PORT ELIZABETH, April 2 (ANA) – A couple have been reunited after they got separated at sea when their boat was swamped and capsized off-shore of Cape Recife lighthouse near Port Elizabeth but managed to swim to shore separately, the National Sea Rescue Institute (NSRI) said on Sunday.
NSRI Port Elizabeth duty crew were on a routine exercise at 1.22pm on Saturday and launched the sea rescue craft Eikos Rescuer IV following a distress call on VHF marine band radio from a private fishing boat reporting to have happened upon the upturned hull of a rubber-duck but no people in sight off-shore of the Cape Recife lighthouse, NSRI Port Elizabeth station commander Ian Gray said.
NSRI activated the Nelson Mandela Bay Water Safety Committee and the NSRI rescue vehicle with rescue swimmers. Others also responding included the Nelson Mandela Bay Beach Manager’s office members, Eastern Cape government health emergency medical services (EMS), Coastal Water Rescue, and SA Police Service.
The Noordhoek Ski-boat Club safety officer also responded to Cape Recife lighthouse while the club alerted craft in the area at the time to be on alert, he said.
On arrival at the scene a woman was found on the beach being assisted by bystanders who had phoned to raise the alarm. She confirmed to have been a survivor of the capsized rubber-duck and said she had swum ashore but her husband was missing. NSRI assisted her and re-warmed her after she was found to be suffering from hypothermia.
During a search along the shoreline a man was found trapped by the high tide on the rocks near Cape Recife lighthouse and two NSRI rescue swimmers waded and swam to the man who confirmed that he was a survivor of the capsized rubber-duck, Gray said.
“He was extremely distressed not knowing where his wife was but we were able to reassure him, much to his relief, that his wife was safe and being attended to by NSRI on the beach.
“The man, who was hypothermic, was swum across to the mainland by our NSRI rescue swimmers, and an NSRI crewman lent him a pair of takkies to aid him walking on the uneven terrain and he was re-warmed before being reunited with his wife much to their emotional relief. Their casualty rubber-duck was recovered by NSRI,” Gray said.
The rescued couple, Deon and Antoinette Human, originally from the East Rand in Johannesburg and now living in Port Elizabeth for the past three years, recounted their ordeal.
They had launched their rubber-duck and went sightseeing at the wreck of the Pattie, dating from the 1970s, off-shore of Cape Recife lighthouse. The wreck’s boiler can still be seen above the waterline at times. They were on top of the wreck at high tide at about 11am when their boat was swamped by a wave and capsized, throwing them off either side of the boat.
They were unable to get back to the boat which was swept away by currents and Deon shouted to his wife to swim for the shoreline before they became separated from each other.
It appeared that they may have been in the surf for well over an hour before reaching the shore, but anxious from not knowing what had become of each other.
Antoinette reached the beach not knowing where her husband was and she alerted bystanders who raised the alarm by cellphone and NSRI, who had already been alerted by the fishing boat, arrived on the scene to assist.
Deon had in the meantime reached rocks which he had climbed onto, desperate for not knowing where his wife was but unable to get to mainland until NSRI found him on the rocks later. NSRI and emergency services treated them for hypothermia and they required no further assistance.
NSRI urged boaters to be aware of the dangers of boating off-shore of Cape Recife lighthouse by Cape Recife Point, where a number of wrecks litter the coastline.
The water depth at high tide could reach as much as 14 metres but dropped to only a few metres at low tide, causing a natural unpredictable breaking swell in that vicinity because of the geography of the coastline there.
– African News Agency (ANA)
(Pic:NSRI)
