Canoe Swamping Experience

The canoe I took out during the ashes ceremony on Wednesday swamped in the surf zone.  I wanted to describe this experience and make it available for general discussion and comment.  Prior to Wednesday I had never had a huli or a swamping as a captain of Maui Canoe Club (I have had them in the past with a previous club).  My record is no longer unblemished and I would like everyone to learn from this experience.  I attempted to be as objective as possible.  I have documented my opinion of what went wrong and what went right here.  You may agree or disagree.  All comments and feedback are encouraged and appreciated.  Let’s all learn from each other. 

During the Canoe Blessing and Memorial Service this past Wednesday we experienced our first small swell of the season.  All seven canoes were lined up on the south beach prepared to launch and head to Wilson for the ashes ceremony.  As captain of Naia Kolohe with my crew of Meryl and Bruce Cohen, Jan Gayle, Al Bayless and Paul Bonanno my plan was to head south towards the fishpond wall and then out to sea trying to go around the impact zone.  After I launched heading south I found the rollers breaking against the right side of the canoe so I changed my plan to head straight out.  Let me be clear.  That was where I made my mistake.  I should have stuck to my original plan. The rest of what happened was a direct result of this mistake.

As we headed out watching the waves coming at us I kept the ama at roughly a 45 degree angle facing the wave.  All paddlers were paddling on the left.  We were hit by wave after wave.  Meryl in seat one had to quit paddling and duck as each wave hit.  As we went over each wave it lifted the ama and Bruce in seat four had the presence of mind to immediately lean out on the iako keeping us from a huli.  David Williams had drilled this point in to each of the students during the recent captain’s training course—do what you can to keep the ama from coming up.  Each wave filled the canoe with more and more water until we were submerged enough that the next wave knocked most of us out of the canoe, including me.  We did not huli that morning.

Once we were all in the water near the now-submerged canoe I communicated with each crew member asking if he or she was OK.  We gathered all the paddles and other items, i.e., water bottles, caps, cameras, seat cushions, etc.  I then had a decision to make.  Should we turn the boat upright or leave it submerged and bring it to shore.  We were still in the surf zone and the waves continued to roll in over us.  It was low tide and shallow enough for Paul and I to touch the bottom.  I decided that turning the boat over with the waves continuing to roll in was not the right option due to where we were still inside the surf zone, the waves would just continue to keep us submerged.  With Bruce on the ama and Al sitting in the canoe paddling we slowly and deliberately walked the boat into shore where we emptied it and pushed it up on to the beach.  People on shore pointed us left and right to help us avoid walking the canoe into the large submerged rocks.  The crew returned safely with no injuries and no damage occurred to the canoe.

Lessons learned in no particular order:

1.       From the south beach with swells 1-2 ft or more head south towards the fishpond and go around the waves, avoid heading directly into the impact zone.

2.       If the canoe becomes swamped inside the impact zone with waves continuing to roll in, your best course of action may be to bring (paddle or walk) the canoe back to the beach rather than try to empty it.

3.       Wear reef shoes.  Some were barefoot and found it difficult to walk over the rocks on the bottom on the way back to shore.  I had no trouble at all.

4.       When heading in to a wave do whatever you can to keep the ama down at all times.

5.       Those in seats one and two need to duck and cover to avoid being hit by the full impact of the wave.

6.       Keeping the ama at a 45 degree angle was the right approach but we just had too many waves one after another to get all the way through the surf zone safely.

7.       If you decide to paddle or walk a submerged canoe back to shore be sure to place someone on the ama.  The canoe at that point is like a large log and can roll over easily unless someone is hanging on the ama to keep it down.

All comments and feedback are encouraged and appreciated.  Let’s all learn from each other.

Mahalo

Mike