NAWILIWILI — Two tourists and a surfer were rescued, thanks to stand-up paddleboarders Sunday afternoon at Kalapaki Beach. SUP enthusiast Tristan Fensterman was enjoying the big surf kicked up by the high tradewinds at Kalapaki when he saw two visitors
NAWILIWILI — Two tourists and a surfer were rescued, thanks to stand-up paddleboarders Sunday afternoon at Kalapaki Beach.
SUP enthusiast Tristan Fensterman was enjoying the big surf kicked up by the high tradewinds at Kalapaki when he saw two visitors on boogie boards unable to make it back to shore and yelling for help, he said Monday.
“They had been caught in a nasty rip tide and were being pulled out past the opening to the bay,” Fensterman said.
“I paddled over and told them to grab on to my leg leash and began to paddle the two young men back to shore.”
The visitors may have been Norwegian, as Fensterman guessed from what English they could speak. They were exhausted and couldn’t make it back on their own.
Fensterman said that he couldn’t pull both of them back, so two more SUP riders came out to assist. He said it was very encouraging to see fellow paddlers rush to the aid of three strangers and keep them from being swept out to sea.
On the way in, he saw a surfer who got caught in the rip as well. After turning the two tourists over to the other SUP riders, Fensterman said he went out to the surfer and paddled him in to shore using his leg leash.
“He was too exhausted to paddle back on his own after fighting the rip tide,” Fensterman said. “I am thankful for a safe end to a great day of paddle surfing.”
The 45-year-old nurse for Hawai‘i Life Flight said he has all-to-often seen the result of what can happen when people underestimate the power of the ocean.
The tourists did not give their names but thanked the SUP riders before leaving the beach area. The surfer was from Georgia, Fensterman said.
No one was injured or in need of medical attention, he said. They just needed some towing and it is so much easier to tow someone with a paddleboard.
“The paddle surfers were not part of a group,” he said.
“They were just the usual crowd at Kalapaki and eager to help.”
The powerful current just before low tide that mid-afternoon is a good reminder for people to realize how powerful the ocean is and how quickly someone can get into trouble, even somewhere as protected as Kalapaki, he added.
