Rescue

This cowgirl had to lasso one of her charges today. I had to actually rescue someone in current after they fell out of their boat.

In the clubs I'm in, we practice this. We practice assisted rescue and self rescue. We practice being the rescuer, and being rescued. We practice with sit-on-top (SOT) kayaks and deck boats - what most people picture as kayaking, where you sit inside the boat, usually with a spray skirt. Rolling is a kind of self-rescue.

What happened was: at 72nd street, the current was relativel strong. We communicated the boundaries of where we wanted people to paddle, and explicitly said "stay away from ships". One of the public had paddled out past the outer boundary and was headed - quickly, aided by current - to a catamaran moored at the southwest corner of the boundary.

As soon as I was about to tell him to come back closer, he hit one of the mooring lines, and went in the water, his boat upside down.


Now, two things: first, this is not in itself life-threatening, or leading to injury. He was wearing a PFD, and he was holding on to the boat and his paddle. The current was relatively strong, but this is the Hudson River, not some wild rapids. He was floating on an escalator, and we needed to get him out.


That said, once someone is in the water, it's kinda serious. You have to get them out, and get them under their own power. Until they are safe, you never know what their status is. They might have had an aneurysm, or something similarly sudden and debilitating. 


"Oh shit, " I muttered to myself, and hopped in our safety boat - a long, narrow scupper perfect for rushing to the rescue, tow bag in my lap.


When I got out there, I remembered all our practice. "Are you OK," I asked, and he said yes. I pulled alongside and told him to hold on to the boat, and then to hand me his paddle. Then I righted his boat. Then I held his boat and told him to kick his legs straight out and reach across to my boat. He did all that, and was able to pull himself on to his. I got him to turn so he was seated properly, and then got him back to the dock.


In all that - from the moment he went in, to the moment we were heading back - he had floated about 35 yards. That put him halfway to a pedestrian pier that he would have either passed under (safely) or passed by.


After that, I kept a closer eye on our charges, and hollered at them if they got anywhere near the edge, or near a boat. A couple of girls who were kind of larking, I pulled in for a warning and used him as an example.


It's an odd situation to be in - promoting the use of the waterfront for recreation, yet also teaching people to be respectful of it. It all worked out well, and it was nice to know I could pass when my skills were put to the test. It was not an emergency, but it could have become one.


I'm happy I was able to help.

72nd Street

Today I volunteered at 72nd street, opening the facility and putting people in boats. It's where I started volunteering, and while I've moved to other sites as I've moved around the city, I spent so much time learning there that I still feel a connection there.

The kayaking spot at 72nd is part of the Downtown Boathouse, (DTBH). It was an accidental spot, I'm told; after another site fell through, it ended up being the next best option. It's typically the busiest in any given summer, and has many more families due to its proximity to the residential buildings of the Upper West Side.

It's a labor of love, and the volunteers who keep it running every summer are a dedicated lot. First of all, all of the storage is in shipping containers about 200 feet away, underneath a highway and behind some basketball courts. To open up or put things away, you have to maneuver past ball players, cyclists, rollerbladers, and runners.

What gets moved is much easier this year. Volunteers still have to move out clothing racks holding life vests, two sets of metal lockers on narrow wheels, but they no longer have to cart boats along the path. Boats are now stored on the floating dock, secured with thick cables and locks. Those carts are heavy though, and must be pulled up one side of a hill, and then prevented from running away down the other side.

The water is not quite as protected as Pier 96. The water flows pretty strongly at times, and the public has to be watched a little more carefully to make sure they don't drift away. Furthermore, the outer edges are mooring spots for pleasure boats: catamarans, sailboats, and motor boats.

Where other sites have mostly young adults looking for something new, 72nd has a lot of families, and a lot of drop-ins from runners and bicyclists.

To get to to 72nd, go all th west end of 72nd, before it comes off the highway. Enter the park (by Eleanor Roosevelt) and keep walking west - down the stairs, past the little league ballfields. Open Saturdays and Sundays about 10-5, and also holiday Mondays.