Kite boarder rescued by a surfer

On Wednesday, 10th January, at 18h50 NSRI Kommetjie volunteer sea rescue duty crew were activated following reports of a kite boarder in difficulty while swimming after his kite at Crayfish Factory, between Kommetjie and Scarborough.The eye-witness reported that the kite-boarder had lost his kite at sea and had swum his board to shore and, leaving his board on the beach, he then went back into the water to swim after his kite but appeared to get caught in a strong rip-current and the eye-witness felt he would rather call sea rescue than wait until it was too late even though at that stage the swimmer seemed to be swimming strongly.Bradley Ross, NSRI Kommetjie deputy station commander said: 'Our NSRI Kommetjie volunteer sea rescue duty crew responded to our base to prepare to launch our sea rescue craft while 'spotters' and NSRI rescue swimmers responded directly to the scene and on arriving on-scene we found that a surfer (unidentified) who had been surfing nearby at the time had gone to the swimmers rescue and was busy assisting the swimmer to get to shore.''Once safely ashore the swimmer, a man from Estonia, required no further assistance despite being quite exhausted from his ordeal and he gathered up his board and left the scene but his kite has been lost to the sea,' said Bradley.It then came to light that a stand-up paddle boarder had also launched to go to the assistance of the swimmer and a brief search then commenced to try to find the stand-up paddle boarder but he was found later to be safely ashore and also required no assistance.The surfer is commended for his efforts of rescuing the swimmer. Stock image