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Comment by japhyr | Hacker News Reader

The article said the area he normally anchors in was expected to get rough, so he headed for what should have been a more protected area. He was anchored in that area, and his boat didn't right itself in the wind like it always had before.

When things go bad on a boat, they go bad fast. The skiff he planned to hop in and get to shore sank before he could get into it. He did get his survival suit on, which kept him alive long enough to be rescued.

This is a 70 year old man who's spent his life fishing in the area. This was his day where almost everything went wrong. But he'd done enough right on his boat, and in his training, to set himself up for rescue.

I live in Sitka, where the helicopter crew that did this rescue is based. We hear stories about these kinds of rescues all the time. People have deep respect for USCG personnel here.

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As a former Coastie I appreciate you saying this.

Oftentimes, we find government resources wasted for little value. Many a life, however, from pollution, man’s violence, or the intemperance of the sea, has been saved by the Coast Guard.

An overlooked service I feel, nearly two decades since I left.

I've been a volunteer on our local mountain rescue team for almost 20 years, and a couple times a year I get to fly with a USCG helo crew to help people in the mountains. It is such a privilege as a civilian to get to fly with USCG crews; working with them has been one of the highlights of my life.

Thank you for your service, and your colleagues' as well. I agree, most people have no idea how hard USCG personnel train, and what goes on when they head out to conduct rescues.

I’ve gone out surfing in conditions too big or rough for my skill level a few times. This was in daylight, in San Diego-warm water, in maybe 8 or 9-foot waves, within sight of the shore, and seeing the waves about to break on my head still scared the living shit out of me. I can’t imagine going out in conditions like the ones in the article. I have lots of respect for the Coast Guard folks who go out into that stuff to help others.

Thank you for your service.

You would enjoy the children's picture book, "Father, May I Come" by Peter Spier [1], as it tells the story of Dutch costal rescue in the 17th and 20th centuries. The first time I read the story to my son, I nearly cried at the selfless was the Dutch rescuers planned, trained, and thus were ready to rescue endangered seafarers.

[1] https://archive.org/details/fathermayicome00spie

Another thing that went wrong between the boat tilting and the skiff sinking was that he couldn't start the boat's engine.

And in the end he was saved by a device he didn't know had activated and whose batteries he hadn't checked in years.

But yeah, doing enough of the right things at the right time probably saved him.

I thought these were pretty regulated? Hence groups like Marine Safety Supply existing, just to check that the safety gear works, has batteries, isn't degraded from harsh conditions, etc

No one is checking your route batteries, that’s on you. You don’t have to have one. The battery lasts about 10 years though.

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