Cape Town - The National Sea Rescue Institute (NSRI) in Simon’s Town rescued a 21-year-old man who was being blown out to sea on his stand-up paddle board by strong winds at Muizenberg Beach at the weekend.
The NSRI was alerted by multiple calls from witnesses on Sunday.
It appeared that the paddler had been caught in increasing off-shore winds preventing him from returning to shore while paddling in the surf zone.
NSRI Strandfontein and NSRI Simon’s Town duty crews were activated.
“City of Cape Town law enforcement officers and NSRI Strandfontein crew responded to Muizenberg and they got visuals of the male on the stand-up paddling board and at that stage he was about a nautical mile off-shore and in gusting, up to 40 knot winds he was gradually being swept further out to sea. The two NSRI Strandfontein rescue craft located the 21-year-old local man two nautical miles off-shore and he was recovered onto the rescue craft with his stand-up paddler and brought to shore,” said NSRI.
He was treated for hypothermia.
In a separate incident, three people were rescued from their capsized kayak by the NSRI Wilderness duty crew in strong winds on Island Lake recently.
The NSRI Wilderness duty crew were activated after witnesses reported that three people were waving towards the shore for help, alongside their partially submerged kayak.
Three NSRI rescue swimmers launched into the water, rescued them and recovered their kayak.
Wilderness station commander Mike Vonk said: “We appeal to anyone launching any kind of craft onto the water to always assess the weather conditions first. In addition, wear a properly fitted and fastened life jacket while your vessel is under way. Basic safety measures make all the difference.”
Cape Times