Adventure Race Boats Capsize: How a PLB Helped Save Lives in Rough Seas

What happened?

We were on the ocean paddle leg of an adventure race when conditions quickly turned rough. The swell built rapidly, and a strong headwind made control difficult.

Our team of four and another team were approaching the beach landing at Papatowai at about the same time. As we caught a rogue wave and surfed toward shore, I saw multiple boats capsize, including one from our team and another team nearby.

After we landed, I went back to retrieve both another team’s boat and one of our own. The waves were so large that we couldn’t see where several of the paddlers had ended up.

About ten minutes later, one of our teammates made it to shore. We then spotted another team’s boat far offshore, but couldn’t tell if the two girls who had been paddling it were still with it. The other two paddlers who had lost their boat were nowhere in sight.

After another ten minutes of searching and scanning the water, we decided to activate our Ocean Signal PLB1 and call for help. We knew they were wearing PFDs and helmets, but in those conditions, we were concerned they might not have been able to activate their own PLBs.

One of our team members paddled back out to assist the two girls who were still with their boat. The other two paddlers were eventually found around the headland and taken to hospital with hypothermia. Thankfully, they both recovered and were ultimately okay.

Words of wisdom

Be sure to wear a PFD.

Thank you note to the Ocean Signal team

Thank you to Ocean Signal for the reliability of the PLB.