A father and his nine-year-old son from Cape Town were rescued by the National Sea Rescue Institute’s (NSRI) Station 34, after becoming trapped on rocks offshore at Ganzekraal, cut off from the mainland by the spring high tide on Saturday, 24 October.

According to NSRI Yzerfontein station commander Junre Marais, the NSRI duty crew was activated at 14:30 after the organisation’s Emergency Operations Centre received a call from family members reporting that the pair were stranded. The 50-year-old father and his son had been fishing from the rocks that were easily accessible during the spring low tide. However, as the tide rose, they were unable to return safely to the mainland.

The NSRI Yzerfontein duty crew responded to its Station 34 rescue base and dispatched a rescue vehicle towing its rescue craft, JetRIB Janine.” On arrival at Ganzekraal, the crew launched the rescue craft and made their way to the rocky outcrop where the father and son were stranded.

A NSRI rescue swimmer was deployed onto the rocks to assist with the rescue. The father was helped aboard the rescue craft, along with their fishing gear, and transported safely to shore, Marais adds.The rescue craft then returned to the rocks, where the nine-year-old boy and the rescue swimmer were brought safely ashore without incident. Both father and son required no further assistance.

The rescue craft was recovered at 16:00, and the operation was officially completed at 17:00.

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