Kitesurfers missing off WA Coast
[Updated 11:30am] Police began a land and air search at first light today and a
fixed-wing aircraft spotted them after they activated the emergency
beacon about 9.30am (WDT)
[Updated 6/Feb] A full story by one of the kiters is viewable at the bottom of the article.
A search by plane has been launched for two kitesurfers who have been missing for over a day.
With WA receiving a strong south easterly airflow, it seems the grand plan was to kitesurf from Windy Harbour to Augusta, a distance of around 100Km.
Their support crew alerted police after the men failed to reach their destination by the predicted four to five hours.
They have not activated the EPIRB they have with them.
Apparently, the pair have food and water, and there is a possibility they may have pulled up short and camped overnight.
The search continues.
The full story of the adventure from one of the guys...
We slept at Windy harbour so to make an early start. We planned to take 4 ?5 hours to make it to Augusta. Maybe a bit longer if the conditions were good and the waves nice.
Left in almost onshore wind at around 8:00am. Prob 20 knots but having been in Augusta for last few days we believed it would increase.
There is a big rocky headland at windy harbour which you can clearly see on Google Earth. Here we expected to encounter some turbulence until we got a few km's past to the beach on the other side. This was the most tricky part of the trip but being so close to town we decided that the 'likely worst case' was that we let the kites go and swim. Note to the comment on big waves - If this had been so I would suggest we would of called the trip off. It is a part of our safety plan to discuss access to the ENTIRE length of beach. No part of this rocky outcrop would of been too difficult to get out of the water. With the kites its a different story but we are prepared to loose them if need be.
The problems began after the 2nd turn in the headland. The SE wind seemed to be slight more E then S and thus was blowing slightly off shore. We realised this very quickly and agreed with our rehearsed hand signals that we should go to the beach ASAP and access our situation.
For the next 10-15km?s we made about 20 attempts to kite to the beach but each time about 100-200M out the wind got extremely holey and thus we were forced to tack along the beach between 100 and 500m from shore. Let me assure you that neither of us was so comfortable with the situation and Audun commented later that he could see me smiling but also see the nervousness on my face.
We did NOT kite so far out that we could not swim back to shore ? following our agreed rules. We were making good progress west believing that the slow curvature of the coast would improve the wind direction and allow us easier access to the beach.
After about 1 hour we decided enough is enough and the wind was dying off. We decided to get as close to the beach as we could and then swim or self rescue. Fortunately the wind allowed us to get to within about 50M of shore and the waves pushed us the rest of the way. Audun commented he kept his kite in the air longer then me, which I am not so sure about!
On reaching the beach all we could do was wait for better conditions, which we did for 6 hours from 10:00am to about 4:00pm. Twice getting into dry clothes then back into wetsuits and trying to keep kiting but always beaten by the wind direction and speed being to light. It was decided that while trying to kite again if for any reason we were pushed beyond the waves we would self rescue and come back to shore. Under no circumstances would we allow ourselves to be so far out to sea again in the bad gusty slightly offshore wind. During this time I walked to the top of the highest sand dune in the area to try to use the marine radio several times ? We wanted to warn of the increased chance we would be spending the night on the beach. No contact could be made on channel 16 or channel 73 after repeated attempts.
At 4:00 pm realising our chances of making Augusta were diminishing fast we started to walk East as we could see an antenna and I remembered seeing a fisherman?s house some distance back. We planned to stay the night there and hopefully there would be road access which we would walk out on. Also there was a chance someone would be there or the radio would allow us to make contact with someone. We walked to about 5:00pm which was the time we decided that it was no use to kite West since it was too far to make it by night fall.
Right on 5:00pm the wind suddenly blew up stronger and to our delight was slightly more South thus being a tiny bit cross on shore. We quickly decided to kite as far as we could. Thinking that we had 3 hours of light and thus could travel about 50-60 km?s. With the estimated 25km?s we had travelled this would allow us to walk into Augusta around Midnight which at the time seemed like a very good outcome.
Unfortunately about ½ hour later the wind turned really bad again. We were just past the river mouth at Yeagerup sand dunes (maybe Warren beach) so after some discussion we decided to follow a tyre track back to the camping site on the river and bunked down for the night. I estimate that we had walked about 7Km?s on the beach during the day with all the equipment. This was not so much fun.
Rationing our food gave as ½ of a small tin of baked beans warmed on a small fire and a handful of sultanas which I had forgotten that Audun had brought for dinner. We had about 1 1/2 l of water but the river had fresh water which we decide not to drink at this stage.
Realising at dark that the police were being notified we considered operating the EPIRB but I decided that my wife would assure the police that staying overnight was part of our backup plan and we were provisioned for such an event. Activating it at night would risk causing panic by the police as they might think we are in grave danger and send people searching for us at night or send a helicopter or whatever. This would put people at risk and cause a lot of discomfort so we agreed to debate our situation after a cold and uncomfortable night sleep on the ground.
We slept in a Nylon bivsav to which we had to add the warmth of wrapping up in our kites later in the night. I commented to Audun how many stars there were in the night sky and that I would bring my wife here for a weekend away. This place was really beautiful and in the right wind direction the river would be amazing to kite in. Also even with the small swell the waves looked great. I take note of the shark comment !
The next day no sign of kiteable wind so the choices were to stay there on the beach and wait or try to follow the track out or operate the EPIRB. The decision to walk was based on our healthy physical condition, adequate supplies, and knowledge from Google that the track would lead us to civilisation and mainly this was the plan we had left for the authorities. We hoped to find help before a rescue was begun.
We walked for around 3 hours travelling mostly North until the very top of Yeagerup dunes where several things happened almost at once. First I tried the marine radio and once again had no response. Then we noticed a plane that was obviously searching for us along the coast. We immediately took the decision to operate the EPIRB agreeing that given someone is looking for us we should make it easy for them to find us. The plane turned around within 60 sec of operating the EPIRB which at the time seemed more like a miracle then a marvel of technology which it genuinely is!
About 3 minutes later a CALM vehicle with 2 guys on the way to do some building work in the national park drove over the sand dune and casually asked if we were the 2 kite surfers everyone is looking for. They were not looking for us as such.
Thus we were found and the police and search plane advised accordingly and the adventure ends. We were about 1km from good fresh water and 3-4 km?s from a camp ground and a good dirt road that leads into Pemberton. Even so it felt good to get a ride in the CALM vehicle and the fruit they gave us which was their morning tea tasted delicious !
To all who wish to criticize please consider that the first thing the police told us was that we had done everything correct and they had no criticisms at all. Upon further discussion we learned that the decision not to operate the EPIRB at night was totally correct but it would have been completely acceptable to activate it at first light !
Upon talking with Audun and others we have decided to take a satellite phone or similar next time so as to not cause the inconvenience and cost to the Australian taxpayer and rescue people. I apologise that anyone on Seabreeze has been distressed or concerned about our well being or the possibility of us bad naming kite surfing.
Audun and I would like to extend our greatest thanks to all people involved in helping to search for us. All involved were totally professional, kind, courteous and friendly .We were not once told we had done the wrong thing or made to feel bad or guilty. The police were fantastic and helped with advice on dealing with the media (GWN WIN ABC and others).
We unreservedly regret that people were inconvenienced and apologise that even with our best attempt at planning we caused a rescue to commence and will make every attempt not to repeat such an effort.
I will enrol in a VHF radio operators course and we will invest (or hire) a satellite phone for any other similar trips but at the moment I am under the thumb and forbidden to do this type of thing again !
Doh !!!!
Left in almost onshore wind at around 8:00am. Prob 20 knots but having been in Augusta for last few days we believed it would increase.
There is a big rocky headland at windy harbour which you can clearly see on Google Earth. Here we expected to encounter some turbulence until we got a few km's past to the beach on the other side. This was the most tricky part of the trip but being so close to town we decided that the 'likely worst case' was that we let the kites go and swim. Note to the comment on big waves - If this had been so I would suggest we would of called the trip off. It is a part of our safety plan to discuss access to the ENTIRE length of beach. No part of this rocky outcrop would of been too difficult to get out of the water. With the kites its a different story but we are prepared to loose them if need be.
The problems began after the 2nd turn in the headland. The SE wind seemed to be slight more E then S and thus was blowing slightly off shore. We realised this very quickly and agreed with our rehearsed hand signals that we should go to the beach ASAP and access our situation.
For the next 10-15km?s we made about 20 attempts to kite to the beach but each time about 100-200M out the wind got extremely holey and thus we were forced to tack along the beach between 100 and 500m from shore. Let me assure you that neither of us was so comfortable with the situation and Audun commented later that he could see me smiling but also see the nervousness on my face.
We did NOT kite so far out that we could not swim back to shore ? following our agreed rules. We were making good progress west believing that the slow curvature of the coast would improve the wind direction and allow us easier access to the beach.
After about 1 hour we decided enough is enough and the wind was dying off. We decided to get as close to the beach as we could and then swim or self rescue. Fortunately the wind allowed us to get to within about 50M of shore and the waves pushed us the rest of the way. Audun commented he kept his kite in the air longer then me, which I am not so sure about!
On reaching the beach all we could do was wait for better conditions, which we did for 6 hours from 10:00am to about 4:00pm. Twice getting into dry clothes then back into wetsuits and trying to keep kiting but always beaten by the wind direction and speed being to light. It was decided that while trying to kite again if for any reason we were pushed beyond the waves we would self rescue and come back to shore. Under no circumstances would we allow ourselves to be so far out to sea again in the bad gusty slightly offshore wind. During this time I walked to the top of the highest sand dune in the area to try to use the marine radio several times ? We wanted to warn of the increased chance we would be spending the night on the beach. No contact could be made on channel 16 or channel 73 after repeated attempts.
At 4:00 pm realising our chances of making Augusta were diminishing fast we started to walk East as we could see an antenna and I remembered seeing a fisherman?s house some distance back. We planned to stay the night there and hopefully there would be road access which we would walk out on. Also there was a chance someone would be there or the radio would allow us to make contact with someone. We walked to about 5:00pm which was the time we decided that it was no use to kite West since it was too far to make it by night fall.
Right on 5:00pm the wind suddenly blew up stronger and to our delight was slightly more South thus being a tiny bit cross on shore. We quickly decided to kite as far as we could. Thinking that we had 3 hours of light and thus could travel about 50-60 km?s. With the estimated 25km?s we had travelled this would allow us to walk into Augusta around Midnight which at the time seemed like a very good outcome.
Unfortunately about ½ hour later the wind turned really bad again. We were just past the river mouth at Yeagerup sand dunes (maybe Warren beach) so after some discussion we decided to follow a tyre track back to the camping site on the river and bunked down for the night. I estimate that we had walked about 7Km?s on the beach during the day with all the equipment. This was not so much fun.
Rationing our food gave as ½ of a small tin of baked beans warmed on a small fire and a handful of sultanas which I had forgotten that Audun had brought for dinner. We had about 1 1/2 l of water but the river had fresh water which we decide not to drink at this stage.
Realising at dark that the police were being notified we considered operating the EPIRB but I decided that my wife would assure the police that staying overnight was part of our backup plan and we were provisioned for such an event. Activating it at night would risk causing panic by the police as they might think we are in grave danger and send people searching for us at night or send a helicopter or whatever. This would put people at risk and cause a lot of discomfort so we agreed to debate our situation after a cold and uncomfortable night sleep on the ground.
We slept in a Nylon bivsav to which we had to add the warmth of wrapping up in our kites later in the night. I commented to Audun how many stars there were in the night sky and that I would bring my wife here for a weekend away. This place was really beautiful and in the right wind direction the river would be amazing to kite in. Also even with the small swell the waves looked great. I take note of the shark comment !
The next day no sign of kiteable wind so the choices were to stay there on the beach and wait or try to follow the track out or operate the EPIRB. The decision to walk was based on our healthy physical condition, adequate supplies, and knowledge from Google that the track would lead us to civilisation and mainly this was the plan we had left for the authorities. We hoped to find help before a rescue was begun.
We walked for around 3 hours travelling mostly North until the very top of Yeagerup dunes where several things happened almost at once. First I tried the marine radio and once again had no response. Then we noticed a plane that was obviously searching for us along the coast. We immediately took the decision to operate the EPIRB agreeing that given someone is looking for us we should make it easy for them to find us. The plane turned around within 60 sec of operating the EPIRB which at the time seemed more like a miracle then a marvel of technology which it genuinely is!
About 3 minutes later a CALM vehicle with 2 guys on the way to do some building work in the national park drove over the sand dune and casually asked if we were the 2 kite surfers everyone is looking for. They were not looking for us as such.
Thus we were found and the police and search plane advised accordingly and the adventure ends. We were about 1km from good fresh water and 3-4 km?s from a camp ground and a good dirt road that leads into Pemberton. Even so it felt good to get a ride in the CALM vehicle and the fruit they gave us which was their morning tea tasted delicious !
To all who wish to criticize please consider that the first thing the police told us was that we had done everything correct and they had no criticisms at all. Upon further discussion we learned that the decision not to operate the EPIRB at night was totally correct but it would have been completely acceptable to activate it at first light !
Upon talking with Audun and others we have decided to take a satellite phone or similar next time so as to not cause the inconvenience and cost to the Australian taxpayer and rescue people. I apologise that anyone on Seabreeze has been distressed or concerned about our well being or the possibility of us bad naming kite surfing.
Audun and I would like to extend our greatest thanks to all people involved in helping to search for us. All involved were totally professional, kind, courteous and friendly .We were not once told we had done the wrong thing or made to feel bad or guilty. The police were fantastic and helped with advice on dealing with the media (GWN WIN ABC and others).
We unreservedly regret that people were inconvenienced and apologise that even with our best attempt at planning we caused a rescue to commence and will make every attempt not to repeat such an effort.
I will enrol in a VHF radio operators course and we will invest (or hire) a satellite phone for any other similar trips but at the moment I am under the thumb and forbidden to do this type of thing again !
Doh !!!!
4810, QLD
