Out for our normal Saturday sail on Moreton Bay
Great day and about 17 degrees and say 18 to 22 knots from the west.
Dragged a two fisherman aboard after their small dinghy capsized about 2 miles out into the Bay.
Both were lightly dressed and dinghy had no shelter so they had been in the wind and wet for a while.
The dinghy capsized as we were nearby but it still took about 15 minutes to get them out of the water and get them both aboard.
Water temp would have been into the twenties.
One was quite cold and we got them warmed up as beat we could.
it took about an 45 minutes to the dock.
We had the Ambulance waiting at the Coast guard dock who immediately took body temps.
One guy was 32.7 which is getting very marginal even after getting him into warm clothes for almost an hour.
It was not a particularly cold or windy day.
So there you go!
They are lucky you saw them! Well done. Experienced eyes!
Yes it's amazing even in good weather how quickly the water and wind zaps the heat out of the body. I've had a couple of experiences of people getting uncontrollable shivers sitting on the rail on warm sunny days in the summer in the Med. Had to get them below and into dry clothes. Even then it takes a long time to get their body temp back up.
Your body is just like a big bucket of 80 to 100L of water ... yes, it takes time to warm up 100L of water.
I was water skiing with the University of Queensland Wakeboard and Water Ski Club in Brisbane River about two years ago when we had to rescue a kayaker. Two city cats had passed him creating a large wash and capsized him. Whilest puttering around to our dock we could hear him screaming for help and clinging onto a pontoon. The fella was completely exhausted after a 20km paddle and it was the dead of winter with no life jacket , just a jumper / wind breaker on. He was unable to pull himself up onto the pontoon that had about 500mm of freeboardand was beginning to get sucked under it due to the strong river currents and exhaustion for hanging so long.
We ended up pulling him up the duckboard and towing his kayak to his private jetty and house on the water a bit further downstream. Could have ended terribly in those cold waters and currents.
Apparently your body will lose heat in water ten times faster than air at the same temperature.
Well done Lydia and flano,
i wonder if shock plays a part in speeding up onset of hypothermia, obviously you can go swimming in colder temperatures for longer without getting hypothermia.
Yes,
Well done,
they were lucky you saw them,
I wonder how they would have fared in the 11 degs water temp here on the east coast of Tas,
Taspol has just confirmed a local recreational fisherman's body has been recovered from those same waters l mentioned earlier.
Three men die after boat capsizes off La Perouse in Sydney's south
www.abc.net.au/news/2020-07-05/three-die-in-boat-accident-in-southern-sydney/12423696#:~:text=Threemenhavediedinaboatingaccident,thewaterbutalldiedatthescene.
So went to the Coast Guard station (Brisbane Coast Guard) to pick up the clothes and wet weather gear we put the guys in when we got them out of the water and which the guys wore to hospital.
All I can say is that I was treated with total distain by a senior officer who clearly left me with the impression that we had no right to pick the people out of the water or provide assistance.
I am a patient man!
The funny thing is we were probably better qualified than their crews as I am not without some marine qualifications.
The other guy on board with me was the head of Accident and Emergency at a very large city hospital.
So it goes!
Select to expand quotelydia said..
So went to the Coast Guard station (Brisbane Coast Guard) to pick up the clothes and wet weather gear we put the guys in when we got them out of the water and which the guys wore to hospital.
All I can say is that I was treated with total distain by a senior officer who clearly left me with the impression that we had no right to pick the people out of the water or provide assistance.
I am a patient man!
The funny thing is we were probably better qualified than their crews as I am not without some marine qualifications.
The other guy on board with me was the head of Accident and Emergency at a very large city hospital.
So it goes!
Dads army. They don't even like using vhf radio and times I have heard them they have no radio ediqutsy .
I volunteered with Marine Rescue in Sydney some years ago. All well intentioned people but only 4 or so of the 70 members had been on a boat. The vast majority did it to volunteer in their community. Sort of a choice between meals on wheels or marine rescue.
Always be doubtful of any well meaning marine advice.
i also had a poor experience in Pittwater with the on water guys. 6 chiefs on the boat arguing about what to do, no Indians to do it.
