At 13h02 on Monday the 3rd of August, NSRI Strandfontein duty crew were activated by the Transnet National Ports Authority (TNPA) reporting a lone paddler being swept out to sea on a paddle-ski at Kapteinseklip, Mnandi on the False Bay Coast, Cape Town.It appears that the 60 year old man, from Plumstead, had launched this morning at Mnandi Beach, to fish from his paddle-ski, a normal weekday leisure activity for him, but strong off-shore winds began to pick up suddenly at around 10a.m. while he was only a few hundred meters off-shore. He tried to paddle back to shore but increasing wind speeds prevented him from getting to shore.He was able to reach rocks at Kapteinseklip, off Mnandi Beach, and sheltered there when bystanders seeing him in peril raised the alarm.NSRI Strandfontein volunteers responded to the sea rescue base at Strandfontein to prepare to launch their rescue craft while an NSRI sea rescue vehicle and CMR (Cape Medical Response) responded directly to the scene by road.The EMS/AMS Skymed rescue helicopter was placed on alert.While responding to the scene we alerted the local Law Enforcement Marine officers and they launched their rescue rigid inflatable rubber-duck at Mnandi and rescued the man from the rocks and brought him safely to shore without incident.Law Enforcement Marine officers also recovered the mans paddle-ski.The man was not injured but was extremely grateful for the quick response. When he launched to go fishing in the morning, conditions were windless but wind speeds had steadily increased to around 15 knots during the morning and in an hour at midday strengthened from 15 knots to around 26 knots (48 km/h).NSRI urge sea users to check the weather forecast before launching craft, and always be prepared for the worst.
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