TWO Amity Trader crew members are the toast of the town after rescuing a struggling kayaker from waters off Victoria Point on Saturday.
Captain David Buchanan and deck hand Tim Flomersfeld were making their usual trip from Coochiemudlo Island to the mainland when they noticed a man and women in trouble about 120 metres off the coast.
- Also read: Rescued kayaker's wife tells her story after husband spends hours lost at sea off Wellington Point
- Also read: Video: Police rescue kayaker in trouble three kilometres off shore at Wellington Point
- Also read: Police, Redland Bay Coast Guard rescue six kayakers in Moreton Bay, missing 21-year-old Brisbane man found dead
"We pulled up beside them and asked if they were okay because you could see them struggling," Mr Buchanan said.
"They said 'we're okay'. I pulled into the Victoria Point jetty, unloaded the passengers and said to deckie Tim 'don't load the boat, we'll head back out. I think they're in trouble'."
"We got the gentlemen on board. We had to put a safety line from cleat to cleat on the boat.
"Tim being a big fella dragged the bloke straight out of the water and into the boat."
They took the man to shore and left the woman behind, believing at the time that she would be safe in her kayak.
"The girl started paddling to shore but the wind caught her," Mr Buchanan said.
"I signaled to another man in a tinnie to come across. Tim told him 'that lady's in trouble, can you give us a hand?'.
The man helped the woman back to safety but left the area before the Amity Trader crew could thank him for his assistance.
"He was just a member of the public," Mr Buchanan said. "I think it is a boaties' rule, if you can see someone in trouble you always go and assist."
Mr Buchanan was about eight and a half hours into his Saturday shift when the rescue took place, but he did not mind lending a hand.
"It actually broke my day up, a bit of excitement like that," Mr Buchanan said.
"The only difficulty was the wind caught me and started blowing me towards the sandbank at one point.
"I had to manoeuvre the boat away from the sandbank because the kayaks were blowing up against us by then.
"We grabbed hold of them and dragged them on board."
Mr Buchanan is no stranger to rescues, having being involved in a few while working as a commercial diver in Victoria.
It was the first time he had been called into action during his time with Amity Trader.
"Tim was the one that did all the manual work, I just had to get the boat in the right position so he (the kayaker) was safe to get on board," Mr Buchanan said.
The rescue took place about 12.30pm.
Mr Buchanan said the kayakers were close to the shore but strong winds on Saturday had made for difficult conditions on the water.
The rescue comes just three months after an international student died in Moreton Bay while kayaking with friends.
The man, a Chinese national, had been travelling from Dunwich to Peel Island.
Read more local news here.