Wesley Barnes, NSRI Melkbosstrand coxswain, said, “At 09h20 on Sunday 18 September during a routine Sunday exercise our NSRI volunteer duty crew, aboard our sea rescue craft, noticed two men on a double surf-ski waving towards us at Gansekraal, about 300 meters off-shore, near to the Gansekraal slip-way.
“A short while earlier we had noticed the two men paddling along, as we headed our sea rescue craft towards Gansekraal to drop off crew members during an exercise, but now they seemed to be frantically waving towards us.
“On approaching the men they told us they had lost their paddles and they required assistance to get to shore.
“We assisted them to get to Gansekraal slip-way, where they had launched earlier in the day, and once safely ashore they required no further assistance.
“The two men, Andrew Swingler, 27, from Newlands, and Russel McGrath, from Meadowridge, may have lost their paddles in a wave and although they would most probably have washed ashore eventually, in the on-shore wind, we happened to be on hand to help at the time!”
