Five kayakers, including two local women and three German tourists, were rescued after becoming disorientated in dense fog off Cape Town’s Atlantic Seaboard on Tuesday, 13 October.
The National Sea Rescue Institute (NSRI) said the group had launched from the Three Anchor Bay slipway before losing their bearings at sea.
NSRI Table Bay and Bakoven duty crews were activated at 08:50 after receiving an emergency alert through the NSRI SafeTRX app from one of the paddlers.
According to NSRI the group were travelling in one single and two double sea-kayaks.
NSRI spokesperson Craig Lambinon said the paddlers became disorientated in the dense fog and were unable to determine which direction to head towards land, although they managed to remain together.
Only one of the three kayaks was using the SafeTRX app, which indicated that the group was drifting towards Bantry Bay.
The NSRI training department, which was preparing for routine training exercises at its Table Bay rescue base, launched the rescue craft Colorpress Rescuer. Table Bay and Bakoven duty crews remained on standby while an NSRI Atlantic Seaboard rescue swimmer responded to Sea Point Beach Road.
Members of Atlantic Adventures, a tourist kayak company based at Granger Bay, also assisted after spotting three kayakers offshore.
The company had postponed its planned tourist kayaking trips because of the dense fog but remained in the area.
Its safety support craft reached the three kayakers near Granger Bay, where it was established that they were not the group that had raised the alarm. The three paddlers were safely escorted ashore.
Meanwhile, the NSRI rescue craft continued searching the area and located the five missing kayakers 1.3 nautical miles offshore of Clifton, near Saunders Rocks in Bantry Bay.
Lambinon said the group were brought aboard the rescue craft and treated for mild hypothermia. Their kayaks were also recovered.
He urged paddlers launching in groups to ensure that everyone uses the SafeTRX smartphone safety app and warned that sea and weather conditions could cause paddlers to become separated, making it important for each person to have access to the app.
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