Teenagers swept out to sea

At 09h25, Friday, 17th April, NSRI Kommetjie duty crew were activated by the Transnet National Ports Authority (TNPA) reporting two girls on a SUP (Stand Up Paddle board) being swept out to sea at Long Beach, Kommetjie.The father of the one girl raised the alarm and reported that he was preparing to swim out after them. Two 16 year old friends had launched for a short paddle but were then swept further out to sea by the off-shore wind and were already 200 meters off-shore.NSRI Kommetjie duty crew launched the sea rescue craft SPIRIT OF WINELANDS and found that the girls had managed to paddle towards shore and were in the surf line approaching the beach.Our NSRI sea rescue craft beached on Long Beach and our sea rescue crew confirmed that both girls were safe and not injured. No further assistance was required.They are a family of a mother, a father, their daughter and a friend of the daughter, from Hertfordshire, United Kingdom. They arrived in South Africa on Sunday for a week long holiday and are due to return to the UK on the weekend.It appears that while being swept out to sea the girls realised that by standing up on the SUP their bodies were acting as a sail for the wind to sweep them out to sea. They had the presence of mind to both lie down on the board and were then able to paddle towards shore and once in the surf line they used the waves to aid their progress towards the beach and were in the process of beaching at the same time that the sea rescue craft arrived on the scene.TO REPORT A SEA RESCUE EMERGENCY DIAL 112 FROM A CELLPHONESMS 32287 with your name and a message of support for our Sea Rescue crew. SMS charged at R1. File Image