Rescue from a kayak at the trestles yesterday

Chris (ling ling, herro?) And myself headed out to the trestles yesterday afternoon to catch the evening bite in search of blacks and lings. What we ended up getting into was way more than we bargained for. This is to be a good story, but could have easily gone the other way.
We made our way to the trestles and fished against the swift current of the receding tide. The bite was slow and the current made it difficult to fish so we focused on covering ground. As we made our way from one piling to the next, we managed to pull a few fish here and there. Chris was one piling ahead of me and I looked up to see if he was doing any good. I shouted to Chris to ask him how he was doing, and he motioned for me to come look at something. I reeled up and started making my way to him when I noticed what he was looking at. There was a kid who had walked out to the end of the railroad bridge with two girls, and in some foolish attempt to impress them he jumped in and swam to the center turnbridge. For those who don't know this area, the turnbridge is in the center of the channel of the bay and the current is strongest there. I couldn't believe what I was watching. The water is still very cold. I didn't see him swim to the turnbridge,  but it must have taken most of his energy to get there because he was cold and exhausted when I saw him scrambling up the bridge. He was trying to get as far upstream as he could to make the swim back to the trestle.
I made my way out of dumbfounded curiosity and concern to his position because I know these waters and the likelihood of him making that swim was pretty low. I asked the two girls, probably 16ish, why was he doing that and I got the dumb answer I expected "I dunno". Knowing this would go bad, Chris and I prepared ourselves for a rescue.  The kid jumped in and the situation clearly and quickly became serious. It took about 5 seconds for me to see the panic in his eyes as he almost froze, unable to really decide what his next move would be as he was only halfway across and passing his target landing. I asked him if he was gonna make it and he replied quickly "I don't know, it's pretty cold!" I swooped in front of him and told him to grab on gently.  He complied and held on tight. Unfortunately,  we were now both in the channel and no matter how hard I peddled I was making no headway. I was using chris' outback and the mirage was only holding us still. I had to keep making sure he didn't get in the way of the mirage drive because he was wrapped around the front of the kayak. With Chris along side me, we were able to safely navigate and maneuver till we got him up on the kayak and were able to make progress against the tide.
At this point we still had a major obstacle to overcome.  How do we get this kid safely back to dry land? I got him in front of the piling he jumped from and instructed him on how this would have to go to avoid flipping me upon his exit, and of the route he needed to take to navigate the 15ft he would have to swim to make it. The water swirls very hard on the bridge pilings and can be very difficult to judge. The water crested the cement slab by about 6 inches and would put him right on top if he stayed the correct course. He launched from the kayak and glided right to the piling. I was able to breathe a sigh of relief at that point. We had just saved that young man's life. Two things would have happened for sure if we weren't there. Those two girls would have watched their stupid friend drown, and he would have been swept out to sea. I asked him, while I he was on the kayak, "what were you thinking?" He replies "I dunno?" I say "you are lucky we are here, you would have been swept out to sea." He replies "I don't think so". The nerve of this kid! I hope that was his pride talking and that he learned a lesson, but for today, he's living and breathing and his parents get another day with him.
Take what you will from this, but always keep your eyes open and ALWAYS have a plan. Sometimes self rescue isn't the only danger you face as a kayaker.  Know your limits and the limits of your equipment.  Practice rescue and self rescue. I know I will be adding a few more essentials to my gear just in case this ever happens again.

Wow! Kudos to you and Chris for fast thinking and deliberate courage. I hope that kid and his friends learned something...

I really hope so too. Chris had his gopro going but I'm not sure how much of it got filmed.

I'm importing the files as we speak. I should have a quick edit up later tonight. It was just dumb luck that we happened to show up when we did. I wanted to stop at my house to get my 'lucky hat' but decided against it so we could get to fishing. I think he would have been in panic mode if you weren't right there with him when he jumped back in the water.

Crazy!  Nice work guys!  You saved that kid from ending up as the top story on the evening news.  Or actually, maybe it should be the top story:  "Kayak Fishermen Save Dumb Kid From Drowning!"

 Think there might be a "Darwin award" in that boy's future.

  just sayin' 

Great job, you two. Definitely got paid in Karma Bitcoins there.

Fred "True" Trujillo

Great job, you two. Definitely got paid in Karma Bitcoins

Fred "True" Trujillo

I'm hoping the tournament gods will be smiling on us this year

Good job man. That sounds like it went about as good as anyone could hope for. You are that kids hero even if he didn't admit it.

Good guys abound in NWKA. You guys are head of the class.

Crazy!  Nice work guys!  You saved that kid from ending up as the top story on the evening news.  Or actually, maybe it should be the top story:  "Kayak Fishermen Save Dumb Kid From Drowning!"

Excellent point, please do consider contacting the media, it's a great story!

Chris is reaching out on Facebook here to try and get in contact with the kid.

I'm editing the video now. I'm considering a director's cut of the whole unedited situation played in double time with "Yakety Sax" playing through out.

I'm editing the video now. I'm considering a director's cut of the whole unedited sitation played in double time with "Yakety Sax" playing through out.

+1

Damn fine job!!!