13-08-2020, 05:16 PM
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Galway paddleboarders rescued after 15 hours in the sea
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-53767772
The pair went missing after setting out from a beach at Furbo, County Galway. A major search operation began on Wednesday evening after the alarm was raised at 22:00 local time.
An air and sea search rescue began overnight and continued until their discovery. The Irish coastguard and local volunteers were also involved.
The pair, aged 17 and 23, who had life buoys but no wetsuits, were found alive, despite bad weather overnight, the pair, by a fisherman,about 17 miles (27km) from where they first set out.
Patrick Oliver and his son Morgan, 18, left the local docks and headed west across the bay after he heard they were missing. Mr Oliver was able to predict where they could be, by calculating the wind speed and direction.
Given their ordeal, they are said to be in a remarkably healthy condition but remain in hospital receiving treatment.
Patrick and Morgan deserve medals .....
13-08-2020, 06:37 PM
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Re: Galway paddleboarders rescued after 15 hours in the sea
Originally Posted by Silver Tabby
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Good grief - there are some idiots about! Well done to the rescue teams.
We don't know that they're idiots - there may have been a freak wind, wave or current .....
13-08-2020, 07:27 PM
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Re: Galway paddleboarders rescued after 15 hours in the sea
Holy cow, I am impressed with the Olivers' math!Warning, rant (but also lifesaving advice) ahead!
Paddleboarding is risky . People should have to pass a basic test before going out on boards in open water
. It drives me crazy that the people I see taking up this sport seem to never wear leashes
(I wear one despite thousands of hours on surf and paddle boards) and dress like they are poolside - hats, no neoprene, with dogs, small kids without life vests ... They are accidents waiting to happen 
.If it's less than 70 degrees F, people should be in neoprene if they are in open water.
It doesn't take much to fall off or for the conditions to change. Just 1-2 mph difference can cause enough wave action to make it impossible for some people to stay upright.
Just a slight change in the wind direction, and the paddler becomes a sail that requires tacking (basic sailing knowledge) to return to the origin. One bad fall and even an advanced paddler can lose consciousness when falling into the water. Novices and children should always wear life vests.
I suspect that these women were unable to fight a changing wind or current direction (and lacked basic sailing skills), they were knocked over by the increase in wave action away from shore, they wore no leashes, and obviously had no wetsuits.
Paddling is extremely fun, but I really encourage novices to take lessons before paddling in open water.
I'd much rather be clinging to a board than a lobster pot
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13-08-2020, 07:34 PM
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Re: Galway paddleboarders rescued after 15 hours in the sea
There's more here:https://www.irishmirror.ie/news/iris...alway-22517437
“We headed out of the docks as soon as we got the word they were missing and with the wind that was there last night and everything else we kind of predicted where they might have gone so we said we would head there, between Inis Oirr and the Clare coast. They had travelled about 20 miles across the bay. We reckoned they might have gone 30 miles and that was our plan, to head that far and then maybe double back. We felt that with the wind that was there they might be brought in a straight line and that’s what we tried to follow. They wouldn’t have been far from the shore. It was a northern wind, that was what pulled them out to sea in the first place.
They did everything right. They held on to one another, they didn’t lose touch and it can’t have been easy with the night that was in. They had buoyancy aids but they didn’t have wetsuits. We told the lads in the lifeboat station that we would head in that direction and thankfully it worked out. It doesn’t always work out this well,” said Patrick, who has served on the Galway Bay Lifeboat crew for years.
13-08-2020, 08:05 PM
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Re: Galway paddleboarders rescued after 15 hours in the sea
Originally Posted by Omah
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We don't know that they're idiots - there may have been a freak wind, wave or current .....
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