08/04/2024
BE SAFE, BE SEEN!
Interesting experience last week. A few of us were paddling fairly early in the morning, in an easterly direction. Directly into the sun, basically. We were in our local estuary (Kerikeri Inlet), and because the tide was very low, we were following the main channel.
As always, although relaxed and enjoying the paddle, as detailed in book II of the SUP safety series, I'm always subconsciously monitoring the environment for change. And suddenly I became aware that something wasn't right. I looked round behind us, and sure enough, a boat was coming up the channel at high speed, directly towards us.
He absolutely hadn't seen us; in that low sun, we were completely invisible. (Indeed, it's just as well that we weren't a kayak, or a smaller dinghy - he was for sure, going way too fast for those conditions). I quickly got everyone else's attention and we paddled to the side of the channel, and waved our paddles above our heads to try and make ourselves more visible. The skipper did then pick us up and to his credit, immediately throttled back, and came past us very slowly, apologising profusely.
So, a good reminder that low sunlight can be dangerous. However, my main takeaway was that once again, trusting your senses is so important. The boat's engine was super quiet but their wake was just lapping onto the shallower water each side of the channel, and that was the extra noise I'd picked up on, that hadn't been there before. The key to being safe while out on the water is being aware of changes in your environment, and always on the lookout for anything unexpected.
