RESCUE OPERATIONS / 2 APRIL 2018

Incidents: Lambert's Bay, Plettenberg Bay, Mossel Bay and Richards Bay

LAMBERT'S BAY:Gregory Cloete, NSRI Lambert's Bay deputy station commander, said:At 08h30, Monday, 02 April, NSRI Lambert's Bay duty crew were placed on alert following reports from 2 divers who had come across a capsized boat found unmanned and adrift in kelp off-shore between Lambert's Bay and Muisbosskerm.The SA Police Services were alerted and an NSRI crewman went to the scene to investigate finding a skievie (a small open fishing boat) capsized but with no persons in the vicinity and no markings on the boat.There are no reports of any persons missing or overdue and the capsized boat does not pose any danger to marine traffic.Police will continue to monitor for any new information and the boat, believed to not be a local boat, with no markings and no identifications, will not be salvaged at this time.PLETTENBERG BAY:Robbie Gibson, NSRI Plettenberg Bay deputy station commander, said:At 08h47, Monday, 02 April, NSRI Plettenberg Bay duty crew were activated following reports of a 37 year old Johannesburg man, hiking on the Robberg Nature Reserve trail with his wife, suffering an ankle injury after twisting his ankle while walking at the Southern side of the trail near to The Point.NSRI crew responded by road and hiked to the casualty while the sea rescue craft Leonard Smith and Free Runner were launched and our Sea Rescue vehicle took additional crew to the car park. They hiked to the location with extra medical and extrication gear.The AMS/EMS Skymed rescue helicopter was placed on alert and a WC Government Health EMS ambulance responded to the Robberg car park.NSRI provided medical care on the scene and the patient, in a stable condition and suffering suspected torn ligaments of the ankle, was assisted to reach our sea rescue craft and using a floating stretcher the patient was transferred from the beach to our sea rescue craft and brought to our sea rescue station.The EMS ambulance had been diverted to stand-by at our sea rescue station but with the patient in a stable condition and able to move about while being supported, it was released from the scene. NSRI transported the man to a local hospital, where following further treatment, he was released with arranged doctor follow ups for further treatment.The man's wife was walked out of the Reserve by fellow hikers and she has taken their vehicle to the hospital where she was reunited with her husband.

MOSSEL BAY:Andre Fraser, NSRI Mossel Bay station commander, said:At 12h09, Monday, 02 April, NSRI Mossel Bay duty crew were activated following reports of a boat capsized off The Point.Our sea rescue craft St Blaize Rescuer was launched and our sea rescue vehicle, the SA Police Services, Mossel Bay Fire and Rescue Services, By Grace ambulance services and WC Government Health EMS responded.On arrival on the scene 4 crew members of the capsized boat H2O Sniper were all accounted for and washed up on the shore.The skipper, from Mossel Bay and his 3 crew members, 1 man from George and 2 men from Bellville, were checked out by paramedics and only the skipper suffered a fish hook that penetrated his leg. Paramedics assisted to remove the fish hook from his leg on the scene. The casualty crew, suffering only minor cuts and bruises, required no further medical treatment.Attempts were made by our NSRI rescue swimmers to swim a line out to our sea rescue craft to try to tow the boat away from rocks but all attempts were not successful and the sea rescue craft was not able to reach close enough to the casualty boat to attempt a recovery from the sea side.Then assisted by Meyers Towing Services we were able to pull the boat out over rocks using a winch and their towing facility and once the boat was recovered, no further assistance was required.Pictures by Tersia Marais of the Mossel Bay Advertiser.

RICHARDS BAY:Norman Rautenbach, NSRI Richards Bay duty coxswain, said:At 15h30, Monday, 02 April, NSRI Richards Bay duty crew launched the sea rescue craft Spirit of Round Table II following a request for assistance from the sister of a local sailor reporting him to be overdue on his sailing dinghy in the Port of Richards Bay harbour area.Following a search we found him safely ashore near to the small boat harbour.It appears that he had capsized a few times and became exhausted while righting the sailing craft each time. Bystanders helped him ashore and he was in the process of calling his sister when we found him safe.We took him to the Zululand Yacht Club towing his sailing craft where his sailing craft was then recovered and no further assistance was required.