Coast Guard Comes to Aid of Kayaker

Rough seas tossed a 47-year-old kayaker into the Pacific Ocean east of Anacapa Island Sunday about 10 a.m., but a Coast Guard air crew from Los Angeles carried her to safety about two hours later, authorities said.

Patty Widell of Bellflower was about a quarter-mile off the eastern tip of the island when 6-foot swells capsized her kayak, said Lt. John Cromwell, spokesman for Coast Guard Air Station Los Angeles.

A friend in a nearby kayak went for help, but because of choppy waves and winds up to 25 knots he did not make shore until about 90 minutes later.

He contacted Channel Islands National Park rangers, who turned the call over to the Coast Guard.

“We were out there on another case when we heard the call and were only five miles from the island,” said Coast Guard Lt. Cmdr. Mark Vazquez, pilot of the HH-65A helicopter Dauphin.

“We went to the east end of the island, but on the first pass we didn’t see her,” Vazquez said. Widell finally appeared about one nautical mile east of the island between two white-capped swells, clinging to her sit-on-top-style kayak.

“She looked rather calm for the situation,” Vazquez said. “We pulled into a hover, dropped our rescue swimmer out and he swam over to get her.”

“The first thing she did was pop out a camera and start taking pictures of us,” Vazquez said. Widell did not require any medical treatment, and she and her kayak were taken to a beach on the east side of the island just before noon.

While they would not have recommended that novices kayak in the conditions present at the island Sunday, authorities said Widell was well-equipped for her day in the water.

“The beauty of this one is that she not only had a wetsuit on, but also something near and dear to all of us Coasties, a life vest,” Cromwell said.