Two men from Kraaifontein who were fishing in Kommetjie were witness to a truly lucky moment – one which could have been fatal for their fisherman colleague, but which turned out alright in the end.
The three men involved, who are in their 30s and 40s, were in their five-metre boat, Stink Vissie, crayfishing 100 meterEs off-shore of Kommetjie when they were swamped by a wave and capsized despite the skipper throttling the motors to try to escape the wave.
All three of the men were thrown into the water, but one fell directly onto the spinning motor propellers.
Incredibly, the anchor rope had tangled into the spinning motor at the same time, stopping the motors from spinning just as the man fell onto the motor propellers – and he was not injured.
NSRI Station Commander Ian Klooper said: “We responded on an NSRI Kommetjie crewman’s private boat Lalandi, and our sea rescue craft IL Batello responded. The three crew members were rescued from the water and brought to shore without incident,” he said.
“Our sea rescue craft Spirit of the Vines was launched and we righted and recovered the casualty boat safely.
“The men were not injured and required no further assistance.”
In other incidents, at 2.20pm on Saturday December 10, while on active duty at the boat slipway at Kommetjie, NSRI station commander Ian Klooper said they were alerted by the Transnet National Ports Authority of a wind surfer in difficulty 500 meters off-shore of Kommetjie.
The NSRI launched their sea rescue craft IL Battello, the wind surfer accepted their offer of help and they brought him safely ashore, recovering the man’s board and sail without incident.
Then at 2.30pm a Mercedes Benz and trailer became swamped in water while recovering a boat from the slipway. “We used our sea rescue tractor to recover the Mercedes Benz, trailer and boat without incident,” Mr Klopper said.
In an unrelated incident in Zeekoevlei, the body of a man was found near to a capsized boat on the eastern side of the vlei.
Vaughn Seconds, NSRI Strandfontein station commander, said that on Sunday December 11, at 10.15am, NSRI Strandfontein duty crew were activated by the Transnet National Ports Authority (TNPA) following reports of the discovery of a body of an adult male.
NSRI Strandfontein duty crew dispatched rescue swimmers and the SA Police Services, police divers, Provincial Health EMS and an EMS rescue dive team and Cape Town Fire and Rescue Services rescue divers responded.
It was confirmed at the scene that paddlers on the vlei had found the body of an adult man floating in a life-jacket in the vlei near to a capsized boat.
The paddlers had brought the body in, to the shoreline.
Police divers assisted by fire and rescue services divers recovered the capsized boat. Circumstances surrounding the incident are at present unknown, and SAPS are investigating. The body of the man was taken into the care of the forensic pathology services and police have opened an inquest docket.