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2007 Slush Pile

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splish, splash we were taking a bat

2007 Reader Submission
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1 kayaker found after 18 agonizing hours By Noah Haglund (Contact) The Post and Courier Thursday, May 10, 2007

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US Coast Guard photo

Jeremy Scott, 28, (center) of Atlanta, GA sits in a U. S. Coast Guard helicopter Wednesday May 9, 2007 en route to Charleston after being rescued from the ocean off Fripp Island, SC by rescue swimmer Petty Officer Matthew Laub (left). Scott and his brother-in-law, Stephen Lee, set out in kayaks from Seabrook Island about 3:30 PM Tuesday. The search continues for Lee.

The man sitting in a partially submerged kayak bobbed as winds churned up 10- to 20-foot waves in the open ocean.

Lowered from a U.S. Coast Guard helicopter hovering about six stories above, Petty Officer 2nd Class Matthew Laub, a trained rescue swimmer, streamed toward him.

As he closed the 25-yard gap, Laub could see the man leaning back with water up to his torso. Distressed and exhausted, Jeremy Scott, 28, a vacationer from Atlanta, had survived about 18 stormy hours at sea.

"He was looking all right, a little distressed, a little distraught," Laub said. "He was at wit's end, thanking God that we had found him."

The helicopter crew hoisted the kayaker to safety in a rescue basket, Laub said. They placed a blanket around him. Scott shivered with cold but downed bottles of water and Gatorade.

It was a bittersweet moment for the rescuers. They had been searching for Scott and his brother-in-law, Stephen

Lee, since the night before. Lee, 27, also of Atlanta, remains missing.

The men had been staying on Seabrook Island and decided to head out together in an open-cockpit kayak around 3:30 p.m. Tuesday. Not wearing life vests, they intended to stay in inland waters, said Coast Guard Lt. Ryan Allen, part of the four-person helicopter crew involved in the rescue.

The current or tide likely carried the pair away from shore, Allen said. In the late afternoon, an unusual spring storm kicked up gale-force winds. At some point during the night, Lee was separated from the kayak, Coast Guard Capt. John Cameron said.

Boats from the Charleston County Sheriff's Office, state Department of Natural Resources and Charleston County Rescue Squad assisted four Coast Guard vessels, a helicopter and a C-130 airplane from Clearwater, Fla.

The Coast Guard flew one mission Tuesday night but had to call off the search because rain at times reduced visibility to zero. The search resumed at sunrise.

The C-130 crew spotted Scott about 5 miles southeast of Fripp Island in Beaufort County, the Coast Guard said. The helicopter, searching nearby, circled around for the rescue. It was just after 10 a.m.

Incredibly, the kayak had drifted about 20 miles southeast from Seabrook Island.

The water had been around 70 degrees at the time of the rescue and may have dipped as low as 65 degrees overnight, Laub said. Though comfortable temperatures for a quick swim, those conditions can cause serious problems over several hours.

The Coast Guard rescue helicopter flew to Johns Island Executive Airport, where emergency medical workers evaluated Scott and took him to Medical University Hospital. The hospital did not release information on his condition.

At the time of rescue, the Coast Guard reported that Scott suffered from shock and borderline hypothermia, but otherwise appeared healthy.

About 20 co-workers in an Atlanta corporate office waited anxiously after learning of Scott's plight Wednesday morning until receiving the news of his safe return later in the day. "The reaction is just shock," said Brad Cohen, a colleague at AmeriPark, Inc., a valet and parking-services company, where Scott is a financial analyst. "It's hard to get anything done."

A former college football player, Scott stayed in shape and that probably helped him survive, Cohen said.

The National Weather Service said a storm warning Tuesday afternoon should have dissuaded anyone from venturing onto the water. The conditions included strong winds, big waves, abnormally high tides and rip currents.

"The conditions were bad," said Paul Yura, a warning coordination meteorologist. "Storm warnings are very rare for us, so it's very disturbing that people would have even tried to go out in conditions like that."

Equipment at Folly Beach recorded steady 25 mph winds Tuesday and gusts over 30 mph, Yura said. When the pair set out in an inlet between Seabrook Island and Botany Bay Island, forecasts called for 30 to 40 mph sustained winds, gusts up to 50 mph and seas of 9 to 12 feet offshore.

One observer said the water appeared deceptively calm at the time.

Travis Lampton, 27, a bartender at Pelican's Nest on Seabrook Island, remembered seeing two people in a kayak or canoe, perhaps a quarter mile from shore, around 4 p.m. He said he didn't think anything of it until seeing the news the next day.

"They didn't look like they were in distress. The water wasn't that rough," Lampton said. "I just thought they were crazy to be out there."

On Wednesday, about 39 rescue workers searched an area of about 750 nautical miles for Lee, said the Coast Guard's Cameron. Details Scott provided about features he could see on the shoreline near where they were separated, along with computer drift models, helped the Coast Guard narrow its search to the area between St. Helena Island and the south end of Edisto Island.

A Coast Guard chaplain was with the family Wednesday in the Charleston area.

Staff Writer Nadine Parks contributed to this report.Reach Noah Haglund at 937-5550 or nhaglund@postandcourier.com

Submitted on 05/10/2007

Submitted by: Joel H Thomas
Reference: chas sc Post & Courier Thurs May 10, 2007

>> Moderator Scores <<

James said:
Definitely Toss: No Self-Selection
A gripping tale of search and rescue! Nevertheless, there's not enough stupidity to incriminate. Forgetting a lifejacket is certainly stupid, but it was not the victim's intention to be carried out into the open ocean, and that alone isn't enough. Had the victim been an arrogant braggadocio intent on showing Mother Nature who's boss, I would consider it, but in the end it's just another day for the Coasties and another tragedy averted! Thanks just the same, Joel, we DO appreciate it!

Jorge said:
Definitely Toss: Other

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2007 Slush Pile

splish, splash we were taking a bat

2007 Reader Submission Pending Acceptance

2007 Reader Submission
Pending Acceptance