NSRI rescue man in the dunes

Cindy Liebenberg
THE Jeffreys Bay NSRI station 37 had a busy Friday night as the team were called out to look for a missing fisherman.
It turned out the fisherman, Andrew Hayward, 53, from Port Elizabeth was not lost at sea, but in the dunes and bushes adjacent to the Gamtoos River Mouth.
Station Commander Rieghard Janse van Rensburg, said: "At 10.36pm on Friday April 6 the volunteer sea rescue duty crew were activated following reports of an angler missing on the Port Elizabeth side of the Gamtoos River.”
Van Rensburg said the man had been out fishing with a family member.
After the family member had already returned home the missing man failed to return, raising concerns.
He said Hayward, eventually contacted his family by cellphone to say he was lost in the dunes and bushes where he had been fishing and could not find his way out.
Van Rensburg said it took several hours for the team to find Hayward. He was only located at 1am on Saturday morning near to the Gamtoos River Mouth. It then took them another 40 minutes to lead the man through dunes and bush to safety where he was checked by paramedics. It was found he only suffered some exhaustion from his ordeal and he was reunited with his family.
At lunch time on Saturday the crew had another call out.
"Following reports of a small unmanned boat, the Yorky III, drifting unmanned on the Gamtoos River, 30km from Jeffreys Bay [towards Port Elizabeth] our crew of volunteers again made our way there,” said Van Rensburg.
"Our sea rescue crew loaded our Discovery Rescue Runner and sea rescue jet-ski onto trailers and responded to the scene where bystanders had secured the boat which had fresh bait, clothing, food and refreshments onboard.
"After securing the boat efforts were made to identify the owner assisted by the South African Maritime Safety Authority while we launched our rescue craft at the Gamtoos Ferry Hotel and a search commenced on the river and at launching sites along the river for possible missing persons from the boat.”
Van Rensburg said it turned out the boat belonged to a family member of Hayward, the fisherman they had rescued the previous night.
"The relative was located and confirmed he had abandoned his boat on the river the night before to join the search for Hayward after hearing he was missing in the dunes.
"The relative was reunited with his boat,” Van Rensburg said.