Men in dinghy rescued after motor fails
GORDONS Bay National Sea Rescue Institute (NSRI) crew were activated following a call from four local males, aged in their late teens and early twenties, reporting to be adrift at sea 200m offshore of the Steenbras River Mouth.
The four had launched earlier in the day on a 2.5m dinghy with a 30 horsepower outboard motor that they had purchased the day before. The pull chord of the motor snapped when they wanted to return, and they were unable to get it started and found themselves adrift as the sun set.
“We realised that in the fading light, with these young men adrift wearing only shorts and T-shirts and skiing vests as life jackets and no other safety gear, on a tiny dinghy in strong sea currents, that we needed to find them quickly,” said Alan Meiklejohn, NSRI Gordons Bay station commander.
Following a brief search they were found one nautical mile offshore, with the dinghy caught in a strong current that was sweeping them out to sea.
They were treated for mild hypothermia.
Darren Zimmerman, NSRI Gordons Bay’s station commander, added that a Simonstown duty crew were also deployed following eye-witness reports of a body floating in Kalk Bay Harbour.
“On arrival on the scene two NSRI rescue swimmers were deployed into the water and the body of an adult male was recovered from the water,” Zimmerman said. – Staff Reporter