British Kayaker Rescued After Getting Swept Out at Britannia Bay

A British man was rescued after getting into difficulty on a Kayak offshore of Britannia Bay.

Devon Wild, NSRI St Helena Bay station commander, said:

At 12h42, Friday, 14 November, NSRI St Helena Bay duty crew were activated following eyewitness reports of a paddler appearing to be in distress offshore of Britannia Bay, West Coast.

Our NSRI duty crew responded to our NSRI St Helena Bay station 44 rescue base where we launched the NSRI rescue craft Spirit of Rotary, in strong winds, while NSRI shore crew responded to the scene.

The eyewitness confirmed that the man was in the water attempting to swim towards shore, but he had returned to his sea-kayak, and he was in the water holding onto the kayak.

On our rescue craft arriving on the scene the man was rescued onto the rescue craft and his sea-kayak was recovered.

The 63 year old British man was brought to St Helena Bay Harbour and after being treated for hypothermia and reunited with family he required no further assistance.

It appears that he had been paddling daily regularly in the area while on a holiday, but he may have been caught by the strong winds when he was paddling a swept out to sea away from the coastline.

NSRI has commended the eyewitness for swiftly raising the alarm after noticing that the paddler was in distress.