Well....that was an interesting day!

3 categories

Point Grey, WA, AU. Reg and I planned to try for hr or distance today.  Arrived about 1:15 to no wind but 20 knots on the other side of estuary.   Rigged 7.8 with the plan of changing down if got too much.  Wind kicked in nicely just as finished rigging and headed out as Reg turned up.  Was nicely powered but wind had too much west in it to do the nice flatish runs into Austin Bay.  Exiting Roberts Bay got too choppy for the small fin and had no interest in going to deeper waters in case of gear/wind failure so turned around back to Roberts bay.   Wind got a bit more west in it so settled to hang out in Roberts bay where it was fairly flat and averaging around 18 or so knots...good enough for now so did some runs here whilst waiting for Reg.  Wind suddenly died to nothing but I saw Reg just starting out..not moving.  I was doing less than 5 knots but I saw no more of Reg so I assumed he had given up in disgust/gone for bigger sail etc.  Wind changed even more westerly and lower still except for one little gust so I chugged back up wind.  I estimated it took me 30 mins but in reality was 41 min to get back to the car park.  I was doing about 2-3 knots and near 1 at the end.

Got back to car park expecting Reg to be there cursing but instead was greeted with the Mary Celest.   No wind, no Reg. Was kinda creepy.   Spent a good 10-15 mins searching the horizon for a sail or anything and trying to work out some logic of the situation.    Walked well out into the water searching where I saw him last and scanning the shoreline but nothing. My long vision is perfect so any sign I would have seen if the sail had been up.  This meant a good hr so far elapsed not seeing any sign of him.   If you launched in no wind with shifting direction would you sail miles from the car?  I thought not, and even if he was stranded in low wind I should still be able to see his sail so assumed the worst.

First I called Anita to try and get contact details of Reg wife but no answer so put the message out on whatsapp but no details of emergency contact there either.  Someone from the group (sorry forget who) called me and suggested I call 000 which I was about to so got my exact GPS coords ready and called.     Got through straight away and patched through to Perth police within a few seconds.  I reported a missing person.   They asked my location but before I could communicate my north coords they had already triangulated my phone to Carrabungup rd near point grey.  Finished giving my exact location coords and they said police and Ambo were mobilising.  Police called me within 10 mins saying heli, ground and water vessels were all mobilised towards me.   Water police called me in about 10mins later to say their boat was 3 miles away (I thought it strange they talked in miles, not knots or km).  Then the ground police called to say they were also on their way.  

Meanwhile I started driving the road and stopping every few hundred meters to check the shore line...all of the time had been searching the horizon for a sail.   The water police called whilst I was out in the water looking and said their vessel was approaching my loction. Whilst on the phone I spied Reg's sail way out near Nrimba Cay and told them I had seen him. Turns out my estimation was spot on as Reg was standing on the cay.  The water police couldn't get much closer due to water depth. I got back to van and then the police in a vehicle arrived and treated the whole thing as a crime scene, videoing me and doing a verbal description back to base of regos and their take of the situation.  I told them I saw him just a few mins ago so he's now not missing but stranded as getting the 3-4+ km back upwind in no wind would be hard (although could walk).

The police told me to stay put and they took off back towards where I said I saw him.  A couple of mins later the police heli arrived and quickly spotted him..well, they spotted both of us and because we both had the same sails had me dance around a bit to work out who was who.   The ground police came back and said he was safe and well but they couldn't access his location.  They asked me if he knew what he was doing and what he would do.  I said if I was in that position I would walk straight back to the car (as shallow), or walk straight towards the road.  Turns out Reg followed a different logic and walked the other way.  The police plan was to drive back and forth on the road till he turned up. Since he was alive and well, no further escalation was warranted.  I was told to stay put in case he walked towards his van.  It was getting dark and I looked at the map and thought that the property 'designer gates' was as close to the water and as close to where I last saw Reg soignored police orders and took off.  Was surprised to see the police waiting a few hundred meters down the road.  I told them they were waiting in the wrong bay and suggested I run out into the bay near this property 'desginer gates'.  They agreed, we called the owners who obliged and opened their fancy gates for us (they are the ones on the 90 deg bend on the entry road).  

The police waited whilst I ran the last few hundred meters to the water.  Then walked out 100m and started waving my hands, shouting etc.  Meanwhile the police informed the property owners there was a missing windsurfer in their area and to call their mobile if any sign.   I saw no sign of Reg after 10 mins so returned and the police and I agreed to sweep the road in opposite directions.   I got back to the launch spot with no sign of him then met the police again and said I would now run up to the point between Roberts bay and Austin Bay whilst they search the road.  At this point I thought Reg would know people were looking for him as the police heli was circling his position for a good 45mins and he might just stay put.  I started to run up the track when the police put their sirens on and gesticulated me to return.  Got back to say he had been found, right back at 'designer gates' where we had just searched just 20mins ago.  Luckily the owners now had the police mobile so they called as soon as Reg turned up... Drove back to find the Bantan at the gates with the owners.   The police then made sure Reg was the guy I reported missing and I drove Reg back to his van.

Other than leaving his kit in the most remote point in Austin bay which will no doubt make an interesting trip tomorrow, it all ended happily.   Big thanks and shout out to those emergency service folks mobilising so quickly.  Makes paying tax seem worthwhile. Also makes the Apple watch seem a worthwhile investment.  It was no more than 25 mins for water, ground and air to be all on location which was pretty remote.