Last weekend I was reminded of the some golden rules for windsurfing over long distances:

* Avoid sailing if you're not confident with the weather conditions, even if you're surrounded by other participants and water safety crew.

* Don't rely on an organised event to keep you 100% safe.

* Don't always trust other people's safety equipment and processes, you don't know that these systems are adequate.

I decided to enter Sail and Kite Across The Bay after seeing a good wind forecast on the Monday preceding the event. The wind forecast weakened by the Friday to very marginal and decaying conditions. I would never consider windsurfing in these poor conditions normally especially for a long distance sail.

A friend and I asked to borrow a big sail (for sailing in light winds) from each of the local windsurfing stores and finally struck some luck from Wassup Oz (RRD dealer) in Chelsea. He kindly lent a large 7.8m cam sail (normally used for performance flat water speed sailing).

12pm

Safety briefing that included no reference to windsurfers. GPS trackers issued and told that we would be rescued if we hit the red SOS button.

1:30pm

At the Seaford start line there was about 60 kite boarders and a couple of windsurfers waiting on the beach for some wind to arrive. A puff of wind arrived and people started sailing towards Port Melbourne with no official start communication. I was flying along overpowered and overtaking some kiters, trying to manoeuvre the board over waves with a powerful sail in my hands. I thought that I had a chance of making it to Port Melbourne if this wind held strong and if I could hold on for more than an hour. I had a sense of security that we were all in good hands with jet skis, rescue boats and a personal GPS tracker.

2:00pm

The wind slowly weakened and this meant standing on a balance board that while holding on to about 10kg's of rig. I held on for about 30mins in the hope that more wind would arrive, which would allow a faster and easier ride to the finish line.

2:30pm

Of course.the wind dropped out, so I sat on my board and waited for a while. A few brief little puffs of wind came by and I tried to water-start (lifting the sail above my head, using the wind power to lift me onto the board). After several attempts of water-starts I was exhausted and decided that the only way to land was with assistance.

3:00pm

I pressed the SOS button several times on the event GPS device to request for help, hoping that the device was working. There was no light or beep to A) Confirm power or B) Confirm the SOS was sent or received.

I later discovered that my SOS signal was the first received for the event followed by more kite boarders. Jet skis were sent to rescue me and other kiters near Black Rock and they did pick-up the kiters but forgot about me and continued with their activity. The event staff had no confirmation process to confirm rescues or whether or no people were on land or water over the 40km stretch of land where people were landing.

4:30pm

Started to get concerned as there was no sign of any rescue craft. Luckily..I had a brand new personal EPERB!! (GPS communication/tracking device).

? 1st message to my wife: 'I'm ok but I'll be home late'

? 2nd message to my wife: 'I need help but not SOS' + my GPS coordinates.

At this stage, I didn't know whether to expect helicopters, ships, boats or jet skis to come..no sign of rescue. Nothing more than a couple of interested birds searching for dinner. I sat on my board feeling a bit dehydrated and progressively getting colder.

My wife Kate was receiving the messages from the new EPERB with GPS locations every 5-15 minutes and had no idea how to help. She attempted to contact the event organisers but there was no contact information available. After calling me and confirming I was stuck and needed help, and calling anyone she knew was in the event, she decided that there was no rescue underway and the only option left was to call 000. The call was eventually referred to the water police who called my wife and them myself.

The water police, aware that there was an event in progress, called the lifesaving club that was supporting the event. They had packed up for the day and were blissfully unaware that they had left someone on the water pressing an SOS button. They were instructed to put their jet skis back in the water. They were searching for me based on a rough description that I was 500m offshore from Black Rock near the yacht/life saving club with blue doors. It was a real surprise that they couldn't use GPS tracking, given that I had two GPS devices on me and it is common technology. After much searching with four Jet Ski's I was eventually picked me up with my windsurfing gear.



6:30pm

Made it to land after 4 hours of sitting out on the water.

Despite this sail being part of an organised event, it turns out I was completely unsupported and totally on my own. If I hadn't taken my brand new EPERB out with me, I wouldn't have been noticed missing until dark when I hadn't returned home. Given that it was an event with a BBQ at the finish line, my wife wouldn't have been alarmed at my absence for some time. If my rescue had have been left to the event organisers, I would for sure have been stuck on the water until at least after dark and possible longer.

(I also had my phone with me, which I have never taken on the water before. I could receive phone calls but couldn't make calls without taking it out of its waterproof casing which would have resulted in it getting wet there soon after, leaving me with no inward or outward means of communication).