Great work today by Patrol 5 (Andrew Martin is Patrol Captain) About 3.45pm, Sunday 23 November 2014, the patrol saw two double skis (each with 2 paddlers) paddling from the north. At the time, they were about 300 metres from shore and were heading to the bay area at the southern end of the beach. Shortly after that Andrew saw one of the double skis had capsized and both paddlers were in the water attempting to right their craft. The other ski had already started to paddle towards the shore. By the time they had turned back to the overturned friends, the people in the water were near the rocks at the island, trying to pull their craft away. However due to a rogue wave, the ski got thrown onto the rocks and the 2 paddlers were dragged out to sea. This is where the patrol stepped in. As the patrol had already packed up due to the horrible conditions(very windy with an extremely strong north easterly blowing) and were just watching till the end of patrol, Andrew called the rescue. Without hesitation, the junior members of the patrol (Liam Taylor, Emily Taylor, Cody Bland, Kaitlyn Bland & Tim Martin) raced down to the garage, assisted in getting the IRB onto the ATV & grabbed tubes. While Greg Jensen & Scott Rayson grabbed their gear, Cody towed the IRB onto the beach. Greg & Scott jumped in and drove the IRB to the bay area while the young members ran from the club house to the bay where they helped in unloading he IRB. Liam Taylor & Tim Martin waded over to the island where they helped one of the paddlers who had made it to shore retrieve the double ski from the rocks on the island. In the meantime, the remainder of the patrol (Emily, Cody & Kaitlyn) waited to assist the IRB who by this time had negotiated the surf and retrieved both paddlers from the other ski who were by this time well past the second island. The patrol all showed real expertise with the younger members displaying maturity above their years and didn’t panic. I would also like to make particular mention of Scott Rayson who, although not a member of the patrol, jumped straight in and added his valuable expertise and experience to the situation. It was a really big day for both Andrew and Scott. They both set up the beach very early for the Nippers Club Championships and both officiated during a long and trying morning. I know that Andrew and Scott were still tidying up along with the Nippers IRB crew of Shane Golden and Shelly Lantry at 12:30, long after most had left after nippers. Sawtell Surf Life Saving Club can be proud of the work of our patrolling members today.
Posted on: Sun, 23 Nov 2014 09:07:14 +0000
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