Watch Out For Props
Posted on Sep 09, 2011
This is a new format of post for KamanuComposites.com. This essay was written on the eve of the 2011 Na Wahine and the Moloka'i Hoe in order to bring awareness to the dangers of open ocean changes. What is written is entirely the opinion of the author.
The Moloka’i Hoe has repeatedly changed my life. When I was twelve, I watched in awe from the escort boat as my dad and the Kaiola Canoe Club senior masters raced across the Kaiwi. I remember thinking, “This is what I want to do for the rest of my life.” Five years later as a desperate and reckless seventeen year old about to leave Hawai’i for college, I stole my brother’s ID card and switched to a canoe club that didn’t know my age. I did that channel thinking that I may never get the chance to race across again. But I came back. Repeatedly. I would fly home from college every year to race in the Moloka’i Hoe, the Moloka’i Relay, and the Moloka’i Solo. I couldn’t get enough of the Kaiwi channel.
What I learned over 20 crossings is that the race is never the same and it’s nearly impossible to prepare for. Just when you think you have a good grasp of what’s coming, the channel changes. Which is what I’ve learned life is like also. At last year’s Moloka’i Hoe I was poised to jump in for the first change off of La’au Point. Standing on the edge of the boat waiting for the call to jump, I was confident in my knowledge of the channel, confident in my skill as a paddler, and confident in my physical fitness. Before every race start, I would visualize and attempt to embrace the pain that I knew was coming. I’m sure that I had a smile on my face as I jumped in, thinking about the pain that was about to consume me for the next six hours of racing. But, as confident and knowledgeable as I felt, I had no idea what was coming.
To make the story short, I jumped in and was run over. The prop hit me five times. It split my pelvis, severed the gluteal muscle in my right leg, and broke off three spinal processes. Through luck and the fast actions of my escort driver, my team-mates, my coach, the paramedics, the Moloka'i fire department, the Maui Air Ambulance, the surgeons, and the 3rd floor nurses at Maui Memorial Hospital, I lived. And now, with the support of my family, my friends, and the paddling community, I may have a full recovery. The prop was less than an inch from ending my life or paralyzing me on nearly every pass it made through my body. But it didn’t. I can walk, I can paddle, and I’m alive.
But I’m not writing this to tell everyone my story. I’m writing this because it’s important that we don’t forget how dangerous it is out there. Shortly after my accident a swimmer was hit and killed off of the Big Island. A couple of months ago a diver off of Lana’i was hit and killed. Two days ago a swimmer was hit in a race off of Maui and is currently battling for his life. These are not isolated accidents. They won’t stop until we do something about it. The next time it happens in the Moloka’i Hoe somebody will probably die. And it will be our fault for standing by and letting it happen.
There is no substitute for prop guards. I understand that there are price and efficiency concerns, but they are irrelevant. Every boat in every relay race in Hawai’i needs a guard. Period. The organizers won’t do it if they feel there is community resistance. So we need to stand up together to make sure that it happens. But, until that gets enforced, there are some basic things that we can do to avoid accidents.
Every team should have a simple change protocol in place. Maybe that protocol will vary depending on the team and their driver, but it needs to be followed regardless of the experience level. An example could be:
1) Before any paddlers jump the engine needs to be in neutral.
2) A spotter, other than the captain, will verify that the prop is disengaged and will give the call for each paddler to jump.
3) When every paddler has swum well clear of the boat, the spotter will notify the captain that the prop can be engaged.
4) When picking up paddlers the same process will be reversed. The captain will come within swimming distance of the paddlers and then disengage the prop.
5) When the spotter verifies that the prop is disengaged, they will give the call to the paddlers to swim to the idling boat.
It’s up to each of us to enforce that protocol. Until the governing bodies sit down and figure out how they are going to make the race safer (making it an iron race, extending the first change, mandating prop guards, etc), it’s up to each of us to do it for ourselves. More than anything else, the paddlers, the coaches, and the drivers all need to be aware of the acute danger of propellers. Let’s work together as a community to make sure that nobody gets hit again.
- Luke Evslin