by Garth Meyer
A man and a woman in their 20s, who paddled out of King Harbor Oct. 28 in a rented tandem-kayak, were rescued outside the breakwall, in gale force winds by a Redondo Beach Fire Department swimmer and another from Baywatch.
The victims rented the kayak from Dive N’ Surf, and were warned of the small-craft advisory in effect, said RBFD Chief Patrick Butler.
The paddlers went outside of the breakwall into the open ocean.
“Waves breaking over their head pushed them to the rocks of the breakwall,” Butler said.
While still in the kayak, a nearby boater saw them and called 911 to report that the two paddlers seemed to be in distress.
The RBFD rescue boat arrived to find the man and woman out of the kayak in the water against the rocks. Rescue swimmers worked to pull them to safety. The victims had minor lacerations on their feet and hands, Butler said, but declined to be taken to the hospital.
“No sign of hypothermia because we saved them in time,” he said.
Dive N’Surf?
“From what I understand, they strongly recommended that they don’t go out. Dive N’ Surf did tell them it was unsafe,” Butler said.
“Pretty silly,” said Chris Kelly, Dive N’ Surf manager. “We told them; it was not the best time to go out, they took it upon themselves to (not follow what we said).”
Dive N’ Surf dropped off the tandem kayak at the King Harbor hand launch.
“We told them, stay inside the red buoys. We always tell (renters) not to leave the harbor,” Kelly said. “We lost a couple of paddles but we were just stoked they were alright.”
Chief Butler said a 68-foot boat pulled into the harbor the day before for protection from conditions.
Butler, previously the interim chief of the Redondo Beach Fire Department, was named chief in August by City Manager Mike Witzansky. ER
