Coast Guard assists 1 after kayak overturns near Kitty Hawk, NC

united states coast guard 

News Release  

October 06, 2017
U.S. Coast Guard 5th District Mid-Atlantic
Contact: 5th District Public Affairs
Office: (757) 398-6272
After Hours: (757) 434-7712

Coast Guard assists 1 after kayak overturns near Kitty Hawk, NC

WILMINGTON, N.C. — The Coast Guard assisted one man after his kayak overturned near Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, Friday evening. 

An already-underway Coast Guard 24-foot Special Purpose Craft-Shallow Water boat crew from Station Oregon Inlet in Nags Head, North Carolina, heard a mayday call on VHF-FM channel 16 at about 5:10 p.m.

The SPC-SW crew sighted an overturned kayak near Collington Harbor. A man wearing a life jacket was clinging to the kayak.

The crew pulled the man and his kayak from the water and confirmed that he had made the mayday call from his handheld radio. The man had broken his paddle, so the boat crew brought him back to shore.

“Handheld radios and life jackets are important pieces of equipment for boaters and kayakers alike,” said Coast Guard Petty Officer 1st Class Michelle Downing, operations unit controller for the case. “This kayaker chose to equip himself fully before heading out on the water, and as a result, he was able to get help right when he needed it.”

 

-USCG-