The “very frightening ordeal” saw the man thrown off his kayak into the rough sea as weather worsened.
A kayaker who capsized off the coast of Cork has been rescued after he was spotted in trouble in rough seas by a group of golfers.
The Courtmacsherry All-Weather Trent Class RNLI Lifeboat was called out on Friday at 5.45pm to go to the immediate aid of a lone kayaker that found himself in a “very frightening ordeal” off the Old Head of Kinsale in west Cork.
The kayaker had left The Speckled Door pier earlier in the afternoon but as he was trying to round the lighthouse, the weather worsened and he was thrown off the kayak and was unable to remount due to high swells.
Golfers on the Old Head Golf Links in Kinsale saw the man in trouble and immediately called the rescue services and the Courtmacsherry RNLI Lifeboat under Coxswain Mark John Gannon and a crew of six were away within minutes.
Reaching the area at 6.15pm, two members of the crew used the lifeboat’s small inflatable boat to traverse into the rocky inlet under the lighthouse and rescued the man from the water.
He was brought back to the main lifeboat where he was assessed and warmed up, before being returned to safe land where he was provided with a change of clothes and hot drinks.
Station officers were able to then take him to his friends who came from north Cork to meet him.
Unfortunately, the kayak could not be recovered and all his belongings including his mobile phone and keys were left to the sea.
Also tasked in the callout was the Coast Guard Rescue 117 Helicopter from Waterford and the Old Head / Seven Heads Coast Guard unit.
“We are all so relieved that the kayaker was rescued so quickly in tough seas off the Old Head this evening and praise the golfers on the Old Head for making that quick 999 call when they realised something was amiss,” the Courtmacsherry RNLI Lifeboat voluntary Lifeboat Operations Manager Brian O’Dwyer said.
He also thanked the voluntary crew at the lifeboat station for preventing “a very serious incident” at sea.
Main image via Courtmacsherry Harbour Lifeboat/Facebook
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