On Monday the 3
rd of February at 18h26, NSRI Melkbosstrand and NSRI Table Bay launched 3 sea rescue craft as well as mobile units to search along the shoreline between Milnerton Lagoon Beach and Tableview Beach where an ex lifeguard on shore reported seeing what she believed to be a kite-surfer in trouble and adrift at sea in the failing light conditions.The credible witness gave a good description and position of the kite-surfer who was clearly in some sort of difficulty but by the time sea rescue arrived on the scene, sight of the kite-surfer had been lost and a search that continued for over three hours, revealed no sign of him/her.Later an eye-witness came forward to reveal that a kite-surfer had exited the water in the vicinity of KFC at Table View Beach and NSRI suspects that this may have been the kite-surfer that had earlier been in trouble.NSRI continued to monitor the situation throughout the night and by today, Tuesday, no report of any kite-surfer missing or overdue has been reported. This has led NSRI to strongly suspect that the kite-surfer seen exiting the water in front of KFC had been the kite-surfer in question.The kite-surfer would have known that he had been in some kind of difficulties (based on the report from the eye-witness account) and he should have called Sea Rescue Authorities on 021 449 3500 to confirm that he had been in trouble in the water but had managed to get to shore safely. NSRI spend a huge amount of time and resources searching for people in distress only to find out later that they are in fact safely ashore. A quick call to the authorities would help minimise the time spent searching.NSRI appreciates the cooperation we receive from concerned public members and the ongoing cooperation we get from responsible kite-surfers.
Rescue crew searching the shoreline. Pic: Robyn Silverstone
