A kayaker has told how he expected to die after spending almost two hours alone in the Atlantic after a voyage went disastrously wrong off Orkney.
Steve Bunning, 44, said that he owed his life to the rescue services who worked with a local fishing boat to pinpoint his position in rough seas to the west of the islands.
“The rescue operation was amazing,” he said. “I’d been in the water quite a long time — and when I first saw the lifeboat and the helicopter I was quite surprised. I didn’t really expect to be found. So I was filled with joy that they were there.”
Mr Bunning had set off in calm seas, but conditions got worse as he rounded Costa Head, off Orkney’s main island. He spotted a rocky platform where he managed to land and stepped ashore, pulling the kayak behind him.
Suddenly a large wave hit the boat, dragging it from his grip and sweeping it away. A second wave then broke over Mr Bunning, who was pulled into the water by the powerful undertow as the waters receded. He tried swimming ashore, but soon realised that he was being swept out to sea.
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An experienced kayaker and sailor, Mr Bunning tried to use both a VHF radio and a mobile phone to raise the alarm. But it took about 45 minutes before he finally made contact with the coastguard in Shetland.
“I had the surreal experience of making my own 999 call while floating out at sea,” he said.
Unknown to Mr Bunning, the Orkney-based fishing boat the Amethyst had picked up a faint mayday message from the stricken kayaker. The vessel joined the search operation, which also involved two lifeboats from Kirkwall and Stromness, and the Shetland-based coastguard rescue helicopter.
Eventually, the Kirkwall lifeboat and the helicopter located Mr Bunning a mile out to sea with the assistance of the fishing boat skipper.
Almost an hour after making his 999 call, he was winched aboard the helicopter and flown to Balfour Hospital in Orkney suffering from hyperthermia. “I completely owe my life to them,” Mr Bunning said. “I was in the water with no real hope of being found and I knew I was going to die without them. “I can’t really express how I feel about them ” Coastguards said that Mr Bunning was carrying all the essential safety equipment he needed. They added that his lifejacket and the vigilance of the fishing boat skipper may well have saved his life.
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“There is so much I will learn from this,” added Mr Bunning who was recovering at his home in Rendall, Orkney, yesterday after overnight observation in hospital.
“I was in the wrong place at the wrong time, having committed myself to a passage that was too hard.”
Alex Dodge, the watch officer from the Shetland Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre, said: “It was very fortunate that the skipper of the Amethyst heard a faint mayday and responded. We were able to direct the skipper to the Costa Head area.
“The kayaker was located by Kirkwall lifeboat and the rescue helicopter with the assistance of the skipper of the Amethyst. At 3.50pm the casualty was lifted from the water and taken by the rescue helicopter to Balfour Hospital in Kirkwall.