Another kayak incident: This one ends happily

Written by Jill K. Dion
Tuesday, 03 November 2009 10:03

Milford rescuers credit a Milford kayaker with turning what could have been another Long Island Sound tragedy into a positive event Monday.

Rescuers successfully pulled a Milford man from Long Island Sound after a kayaking event went awry.

Fire Department Spokesman Chris Zak said an experienced Milford kayaker left in his kayak from Gulf Beach Monday and apparently ran into some trouble around 11:40 a.m. when he rounded Point Lookout. Once beyond Point Lookout, conditions change because a person is suddenly away from natural land barriers that block the wind.

Once past Point Lookout, Zak said he believes the kayak skirt loosened from the kayak, and water started entering the vessel.

“I’m not sure if he tried to roll it to get the water out,” Zak said. Whatever transpired, the kayaker ended up outside the kayak in the water and was unable to get back in.

“Someone from the area who was building a house noticed and called police,” Zak said.

Marine 1 and Marine 2, rescue boats, responded and got the Milford man and his kayak aboard. Paramedics checked him and he was fine, Zak said, so they returned the man and his kayak to his car at Gulf Beach.

With several incidents this year in Long Island, including a sailor who fell from his boat and drowned and a kayaker believed drowned after a midnight kayaking excursion near Charles Island, Zak said this is an example of a boater following protocol.

“He did everything right,” Zak said. “He had a wetsuit on. He stayed with his boat. He had a PFD on, and when the boats came toward him, he pointed it in the air so they could see him. Basically, he made our job easy.”