Thursday was to have been a day of fun and exploration for Russell and Travis Judd of Wisconsin, who snorkeled over one of the deepest channels at Anini Beach. The sun was out, a few clouds floated overhead, and the
Thursday was to have been a day of fun and exploration for Russell and Travis
Judd of Wisconsin, who snorkeled over one of the deepest channels at Anini
Beach.
The sun was out, a few clouds floated overhead, and the deep-blue
water was flat and inviting.
But the peaceful moment for the father and
son, came to an end shortly before noon when rip currents snagged them,
dragging them to the channel mouth where waves of up to 15 feet were
surging.
Authorities said the visitors could have drowned if it had not
been for two lifeguards who risked their lives to tow the visitors safely back
to shore aboard a motorized personal watercraft and water sled.
“I can’t
say enough about what the lifeguards do,” said Sam Lee, a firefighter a the
Kaua’i Fire Department’s Hanalei Station.
Responding after a 9-1-1
emergency call was made, lifeguards Carl Ragasa and Chris Simpson motored their
rescue craft five miles from Hanalei Bay to Anini Beach, risking being swamped
by 10- to 15-foot wave sets.
The waves are small compared to normal 25- to
35-foot swells between November and February.
“Anytime the wave gets over
ten feet, the rescue can be dangerous for the rescuers and the rescuees,”
Ragasa said.
As Ragasa and Simpson approached the Anini Beach coastline,
they saw the Judds — one with only fins and the other swam with only a plastic
floating board — struggling in the water about 30 feet from the mouth of the
channel.
Both visitors were “kind of out of breath, but OK. They were
scared,” Ragasa said.
After they were towed to shore shortly after 12:15
p.m., the Judds were treated and released. They were not available for
comment.
Ragasa said the Judds had no reason to believe their lives could
be put in jeopardy when they went snorkeling over the channel, located near of
the end of Anini Beach Road. The channel leads to a protective cove and the
winds were light and variable.
What the Judds didn’t count was the rogue
waves.
“It is hard to tell how the water is,” Ragasa said. “It looks flat,
and then the big set comes in. That is when you have to watch out.”
Staff writer Lester Chang can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 225) and
lchang@pulitzer.net
