2 Chicago gals in Muizenberg dinghy fiasco.

Yesterday, two girls from Chicago found the waters in False bay not as friendly as those of Lake Michigan.

The two set off from Muizenberg beach apparently to take photo’s in a store bought dinghy, barely big enough for the both of them. With only a dustpan tied to a broom as a paddle, the girls quickly found themselves in trouble. A friend on shore tried to rescue them, but with the rip current and offshore breeze he was unable to reach them on a surfboard.

The pair drifted as far as two miles out before being rescued by the NSRI. At one point the girls were within 3 meters of a Southern Right Whale. Taking into account that False bay also has the highest concentration of Great White sharks in the world, I think they came off lightly. The girls were already turning blue when they were picked up and too hypothermic to walk, but they are laughing at the incident now.

There are many shipwrecks off our coast for good reason; the weather, surf and current here are extremely powerful and unpredictable. Don’t take little dinghy’s into the ocean without a paddle or a cell phone!