Respect for the water...

[khiemtran]

A slightly more sombre post this time. So far this summer, we've had three high-profile drownings in New South Wales, all three tragic because they were entirely preventable.

The saddest of all was the death of a five year old boy, a non-swimmer who was swept away in a strong current just metres from his family. At the time, he was playing in the Georges River, not far from where this photo was taken.



Heartbreakingly, his older brother managed to grab his hand, but lost his grip as the current pulled them both away. Some accounts say the sand bank beneath their feet collapsed without warning. All of Sydney held their breath as the police and lifesavers searched for him, until at last his body was found just 70 metres away from where he disappeared.



A few hours before he disappeared, I was sailing on the same river. We were practising "coming alongside" an anchored motor boat, which is to say we were trying to stop next to it. This is a lot easier said than done because there aren't any brakes on a sailing boat and the wind kept changing. Because the motor boat was anchored and we weren't, the current made it seem as if the boat was motoring off away from us upstream. After one yet another failed attempt, I remember sitting in the bows, watching the stationary boat seem to chug off away from us, and the thought struck me so deeply that I said it out loud. "That's faster than I can swim."

If I had been alone in an anchored boat and fallen overboard, I might well have drowned trying to swim back to get aboard. Even from a few metres away, the safest option might have been to swim for the shore instead. What chance would a non-swimming child have?

This is one of the reasons water safety and learning to swim are so important in Australia. The two things go hand in hand. Either one is better than nothing, but both are really essential. A strong swimmer can still drown if they try to defy the current instead of swimming across it.

As a child growing up by the sea, I was taught very early what to do if caught in a rip and all of my friends knew how to swim. Just as importantly, we also learned to never go on the water without a lifejacket, even when it wasn't compulsory.



Both of the other two drownings were due to people not wearing lifejackets in situations where they should have. In one, a rock fisherman was swept away and his body still hasn't been recovered. In the other, a canoeist never surfaced with his mates when they capsized on a lake. There is really no excuse for this these days. You can buy a Type 1 PFD (Personal Flotation Device), which will hold your head above water even you are unconscious for as little as ten dollars these days. And if you don't like the bulk, for a little more, you can buy one of the new gas inflatable models that are barely noticeable until they inflate.

Here's Liem in his Type 1 PFD. I think it cost all of $15. He's not going to be canoeing or sailing without it. And I will be checking it, every time.

Comments

[carl-allery.livejournal.com]

Sadly not enough children read Swallows and Amazons these days ...

Okay, so there's not that much about safety in it and they certainly didn't wear life jackets, but the premise it starts with is that being on the water is inherently dangerous which, imho, is the best place to start.

I vaguely remember wearing inflatable arm bands before I could swim, but by the time I was 5 I could swim a length of a pool easily, albeit mostly underwater because of my skinny frame. We grew up with the major part of our holidays caravanning on the Cornish coast, with swimming (or at least jumping in and out of the water) sailing and canoeing a major part of our activities. Going out in boats we always had lifejackets on - very cumbersome compared to today's options - the crewsaver front and collar version that turns you on your back if unconscious and you can't really swim forwards in.

If we were playing in a boat or canoe in the sea it was anchored either to the shore or in deeper water with a line from anchor to the shore. We mostly played in a sheltered cove where there weren't any currents other than the tide coming in and going out. My father was a qualified swimming teacher and was always watching and usually in or near a boat.

When I was 5 we moved to the shores of the Bristol Channel and lived just a golf course away from the sea at Brean Down. I recall coming home the summer before we moved and going over on my own to swim in the warm, shallow, muddy water - I was 12 but had already done life-saving courses at the local club. It was safer - shallow much further out and still no major currents and more dangerous - water so muddy you would be invisible just under the surface. We surfed the small waves in what was a touring kayak, capsized often and hit the muddy bottom more often than not, fell out of the boat and came up laughing. We rarely sailed those waters - the rapid rise and fall of the tides and the dangers of being trapped in mud made it too dangerous. We were aware that people drowned and cars were stuck almost daily in the deceptive mud.

At school, we not only wore bouyancy aids for sailing, but had to have wet suits as well. Since I had mine made diving thinckness, it was as bouyant as an aid by itself. I am in fact considering the gas inflatable life jackets because I'd really like to get back into canoeing and sailing and would really like something with as little bulk as possible.

What amazes me is that for an island nation so many people in the UK are so uneducated about the dangers of water. :( Sounds like you have much more awareness which can only be good.

[khiemtran.livejournal.com]

Funnily enough, I was just re-reading Swallows and Amazons a few weeks ago. I was aware that not all of them could swim, but it was a real surprise when I realised they didn't have life vests either.

What type of boat did you sail in?

[carl-allery.livejournal.com]

my father built a plywood kit boat - flat bottom, a bit like an optimist with a proper bow - then he had a Tarpon which is like a heavily built GP14 with a removable 'cuddy' (like a sports car's hard top). But I learnt properly about sailing and rigging boats at school on Mirror dinghies (my preferred dinghy) and Enterprises and Larks. I had a Mirror myself for a while but had to let it go, and I sailed boats similar to enterprises (bog standard 14ft wood clinker built boats) at the US summer Camp where I taught a summer season after uni.

Haven't been out in years but plan to get myself another Mirror - they're just so versatile and also a good single-handed dinghy. Very bouyant/stable, can be rowed or motored as well as sailed. Gaff-rigged mast can be set forward for sailing without jib or when standard rigged can take a spinaker as well. Best of all, a mirror (10ft wood construction, pram bow) can be loaded and unloaded on a car roofrack by one person. Add a transom wheel and you don't even need a launching trolley. I have seen them carried piggy back by a single man, but you'd have to go back for the rigging. :(

Perfect for one or 2, will take 4 adults. Best of all, plenty of room for gear - you can drop anchor and sails and just snooze in the sun! :) Damn I miss my Mirror. A friend at school once told me in Falmouth, when the racing dinghies head for shore as the wind gets up to force 5 or 6, that's when you see the mirrors heading back out with spinakers up!! Why yes, I am a fan. ;)

[khiemtran.livejournal.com]

They do sound fun. There are still active Mirror clubs around Sydney, but I've never seen them on the water. I do like the idea of being able to build one in your garage, but it's not like I have any actual garage space at the moment...

I've been sailing Pacers at the sailing school, which you can see in various states of illustrative distress in the photos above. They're a dying species at the moment; I believe the UK Pacer association has already disbanded and they're being phased out as training boats over here.

I do like the look of the new foam-and-plastic designs though. They don't have quite the romance of the wooden boats, but there's a heck of lot less maintenance, plus they're self-draining, unsinkable and very easy to rig. I wonder if this may be something of a new golden age (albeit slightly late), in the same way as the sit-on-top designs have really transformed paddling.

Hope you get your Mirror soon!

[carl-allery.livejournal.com]

Hmmm, not aware of Pacers, had a google and they look fairly standard 14ft-ish dinghy plan. Not too dissimilar from the Enterprise and Larks I learned in and the Firefly my brother has and the Marlin sitting outside in the front garden at the moment (full of leaves and rainwater).

Personally I always enjoyed a good capsize. The reservoir where we sailed at school was usually calm enough that righting boats wasn't a problem. The problem with the mirrors was that you could put the gunwhale underwater and jump out only to find the boat was still upright and sailing away!

And yes, wooden boats really need the maintenance. I have a grp kayak hull sitting in my back garden waiting for me to rebuild the plywood deck - Moonraker touring canoe. It just needed varnishing, (which wasn't urgent) and then it needed a patch, and then it got put to one side because it was a project. Now it's what is commonly known as a basket case and I will have to use photos as ref to try and rebuild. But I like a good challenge! :)

[khiemtran.livejournal.com]

Pacers are a lot of fun, although I can't say I'm really in love with them yet. They're from the same designer (Jack Holt) as the Mirror and Enterprise. They're small enough that you can sail them singlehanded with the jib, but big enough to take three adults at a pinch. They're stable and it takes quite a lot to capsize them, but I have noticed something of a tendency to bury their bows when tacking in strong winds. The only thing I really don't like is the non-slip coating on the floor - it tears up your knees like sandpaper if you lose your balance on a tack or a gybe.

I'd still love to try a Mirror one day. One of my friends used to sail them on Lake Illawarra and he said they used to get garfish jumping into the boat as they went belting along...

[cecile-c.livejournal.com]

Sad story :( I hope lifejackets will go the way of motorbike helmets and become completely normalised even though lots of people don't think about wearing them now!

[khiemtran.livejournal.com]

Yes, let's hope so. It's actually the law here that rock fishers have to wear life jackets, but I don't recall ever seeing anyone wearing one.

[mnfaure.livejournal.com]

So true that one should never take for granted how dangerous water can be, even for experienced swimmers. :-|

[khiemtran.livejournal.com]

Yes, I think it's healthy respect that's the key. You need to make sure kids are confident enough not to panic, but savvy enough that they know how to stay safe.

[asakiyume.livejournal.com]

Riptides are terrifying, and whenever we went to the ocean, it seemed like it was in a place with riptides, so I was pretty terrified of getting very far away from shore. I was also a poor swimmer, and knew it.

Very sorry to hear about those drownings :-(

[khiemtran.livejournal.com]

Over here, swimming in the sea is such a part of life that it's very unusual to find people who can't swim. On the other hand, overconfidence, or ignorance of the currents, is still a big problem.