Blakely Rock off the northeast of Bainbridge Island is the scene of several public agencies working on polishing their on- shore & near-shore rescue techniques and procedures. Among the participating agencies include the Coast Guard, various city fire departments, police, and the Washington State Fish and Wildlife.
The recent coverage from the Bainbridge Island Review mentioned that this is not the first year for these rescue exercises at Blakely Rock (a popular destination for Puget Sound divers & kayakers at low tide). Corey Williams, technical trainer for Northwest Maritime Rescue was quoted…
“We are going to be running a couple different scenarios based on some search and rescues from last year; panicked swimmers and divers, … A lot of agencies have no problem getting the kayaker out of there, but they don’t know what to do with the kayak,” Williams said. “If they leave it there, will they go through the proper procedures of reporting the kayak?”
Given warmer weather approaching and the popularity of personal sized paddle craft, this is time well spent by these agencies. You never know when one those guys trolling for salmon from a paddle board actually catches something and gets yanked off their boards!
Scupper, for Beach Drive Blog
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