A distraught Port Elizabeth family and dozens of emergency workers and community members combed kilometres of sea and beaches into the early hours of Sunday after a fishing accident on Saturday evening left a father and his 10-year-old son missing at sea.
Gert Vermaak, 35, and his son Keith, 10, were still missing by late Sunday after the canoe in which they had gone fishing capsized off Beachview at around 7pm on Saturday.
The two were staying at a nearby Beachview home.
Vermaak’s nephew Rhodlyn Rademeyer, 16, of Algoa Park, survived the ordeal and swam ashore at 8.15pm before running home to raise the alarm.
Port Elizabeth police spokesperson Captain Johan Rheeder confirmed on Sunday night that the father and son had not yet been found.
“The teenager who survived had a terrifying experience. He reported that after the canoe capsized he became separated from the other two.
“He heard them shout for help and then they disappeared when a wave came over.
“After not being able to locate them, he just started swimming for his life and swam for more than an hour before he made it to the beach,” Rheeder said.
He said extensive efforts had been made by all involved in the search and that the chokka boats and the NSRI in particular should be commended. “They formed a line and searched as close to the shore as they could get, throwing flotation devices in the sea so that they could be used if the missing two found them.
“Our police officers involved also incurred injuries from the rocks during the search.”
Rheeder confirmed that no aircraft were available for the search at the time.
Vermaak’s sister, Gerda van Greunen, and another family member, Ryno van der Bank, had returned to the area at 4.30am on Sunday in a desperate bid to continue the search.
This is after a massive search, involving about 50 people including emergency services, the police, police divers, the local police community forum and the National Sea Rescue Institute (NSRI) among others, was halted at about 2am on Sunday.
A number of chokka boats used their powerful lights to assist in the search.
Clearly traumatised by the incident, Van Greunen expressed disappointment at the rescue efforts, saying she had expected a larger effort and the deployment of aircraft.
Speaking outside the closed Beachview Resort, she said the three had launched the canoe from a gully to the left of the tidal pool at the resort.
“It was still light when they went out. The boat washed out down the beach [within the borders of the Beachview Resort]. I keep having visions of them lying in the water,” a tearful Van Greunen said.
She said the surviving teenager, who had been battered and bloodied while making his way to shore, was still in shock over the accident and was battling to deal with it.
“He is getting help and comfort from the family,” she said.
Besides her concerns over the extent of the search efforts, Van Greunen said she was upset about the lack of feedback on the search from the authorities involved.
“I just don’t know what is going on. We are organising our own family search along the beach here.
“We have already been searching all night, from as far up as Kini Bay, down to Maitlands [mouth],” she said.
An emotional Van Greunen was too traumatised to respond to questions about the prospects of survival for the missing two.
Van der Bank said that a bag, shoes and fishing rods had been recovered along with the canoe.
Efforts to contact other family members on Sunday were unsuccessful.
Expressing sympathy and empathy for the family, NSRI station 6 (Port Elizabeth) commander Ian Gray said on Sunday, however, that there were no aircraft available in the city to assist with the search.
“This was one of the first things we checked and there were unfortunately no aircraft available. The concerns and the trauma the family are feeling are very understandable.”
Gray said despite relatively good sea conditions, with good visibility as a result of the full moon, it had still taken an hour-and-a-half to reach the search area by rescue boat.
NSRI national spokesperson Craig Lambinon said the NSRI had been alerted to the capsizing shortly after 9pm.
“The missing man’s wife and her sister went to the scene to start a search and they located the canoe washed ashore and raised the alarm.”
Lambinon said it was believed that the trio had not been wearing life jackets at the time.
“Police have opened an investigation and our thoughts are with the family in this difficult time.
“A police dive unit will continue in an ongoing search and a police K-9 search and rescue unit, Police Sea Borderline and Coastal Water Rescue are on the scene assisting in a continuing search,” he said.
● Meantime, in a separate incident, police on Sunday recorded another drowning incident after a 32-year-old man died in the Swartkops River at Redhouse.