Tow through surf from Donald Cheyette on Vimeo.
This edit is from the Coastal Leadership course at Neah Bay, April 2013, bringing an incapacitated paddler in through surf safely.
NOTE: We have used this rescue under real life incidents but never in surf that is over 1 meter, in fact doing this in even 1 meter would be very dangerous! We teach this set up for advanced leadership courses but we try to get people to realize all of the pitfalls that they could encounter.
We always set up the raft so that the rescuer holding the incapacitated paddler has a quick release line that is completely clean so that the line has the most chance to come free. ANY knot or clip can snag a line and the result would be the two boats stuck together in the surf! The quick release knot works but we have had it become too tight if the line is too small in diameter and thus not be able to pull loose.
The video does not show the most important element of this set-up - the anchor. It is what we call a "human drogue" This person is also attached into the raft with the end of a clean line that has the same quick release knot. So the idea (in a perfect world) is that the rescuer (again the one holding the incapacitated person in the raft) can pull free of the human drogue or the tower in front.
The human drogue paddler must be strong and well skilled in surf and timing. The whole idea is that they are paddling backwards (this allows them to see what is going on - down fall is that they cannot see the waves approaching and they are less strong as a paddler) so they are paddling backwards, looking at the raft and trying to feed the raft in through the surf, allowing the front tower to pull the raft in as straight as possible. The human drogue must not allow the raft to be surfed onto the front tower. It is absolutely best if there is a third paddler who is able to go in and communicate via all the parties.
It is also ideal if someone could greet the raft on the beach and manage any further problems.
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