Requested to give a helping hand

[Gary D.]

I think it was last Wednesday when two young Kayakers, in kit built Kayaks ventured out onto Pend Oreille Lake in the Sandpoint Idaho area. Something happened and the two capsized. One was rescued by another passing vessel while the other was lost.

Tuesday morning we are packing up shop and headed up there to assist in locating him. It’s only 40 miles north of us.

This year is starting out to be a FUBAR already for everyone around us.

Gary D.

 

[Ben_ca]

PFDs?

 

[Gary D.]

We did, we're done, he was found and recovered and we're pooped out. One long stormy day.

More later.

Gary D.

 

[Gary D.]

Still pooped but here goes a quickie.

Five of us got to Marine at 0600 to get set up and hooked up. We got on the road by 0700 and were in Sandpoint by 0815 after fueling the truck and some construction traffic.

By 0845 the boat is launched and I had trouble parking the truck and trailer. The lot isn’t designed for something that big but it is a very nice area and launch facility.

Get all the electronics hooked up and tested. After one minor fupa we head out to the suspected search area. Good tight pattern with a good over lap was the norm which was tough due to the winds. They sucked and got worse as the day went on.

The area is large but shallow. We could just barely see the fish from the deck as we only had it about 7’ below the surface. But by 1600 we had a target. A very good target at that. On his back in a very typical position male drowning position.

The Bonner County Marine Sgt. observer we had onboard called out his dive team who responded later. They only showed up with two so one of our team members assisted and I stayed dry but as stand-by.

We tried to fake out the media but it didn’t work and the boat with the body went directly to where they were. We got packed up and loaded then headed home.

By 2130 we had everything secured and had completed our debriefing. Home and crashed just after 2200.

Out cherry has been broken on the system. We are just glad we were able to find him.

Gary D.

 

[Upstate Scuba OWI]

good job

 

[ReefGuy]

Congrats on the recovery, Gary. Always feels nice to bring them home.