KELSO – South Coast KZN:Kevin Fourie, NSRI Rocky Bay station commander, said:At 09h30, Sunday, 12th May, NSRI Rocky Bay duty crew were activated following reports from a paddle-skier who arrived at our sea rescue station, where we were conducting routine training, reporting his friend on a fishing kayak in distress off-shore of Kelso.We launched our sea rescue craft Freemasons Way and following a search we located the the local man, aged in his late 20’s, approximately 2 nautical miles off-shore of Umdoni Rocks and his fishing kayak was semi-submerged.We rescued him onto our sea rescue craft and recovered his fishing kayak.He was treated for exhaustion and shock and brought safely ashore and no further assistance was required.He reported that he launched at 06h00 to go fishing, he hooked a fish which dragged him further out to sea. The fishing hatch on his fishing kayak blew away and the fishing hatch started to take water hampering his attempts to paddle to shore against strong North Easterly winds and he called a friend to raise the alarm.He has been advised to go fishing with a partner and to download and use the NSRI free cellphone App
NSRI RSA SafeTrx.NSRI encourage anyone launching any kind of craft onto the ocean to have a safety conscious mind set and be prepared for an emergency:Check out the weather forecast and the expected sea conditions ahead of time and be prepared.Download and always use the free smartphone app
NSRI RSA SafeTrx. Carry safety equipment - a plastic referee whistle, cellphone fully charged in a water tight sleeve with the sea rescue emergency phone numbers programmed into your phone, Marine VHF handheld radio in a water tight sleeve, red distress flares and know how to use them, a waterproof torch with fresh batteries, and wear your life-jacket while your craft is underway (children should wear properly fitting childrens life-jackets). Also let a responsible person know your launch time, your intended route, and stick to your plans, your estimated return time and check-in with the responsible person on your safe return.Have an action plan in place if you fail to return as scheduled - the responsible person should not hesitate to contact sea rescue.
TO REPORT A SEA RESCUE EMERGENCY DIAL 112 FROM A CELLPHONE
