that was heading to Homer I would, besides safety being number one priority I thought of what I would want the rescuers to do if I were in their shoes.”
With the men on board, all that remained were their kayaks. One by one they were hefted onto the deck of the Vigilant.
“This was not an easy task but I timed the seas and leaned on one end of the kayak to get the other side up for the deckhand to grab,” said Ferrante. “We then had to flip it to get all the water out, I kicked hard and as long as I could to get the kayaks up on board.”
In the helicopter Sabangan and the pilots maintained their hover, watching and waiting. By 6:00 P.M. all was well. The two very cold, very tired and slightly nauseated men were safely aboard the fishing vessel headed to overnight in Port Dick with plans to transit to Homer the following day. Sabangan leaned out of the aircraft door and sent down the hook. Ferrante clipped in on the other end and was hoisted back aboard. With all parties safe and accounted for the helicopter crew headed back to Kodiak arriving at 7:05 P.M.
“Despite all the challenges of this case, the H-60 helicopter once again proved that it is a very suitable search and rescue platform, due to its sensory packages,” said Sabangan.
Kachesky and Goldfarb were well prepared: They had all the gear they needed, wore drysuits and took multiple means of communication. That’s what led to their successful rescue. Wearing gear to stay alive and being heard made all the difference. Having a radio and a properly registered EPIRB saved their lives in a beautiful but unforgiving environment.
Many thanks to the U.S. Coast Guard for preparing this report for Sea Kayaker magazine. Because it is written by USCG personnel it is in the public domain.
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