Chumasande Matiwane|Published
Five paddlers were rescued by the NSRI off Three Anchor Bay after getting lost in thick fog on Cape Town’s Atlantic Seaboard.
The paddlers were discovered adrift and disoriented on Tuesday morning after NSRI crews received an emergency call from a person using a sea kayak off Three Anchor Bay.
When NSRI emergency operators investigated the alert, they discovered that five paddlers, two local women aged 60 and 59, and three male tourists from Germany, aged 35, 26 and 21, were aboard one single sea kayak and two double sea kayaks.
When communicating with one of the paddlers via the NSRI SafeTRX app, they confirmed they were adrift and unsure which way to land, but were staying together.
NSRI launches rescue operation
The NSRI training team was preparing to leave the NSRI Table Bay Station 3 rescue base for routine training exercises when the rescue craft Colorpress Rescuer was launched to save the paddlers.
An NSRI Atlantic Seaboard rescue swimmer also made their way to Sea Point Beach Road to assist from the shore.
Atlantic Adventures assists kayakers
Members of Atlantic Adventures had postponed their planned kayaking trips earlier in the day because of dense fog and poor visibility. However, some members remained onshore when they spotted three kayakers out at sea and volunteered to assist.
The team launched its safety support craft, normally used to accompany its tourist kayakers on the water, and made its way out to the three kayakers offshore of Granger Bay.
On reaching them, they confirmed that they were not the same kayakers who had raised the alarm.
The three kayakers were safely brought back to shore at Granger Bay by the Atlantic Adventures safety support craft.
Five paddlers treated for mild hypothermia
The NSRI rescue craft arrived in the area offshore of Saunders Rocks, Bantry Bay. The five kayakers in distress were located 1.3 nautical miles offshore of Clifton.
All five were safely recovered onto the NSRI rescue craft and treated for mild hypothermia.
They were then transported aboard the NSRI rescue craft to Oceana Power Boat Club and required no further medical assistance.