John Nicholas‚ the National Sea Rescue Institute’s station commander at Port Edward‚ said that the NSRI duty crew and Police Search and Rescue had responded to reports of a boating accident under the R61 bridge at about 6.30pm on Friday evening.
</p><p ="">“On arrival on the scene we found that two Durban men that were on a 5.5 metre rigid inflatable boat had been thrown out the boat and reportedly not wearing a kill switch. The boat had continued to motor around in circles and out of control unmanned on the river.</p><p ="">“The two men had been rescued onto a ski-boat from The Pont that had launched to assist them and they were not injured.</p><p ="">“The two men confirmed that only their dog Stella remained on the boat and they feared for their dog’s safety. Stella could be seen lying down in the front of the boat‚ in front of the centre consol‚ while the boat continued to motor in circles out of control‚” Nicholas explained.</p><p ="">He added that NSRI rescuers and the manager of The Pont Holiday and Watersport Resort‚ Mike Davison‚ using two of The Pont’s ski-boats‚ had attempted to corral the boat.</p><p ="">“First by trying to get a rescuer onboard the boat to kill the motor but when that failed ropes were trailed in the water fowling the casualty boat’s motor propellers and finally stopping the motor’s rotation and an NSRI rescuer was able to board the boat to kill the motors.</p><p ="">“Stella was rescued and reunited with her owners and the casualty boat was brought ashore‚” Nicholas said‚ adding that police were investigating the incident.</p>
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