SC rescue assist 6/27/19

   I was paddling in, about 1/4 mile from the Harbor lighthouse and at least a couple hundred yards from Harbor Beach today when I saw a guy in a kayak near the kelp beds.  I wasn't close enough to see what he was doing, couldn't tell if he was fishing or just out for a paddle.  I looked away for a second, and when I looked back, he was in the water and his craft was upside down.  I still wasn't sure what he was up to, thought maybe he was just fooling around in the water, but I aimed toward him, and I could see that he was basically just holding on to the side of the craft and not trying anything I could see to tip it back up, etc.   So I came close and asked him if he needed help, and he didn't respond except to look at me. I asked him if he could try getting under water to get some leverage to push it over, and it seemed like he half tried but then just kept holding on.  I had the impression that he was dazed, or perhaps intoxicated, perhaps he was just in shock over the sudden dunking.  He was wearing a life jacket, but it did not fit and the sides came up almost to the top of his head. The wind had come up to maybe 12 k in the last half hour, and there were a few whitecaps and a lot of steep rollers.  I was able to paddle against it, but it was work.  He said he'd reached around to get into his tackle box and a roller hit him and tipped him over.  Something on the craft seemed to be snagged in the kelp, because it wasn't drifting.   
     I got up close and on the other side from him and tried reaching and pulling up on my side and told him to push dorn on his, but the "craft" - I'm not sure it was a kayak, it seemed very wide and square at the ends and had large bulges lengthwise on the bottom, and it didn't move more than a few inches with that manuever.  I think it was either very heavily constructed or partly full of water, or both.    I also noticed that he had a medium-sized cooler attached to the upside-down craft.   
     I have a tow rope, but it seemed that it would be impossible to tow the craft upside down with him hanging on to the end, and though it would have been a shorter trip to get to the beach than the harbor, I thought even towing him alone would be impossible in the conditions, especially since he seemed like a pretty large guy.  I thought it would have been foolish for me to jump in to try to help him (if he was able) to push the craft upright - we probably would both need rescuing, because it didn't seem likely that even both of us could tip the craft over, and I'd have to deal with my kayak too.
   So I called the Harbor office on my radio and asked for help.  They were having some trouble understanding me, and my radio volume was set too low to hear them clearly, what with the wind and wave noise (Got to practice increasing the volume on dry land - I don't like it barking in my ear when I fishing in calm waters.).
     It took about 10 mins before I saw a large jet ski and sled heading toward us.   The skier tried to lift and turn the craft but it was too heavy, so he had the guy get on the sled and he said he'd have a boat come out and retrieve the craft.  At that point, I headed in against some even stiffer wind.
     I don't what would have happened if he hadn't been pretty close to the harbor.  I suppose I'd just call the CG or harbor and make sure he held on to the craft, or onto the back of mine and just wait for help.
     

     

What a dilemma.  Glad you were there.  What a mess...

That guy was very lucky that you showed up.

I see a lot of people paddling out of the harbor who don’t look like they are prepared. One typical case, I saw a guy heading out of the harbor to fish, and he had a pfd but no other safety gear. I mentioned that a radio is a good idea, and he said that if he fell out of his kayak, he’d just yell loud...

Likely you saved his life...

Notice many people don't have any idea what danger they might face.

We need to educate them and keep an eye out for them to provide any assistance.

Guy should get a ticket.

Good job, FT.

Your his hero! And probably thankful you spotted him Before the land lord. 

Cooler heads prevailed.  Nice work FT...  Good knowing there's guys like you OTW!

Very nice job.  You save his life. 

Nice job! He's lucky you came by. The slowed response is probably hypothermia. You saved his life.

Wow... You saved his life...
Nice job

*All of the Above +1

Good Job Fuzzy Tom!


Bushy

Happy Endings!  Glad you are there otherwise we would have been reading that in the news with the unfortunate outcome. Great job on noticing it.

Good job....we all need to stick together!
Glad you were there to lend a hand!!!