Clatsop Spit ponds real story

Rico · Since 13 Mar 2005 1219 Posts Vancouver Photographer

I thought I should post this story about Clatsop spit and the ponds so that people watch the tides. This happened to a windsurfer I know, but could easily happen to a kiter if the wind dropped.

Read this real life experience .....

http://www.bthurber.com/videos/LuckyDay.wmv

If you have time, read this it is totally interesting....

B. Clatsop Spit is an unpredictable area of the river entrance. During flood
currents and slacks, it may be relatively calm, with only a gentle swell
breaking far in on the spit. Yet 5 or 10 minutes later, when the current has
started to ebb, it can become extremely treacherous, with breakers extending
far out toward the channel. Boaters should remain north of the red buoys in
this area, particularly just before or during the ebb. Breakers extend
out past buoy #8. On a flood tide, you can be carried into Clatsop Spit. Be
prepared to anchor. The south jetty has a section broken away on the outer
end. The broken section is under water, close to the surface. If you are
relatively close and your engine fails, the flood or ebb current will take you
across the submerged jetty. Boaters should use extra caution in the area from
the visible tip of the jetty to buoy #2SJ, which marks the western end of
the submerged portion of the south jetty. On the flood, a dangerous rip can
occur over the sunken jetty. Do not cross the submerged jetty.

Always know the stage of the tide! Avoid getting caught on the bar during an
ebb tide.

Well well, this weekend update is going to be good. I often thought , wow
I could have been killed, but I have never known I was going go die in
about 15 to 20 min. It all started with Saturday's forecast. High wind
warning on the coast with stormy conditions.

Here is the email I sent out to drum up some sailors for Saturday.

####################################
EMAIL from LAST WEEK

High wind watch late Friday night and Saturday...

Ben and I are heading to the lagoon Saturday morning.....Ben Be at my house
at 7:30 am and we will hit the water around 9:00.
Ahhhhhh.... 9-noon with 30-40 south "tropical" winds...... Same dir as last
Sunday Ben. Should be fun. Lets cross the river a few times if we are way
powered up. That will be one long reach. ....... I am going to bring the
trailer because of the possible gusts to 65 mph at The Headlands I may need
Shari's stuff......

Today

Patchy morning fog then increasing clouds...chance of light rain in the
afternoon. Highs in the mid 50s. East wind 5 to 15 mph... becoming

southeast in the afternoon.

Tonight

Chance of evening light rain otherwise mostly cloudy. Lows 45 to 50. South
wind increasing to 15 to 30 mph.

Saturday

Rain at times. Highs in the mid 50s. South wind increasing to 30 to 40 mph
with possible gusts to 65 mph at The
Headlands...decreasing in the afternoon

#########################################################

You can clearly see I was aware of the tide and forecast. The only person
to bite was Ben Pacewick. Ben came over at 7:00 am so we could sail the
incoming tide and get back to town early. We hit the road and get to the
coast around 9:00am. It is blowing very very hard. Lets go look.
The graphs say steady 33 gusting over 40. Seemed higher to me. We rig
and head to the lagoon. This is a protected area off
of the Clatsop Spit . This is one of the most dangerous bars in the
world. Lots of ship wrecks and lost of fishermen lost in this area.

Ben hits the water on his blaster 8.9 with a 4.1 zone sail. I have a
Seatrend ATV 9 footer with a 4.7 sail. We take one reach and realize it
is pointless to sail. We wait and hope the wind lets up before high tide
10:59am. We wait until about 11:00. Then I decide to take out Shari
Matzner's little board and Bens little sail. I sail the liquid smoke for
about 10 reaches just for the workout. It was survival sailing for
sure. I head in and Ben says the wind and rain is hurting his contacts and
he can not take a few reaches. We decide to bail..
I take my boards to the car and decide to put them away and take my time
so Ben could change in the bathroom while I put my sail away. We are
almost ready to go and a patch of blue sky appears and I joke it will probably
be sunny and blowing 20 in a few min. Sure enough the wind cuts in half
and the sun comes out with no rain. After just going thu hell and still
having my sail rigged I decide to take a few runs. It is prefect. 25 mph
sunny in a very pretty area just off the entrance of the Columbia river into
the ocean. I am having a glorious time but the tide is starting to
rip out to sea. This is compounded by the river going out to sea also.
Plus it has been raining a ton the past few days. I see Ben has rigged and is
heading out to join me. I mention to him the rip out to sea is pretty
strong but we can probably just skirt the coast and stay close to the
shore and sail this for the afternoon. We take 2 reaches. The first one was
short and I con Ben into taking a long long reach right along the river.
I thought we could sail straight up the river about 5 feet from shore.
We give it a try and we end up about 20-30 feet from shore. We turn around
and head back. The wind says I will turn around also. The bastard wind
dies and changes direction. We try to sail back to safety and miss the
mark by 100 yards. The current is pulling us away from shore and
Ben has a larger board than I do and is making a little better progress
than me on Shari's little board. This board is tiny and I sink it to the
bottom of the earth if it is blowing under 25. It is like 5 now and not
the right direction. Ben sails over to me and says try to make
it up where I was and you will be out of the direct channel. I tried but no
way I could get going. I have to swim for it. I swim as hard as I
can for 20 min. I lost 50 yards. I am exhausted from the sailing in the high
wind and now super exhausted from trying to swim to land. Fuck I can see
it... I can see people standing there. Ben is standing up on his
board and catching a few puffs here and there but I have no chance. I am now
in a panic. I decide to toss the rig and try to paddle just the board in.
I disconnect the rig and try to paddle the board in. This took me 5 min
and I was not looking around at that time. I noticed that after I tossed
the sail that dam board seemed to take off with me out to sea faster than
ever. I hear a bell and I look back and I am about 10 feet from a Channel
marker in the middle or the river. I Shit my pants, I am in the most
dangerous situation I can be in. I am exhausted, with no life jacket and
heading out to sea at about 4-5 mph. I grab hold of the buoy. I thought I could
climb on and wait for rescue. I have one hand on the buoy. Some large ring
that is welded on to it. The board is getting ripped out of my hand. I
thought Just climb on. Then I think I am too tired to climb this smooth
slippery metal thing. I would need two hands to pull up on to it and
let go of the board. I know damn well that board would take off and
go way faster than I could swim after it. I also know that if I try some
pull ups and fail that board would be gone gone gone. I decide to stay with
the sure thing the board.
I panic and paddle my ass off with the current at a 20 degree angle toward
shore. The last bit of land in sight that is one mile away. I probably
gave it 45 seconds of hell and then collapse in fatigue.

This is the first time I take a look at where I am heading. WOW huge 15-17
foot breaking swell about 2 miles away. I relax and await death. I sit
on the board and wave my arms but I am just a speck to folks on shore. I
noticed Bens sail up in the air near shore and then I see it drop. Now I
go by another buoy. I am going to die. The water is 50 the air is 50 and I am
going hypothermic , exhausted with no life jacket. I look again where I am
heading. I decide to stop fighting and relax. Maybe a short nap and I could be
strong for a paddle in to land once I am in the surf. I figured I would
just hit the ocean and then the surf would take me left or right and
paddle in on the huge waves. I know I could not paddle but I fool myself
into thinking I can recover. I will need to regain my strength for the
fight of my life. I also know that once I loose the board I am dead. I
will be rolling around in 15 foot breakers soon. How can I attach myself to
the board. I take off my harness. Noticing that that was hard I knew I
was a goner. I toss the reactor bar and tie the waist band to a front foot
strap and the webbing around my wrist. Now I am restricted to the
board. I can not paddle now but I can not anyway. At least my body
will have a chance of being recovered. It was not scary, once I knew it was
over. I thought again about napping. I tried to rest. After
about 10 min with out swimming I start to shiver. After about another
10 min my leg cramps. Holy Shit I can not even swim now and I am
losing consciousness. For some reason I took off my hat.
Now I know I am loosing it and I am in shock. I try to think clearly
and put that hat on. I jump off the board and put my leg up on it to
stretch out the cramp.. Then I notice I am way up in the air and I
can see land off in the distance. And then the classic locomotion sound of a
breaking wave. I had just ridden my first swell and it broke after It
passed me. It was impressive. They are breaking into the Columbia.
Trust me I am not near shore any more. Looked back and here comes the next
one. Forgot about my cramp and adrenaline kicks in and I tumble my first
wave. I took it pretty well with a long ride and a little tumble after
it. I was now about 3 miles from shore and the breaking waves were
huge but not that frequent. I start looking around and notice I can
not tell my direction anymore. I know it will not be long now. Why did
the folks on shore not call the coast guard. The Coast Guard were flying
around a few hours earlier. Where are they now. I look and I see a huge
ship go into the Columbia. Some giant cargo thing about 1-3 miles
away. I give a few waves with the unleashed hand and then lay down. I am sure
I am not visible and they would be looking at land after not seeing it for
who know how long. This is it. I was constantly amazed at how fast I was
traveling. I could tell I was moving fast by how fast the buoys were
going by. Here comes another buoy. I try to get to it but once again just
exhaust my self. Plus this one is giant. I do see something
interesting ahead. A giant whirl pool. This is the ocean water meeting the
mighty Columbia. I think it will suck me under and I decide to just let
it happen. Surprisingly I travel across this football
field size of turbulent water quite easily. Almost happy it was flattish......

I take a few more waves and then decide to turn the board around so I could
get more of my body out of water. This worked well
because my pelvis was out of the water and it felt warmer. But I could not
take the waves in this position. I figure it will be about 15 min if
the waves keep hitting me. I was kind of happy to be in the middle of the
channel because the swell was not breaking all that often. Maybe I could
last another 30 min. So far I have had 4 waves break and the rest
(maybe 20) just pushed me up and down. I kind of start to get sea sick.
Maybe it was knowing I was going to die. I tried to pee and warm up my suit.
Nothing. A seal came over and checked me out. I yelled at it. It
left and then I felt lonely. Why did I scare it away. Hell a shark would
have been ok with me. At least I would not die alone....

Then I see a coast guard chopper. It is of course not coming over by
me. I get in the water and wave the board in the air.
It is green and I am black so I figure it is worth a shot. Then the
helicopter suddenly turns my way and I climb back on the board. I was not
relieved for some reason because I still had to negotiate the waves. I
guess I was a little relieved but somehow I did not believe I was going to
live. The copper hovered down about 50 feet away about 50
feet high. I was thinking , come on do something. Then after what
seemed like 10 hours but was probably 2 minutes the chopper moves closer and
the spray is hitting me now. I diver (Dave) jumps out and swims over to me.
The first thing I say is I probably only have 1/2 hour before
unconsciousness. He says "You are doing great" What is your name, I say rich
and then he asks me what day it is. I say Saturday. I ask him if he has a life
jacket for me. He says no. I ask again. He says no. I then tell him I will
not be grabbing hold of him or panicking in any way. He seems relieved. I
again ask for a jacket. He explains the procedure for the basket.
Keep your arms and legs inside. I say ok and let go of the board. I
relax, but just then a breaker hits us and takes the board away. I watch it
race down the wave but we somehow crest without being tossed. Dave swims
me over to the basket. I climb in and notice the cable then realize
my arms are outside the basket. I get in a ball and then Dave motions the
guy to take me up. I am amazed that Dave is hanging in the basket
for like 10 feet. Is he going to ride up like that. Then he lets go and I
go up to the copper. This is the first time I am relieved and my
emotions overtake me and I am crying. Dave explains later that he was
hanging on to steady the basket from swinging. SOP. I reach the copper and
my arms again are outside the basket. I get them in and they hoist me
into the copper. I am sitting inside and shivering and sobbing. I see they
get Dave up and then notice this guy has a movie camera in my face. It
kind of freaks me out but I am in shock and do not say anything. I was
thinking maybe this is for insurance purposes. He looks like all the other
guys. Orange jump suit and all. Dave says we are going to the hospital
and I say no way. The other guys say Hospital and I say that I do
not need to go and then try to talk as smoothly and coherently as
possible. They start with the drill of my name and what day is it. Dave says
that "He seemed pretty coherent in the water" and maybe we should take me to
the airfield. One guy says there is an ambulance at the airfield. Lets
go. I asked if there was anything behind me and if I can lean back
against it. Dave says sure. I lean back and the fucken camera was in my
face. They hand me a blanket and I cover up. Again off came the hat. Dave
put it back on and I took it off again. Clearly I was not thinking. I put
it on and basically passed out with my arm and head against my knees.

We land and they try to get me on a stretcher. I am pretty argumentative
and say I want to walk. I start walking in circles because it felt good to
stand and walk. The ambulance guy gets real close to me and says I do not
like the camera and we can talk in the VAN. He was my best friend
because I also did not like the camera and he said van instead of ambulance. I
lay on the stretcher and he take me to the ambulance. The camera guy is all
over it. I put the blanket over my face and yelled, now I know how Madonna
feels. The put me in the ambulance and I figured that was it. I was going to
the hospital and all I wanted to do was go home. I say that I am an adult and
I refuse service. They had me fill out the paper work and I leave the
ambulance. The ambulance guys and the coastguard guys talk and the let me walk
to the building and I get my wetsuit off and call my cell thinking Ben would
answer. They explain he was the one who called. I asked if anybody else
called and they said no just Ben. I seemed like people where watching me get
towed out to sea. I guess some dude was probably telling his girlfriend,
Look that guy is really getting after it to go out and catch the storm
waves. Who knows..... It was very very possible Ben and I could
have both been out to sea and that NOBODY would have called.

Ben arrives and I get into dry cloths and I am still shivering, violently
and probably should have got to the hospital. But I suppress the shivering
and fake that I am ok and eventually warm up after about 45 min.

The camera guy talks to me and explains he is from the Learning Channel and
they were filming Coast Guard training. He want to interview me and I was
reluctant. I asked him if he was going to sell this to the news and he say
NO way and really explains that is the last thing he would do. I agree to
an interview. Ben and I go looking for them after a bit and we wander
around the hanger. One guy said the pilot wanted to meet me. I wanted to
ask him how far out I was. There are some choppers in there and they are
big. We found nobody around. We went outside and asked someone were
everybody was. Then someone showed us the upstairs of the hanger. Crew
quarters and a big screen TV. The learning Channel guy was watching the
footage with everybody else. I get to see it. It was embarrassing and I
felt like an idiot. I do not know why. I was going to die, without
rescue. The coastguard guys were giving each other shit about
stuff. Like, look Jim it took you two times to hook the basket etc.....
I thank everybody and Ben and I go downstairs and they interview me. One
of the crew says FOX news is on the way and I get another reassurance from
the learning channel guy that he is not going torelease the footage. I
asked for a copy.. Hopefully I get one. They have myinfo. Ben and I leave out
the back door and split. Just before we left the coast guard secretary type
says to me. We have to put out a press release and if there is footage the
news will get it. 50/50 I think.

I get home and watch fox news. This is going to suck ass. Me crying on
TV... The news starts. Car crash "with a gleam in her eye" and then
another car crash. Then there it is. Windsufer Rich Parups (she
butchered my name) was overcome by the wind and had to be rescued. Dramatic
footage is seen here. They they show the tape. Luckily they only
showed the hoist up and not my sobbing in the chopper. I wish they would
have shown me letting go of the board and getting swum over to the basket.
That was the only time you could appreciate the size of the swell.....

I taped it and went to sleep. Sunday I put my stuff away and returned some
of Bens stuff. I then went and purchased wireless network stuff for the
house. I shopped for new windsurf stuff but the shop in Portland sucks. I
will have to go to hood river to get a new harness and stuff. I got home
around 3:00 pm. At 4:00 I notice a woman standing in my drive way with a
business suit on. She asks me If I am Rich Parups and I say nope. Then
she asks me if I know where he is etc.... I confess It is me but I do not
want to be on the news. I asked how she got the footage but she seemed to
not know anything about that. She even asked me how they got it. I told
her to get lost and not to use any of the footage of the interview of
me. This was probably a mistake because she gave up easy and
left. Probably looking for that interview. I watched the news and some
dude getting shot out of a cannon was one of the stories, so I figure I was
safe. Just one embarrassing segment they showed. I guess it was in the
paper also, but nothing big.

That is it attached is a map, of the ordeal.... Happy to be alive, Rich......

Richard Parups

pjc · Since 06 Mar 2005 649 Posts Addicted

epic story. nice to hear he survived.

do you know the date on it? sounds like he was trying to catch winter "clearing" winds (after the storm rolls through). those winds are not as predictable as the summer-ish N winds IMHO. if you're going to ride them, probably better off launching into the ocean and being a few bodysurfs from the beach.

also, a 5/4 with a hood will hold of hypothermia for a little while longer. the surfers use those year round and they stay in the water a good long time.

i like the part where the rescue swimmer hangs on for 10 feet to help steady the basket. respect.

Kataku2k3 · Since 14 Aug 2005 3753 Posts Los Angeles, CA Videographer

Yea, that's completely insane! Glad it all worked out in the end.

Gman · Since 11 Feb 2006 4907 Posts Portland Unstrapped

Not that we encourage sailing the mouth of the Columbia on an outgoing tide - but might want to consider strapping on one of these

http://www.amazon.com/Uniden-Mystic-VHF-Marine/dp/B0001E2X5K/sr=1-4/qid=1156891751/ref=sr_1_4/102-3589337-3692957?ie=UTF8&m=A18S2VA36NY5VY&s=sporting-goods#moreAboutThisProduct

Batteries died bummer!

Kraemer · Since 24 Apr 2006 1735 Posts Sky Pilot Unicorn Captain

Great Story Surprised

It's not called the Graveyard of the Pacific for nothing!

Good thing you made it!

I wonder if the current is stonger there than it is under the Golden Gate?

Here's to check the tides:

http://nimbo.wrh.noaa.gov/pqr/tides.php

jdk · Since 21 Dec 2005 333 Posts Obsessed

or a personal locator beacon. same thing as required in aircraft, but those are activated on impact, this one you flip the switch.

http://www.rei.com/online/store/ProductDisplay?storeId=8000&catalogId=40000008000&productId=47799531&parent_category_rn=40002203

bulae99 · Since 12 Jul 2006 1691 Posts I give out bad advice.

Wow the coast guard RockS!! This story should be required reading for anyone heading out in the ocean. I've spent my share of time living and sailing in Hawaii. I've been in big swells underpowered, but always kept a board big enough to float me.
This sailor did all the right things. Stay with your board, never sail alone, and or kite alone on the coast!!
God was with you my man,
Ron

blowhard · Since 26 Dec 2005 2025 Posts Windward

I am also thankful you didn't drown ,losing our pals having fun is a bad way to go .
Being thankful for the folks who are pros at lifesaving and have not the funds to kite with us, most of the coasties that are in Florence that I have spoken to would love to kite if they had the MONEY ,,I say let's give them a raise !
If it wern't for them being within a few feet I would never go out alone especially in the out going rip that we have here ,they can see me and have even spotted my board when I dropped it.
GREAT Women and men doing a difficult job.

Always prepare for the worst ,watch the tides and the water temp.
Growing up on the Mckenzie river I have the opportunity to be pulled out twice by friends when I had become hypothermic ,very insidious ,I had no idea I could not move my extremities until I tried to swim in,, just floating along like a big dumb ass until the rapids approached !!
I'm a safety first person NOW!!!
Thanks for sharing this I hope it saves another person some trouble .
Oh ya and a 5-4 HOTLINE ULTRA HOT COMBI .
my PERSONAL INSURANCE policy,I figure it's good for a couple hours of hard flailing.

wakeup · Since 11 Sep 2005 328 Posts always Obsessed

a group of us rode there sat morning in light wind and it was really fun, but the tide was going in

skydiveblake · Since 28 Jun 2006 63 Posts San Diego

I rode there in February, rippin' easterlies. If you stay in the ponds it's awesome! Flat-water ripping! I did kite out in the channel though, and it was cold and gnarly. the ebb was insane, I couldn't stay upwind very well at all and I could see getting dead out there.

When it ebbs, stay in the pond in winter!

Gman · Since 11 Feb 2006 4907 Posts Portland Unstrapped

Was also out in February easterlies a couple times - once on a raging ebb tide - the ponds can drain out super fast, setting up a channel that funnels around the point to the main columbia. So you get a nice tide against the wind on the inside and get knocked down a few pegs in the main columbia.

Checked out the main river for one tack and decided to head back to the ankle deep water - but beware if you drop your kite in the out flowing little channel on the inside of the ponds you can be around the corner and ripping out to sea if you are not on top of it.

Slidingby · Since 29 Mar 2006 125 Posts Portland, OR Stoked

Good god that was better than the Learning Channel haha, Laughing

!!

Rico · Since 13 Mar 2005 1219 Posts Vancouver Photographer

This happened last winter. Also, Richard still windsurfs there. Personally, I have not kited the ponds yet, but plan on it this winter and will be paying close attention to the tides.

Kite safe everyone ......

pkh · Since 27 Feb 2005 6548 Posts Couve / Hood Site Lackey

Amazing story... I can see how easily it would be to be tempted into going out in sketch conditions even when deep down you know its better not to. Its good to read something like this, its a real sobering story and makes realize that you shouldn't mess around (especially in the ocean!)

The video is worth cehcking out too. The footage of the coast guard boats in huge storm swell incredible. I wish I could see the whole thing.