A kayaker in his 50s has been rescued by Courtmacsherry RNLI after he was swept from his kayak in rough seas near the Old Head of Kinsale in west Cork.
The man, who is from Charleville in north Cork, had been kayaking on the eastern side of the Old Head of Kinsale but sea conditions turned much rougher after he paddled through an opening in the headland at Hole Open in an attempt to round the lighthouse.
On the western side of the Old Head rough seas were throwing up four metre swells and the man was tossed from his kayak and was unable to get back into the boat but he managed to swim into a rock inlet.
The man was spotted in difficulty in the water by four golfers playing on the Old Head of Kinsale Golf Course and they raised the alarm, contacting the emergency services and the Irish Coast Guard Marine Rescue Co-Ordination Centre on Valentia Island.
Valentia tasked the Courtmacsherry All Weather RNLI Lifeboat, Frederick Storey Cockburn to attend under Coxswain, Mark John Gannon and his crew.
According to Courtmacsherry RNLI spokesman, Vincent O'Donovan, when Coxswain Gannon reached the scene at around 6.15pm he decided to send two members of the crew, Ken Cashman and Donal Young in the lifeboat's small inflatable boat to get into the rocky inlet under the Lighthouse and they rescued the man from the water.
“The man himself was very lucky and extremely grateful to the lifeboat crew for rescuing him - he was very fortunate that the golfers spotted him and to be fair to them, they kept watching him until the lifeboat arrived because it was a rough seas with four metres swells and a westerly wind.”
The man’s kayak and all his belongings including mobile phone and keys could not be recovered.
The rescued man was brought by the lifeboat to Courtmacsherry Pontoon where he was medically assessed and provided with a change of clothes and hot drinks.
“Our Lifeboat Station officers were able to take him back to meet his friends who had come down from north Cork to meet him. He was mighty glad to meet up with them and extremely grateful and appreciative to everyone involved in the rescue.”
Both the Irish Coast Guard Rescue 117 Helicopter from Waterford and the Irish Coast Guard unit from Old Head/Seven Heads were involved in the operation which was completed before dark, said Mr O'Donovan.
