ricki
11-05-2004, 10:07 AM
Reposted from:
http://www.ocregister.com/
"Out at Sea
A stranded Laguna Beach kite surfer found refuge on an oil platform after sailing too far out.
By BRIAN MARTINEZ
The Orange County Register
Tom Kardos didn’t realize how far out to sea he had kite surfed until the sun began to set over Santa Catalina Island.
He turned around and headed straight for shore, but the wind suddenly died.
No wetsuit. No radio. Nine miles from land.
Fearing he’d never make it back by dark, he thought up plan B, the Laguna Beach resident said Saturday, a day after the episode.
He sailed to within 200 feet of Oil Platform Ellen, lowered and wrapped up his 12-square-meter kite, and paddled to one of the rig’s legs.
The Aera Energy oil workers at first thought he might be a terrorist when they spotted Kardos climbing a metal ladder to their lower deck, supervisor Terry Howard said.
When Kardos explained who he was, the employees invited him to dinner, gave him a cup of hot cocoa, and let him shower off.
Then they told him to never come back.
"We highly discourage anyone from coming here because of security and safety reasons," Howard said.
When the Sheriff’s Harbor Patrol arrived to take him home, he had to jump back into the ocean because the waves were too rough for the boat to dock and because Kardos was uncomfortable swinging by rope onto the craft the way platform workers do.
The officers urged Kardos to carry a GPS device and a water-proof radio or cell phone next time, and warned that he would have suffered hypothermia had he not been so close to the rig, Sheriff’s Deputy William Nelson said.
"Its not summer anymore, and once that sun goes down, the water gets cold," Nelson said. "And cargo ships won’t see him."
Ten years ago, Kardos kayaked to Santa Catalina Island. He’s been kite surfing for 1 1/2 years and goes out about once a week.
He launched about 4:30 p.m. Friday from Belmont Shore. The oil platform is about 9 miles from the Huntington Beach coast.
"I wasn’t planning on going out that far," he said. "But the wind was weak near the shore, so I kept on going."
He didn’t wear a wetsuit because his weight keeps him warm in the water, he said.
"I have the body mass index of a seal," he said."
Well maybe, but the brains and survival prospects of ??? Darwin take me home.
http://www.ocregister.com/
"Out at Sea
A stranded Laguna Beach kite surfer found refuge on an oil platform after sailing too far out.
By BRIAN MARTINEZ
The Orange County Register
Tom Kardos didn’t realize how far out to sea he had kite surfed until the sun began to set over Santa Catalina Island.
He turned around and headed straight for shore, but the wind suddenly died.
No wetsuit. No radio. Nine miles from land.
Fearing he’d never make it back by dark, he thought up plan B, the Laguna Beach resident said Saturday, a day after the episode.
He sailed to within 200 feet of Oil Platform Ellen, lowered and wrapped up his 12-square-meter kite, and paddled to one of the rig’s legs.
The Aera Energy oil workers at first thought he might be a terrorist when they spotted Kardos climbing a metal ladder to their lower deck, supervisor Terry Howard said.
When Kardos explained who he was, the employees invited him to dinner, gave him a cup of hot cocoa, and let him shower off.
Then they told him to never come back.
"We highly discourage anyone from coming here because of security and safety reasons," Howard said.
When the Sheriff’s Harbor Patrol arrived to take him home, he had to jump back into the ocean because the waves were too rough for the boat to dock and because Kardos was uncomfortable swinging by rope onto the craft the way platform workers do.
The officers urged Kardos to carry a GPS device and a water-proof radio or cell phone next time, and warned that he would have suffered hypothermia had he not been so close to the rig, Sheriff’s Deputy William Nelson said.
"Its not summer anymore, and once that sun goes down, the water gets cold," Nelson said. "And cargo ships won’t see him."
Ten years ago, Kardos kayaked to Santa Catalina Island. He’s been kite surfing for 1 1/2 years and goes out about once a week.
He launched about 4:30 p.m. Friday from Belmont Shore. The oil platform is about 9 miles from the Huntington Beach coast.
"I wasn’t planning on going out that far," he said. "But the wind was weak near the shore, so I kept on going."
He didn’t wear a wetsuit because his weight keeps him warm in the water, he said.
"I have the body mass index of a seal," he said."
Well maybe, but the brains and survival prospects of ??? Darwin take me home.