The National Sea Rescue Institute (NSRI) on Sunday appealed to boaters to make sure that their boats are mechanically sound prior to launching and for people to put safety first.
“Carry standard safety gear: A properly fitting life-jacket, fastened and worn when on water on your boat. A referee whistle. Red distress flares. VHF radio. waterproof torches. A cellphone in a water tight sleeve fully charged with sea rescue emergency numbers programmed into the phone,” the NSRI said.
“Download the NSRI RSA SafeTrx free phone app onto the phone and use the app to plot your course, launch and return times. Inform a responsible person of your departure time, your intended route and your return time. Stick to your plans and check in with the responsible person on your safe return. Wear a kill-switch.”
The NSRI urged people to also check weather conditions and prepare adequately for the trip with safety in mind.
Earlier on Sunday morning at around 10.33am, the NSRI in Jeffreys Bay were conducting a visibility patrol along the coastline when they noticed distress flares being shot off by two people on a jet-ski about 1.5 nautical miles off-shore of Paradise Beach.
NSRI Jeffreys Bay deputy station commander, Ernie Schmidt, said: “Our sea rescue craft Eddie Beaumont responded to the scene where we found a father and son, from Gauteng, on a jet-ski that suffered motor mechanical failure.”
“They were taken aboard our sea rescue craft and their jet-ski was towed ashore and once safely ashore no further assistance was required,” he said.
– African News Agency (ANA)
