First responders unable to find vessel
Exactly a week after Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office personnel and a Siesta Key lifeguard helped a man right an overturned catamaran in the Gulf, the county Fire Department received another call for a marine rescue offshore of the barrier island, The Sarasota News Leader learned.
This time, it appeared, a kayak had drifted away from its normal “berth” or owner, with no one found to be in distress, as Fire Department members explained in the resulting report.
An alert went out at 1:34 p.m. on Sunday, Jan. 18, after a woman called 911 to say that she had seen a red kayak floating by in Big Sarasota Pass southwest of her location, which was identified as 4046 Higel Ave., the report points out. She could not see whether anyone was in it, she added, but she was concerned that someone might be in distress.
Mote Marine Laboratory’s Beach Conditions report for Siesta Public Beach on Jan. 18 said the air temperature was 58.39 degrees at 11:40 a.m., with yellow flags flying to indicate moderate surf/“Medium Hazard” conditions. The wind was blowing at 29.93 mph out of the northwest, the report noted.
That report also said that the Gulf’s surf intensity was “Rough,” with waves running 1 to 2 feet; rip currents were present, too.
Engine 13, from the Siesta Key Fire Station, and the rescue unit from Fire Station 9 — which stands at 6750 Bee Ridge Road — were dispatched to the site, the report adds. The engine arrived at 1:38 p.m.; the rescue unit, at 1:42 p.m.
The Coast Guard sent a vessel to the area, as well, the report says.
The Engine 13 firefighters/medics made contact with the caller, the report continues, while a Sarasota Police Department (SPD) Marine Patrol vessel arrived to begin searching for the kayak.
Having found no sign of the vessel, the report says, both the Police Department personnel and members of the Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office Marine Patrol, who had been in Roberts Bay, “checked the area.”
“SPD made 2 passes and nothing found at this moment,” the report notes, indicating that that information came through radio communications at 1:41 p.m.
A second Police Department Marine Patrol vessel searched the sandbar in Big Pass, the report adds, but the officers found nothing there, either.
Marine Patrol members also checked Sarasota Bay, the report says.
All of the Fire Department personnel had cleared the area by 1:44 p.m., the report adds.
A line in the document, summarizing the event, said, “No Emergency — Good Intent — No Incident Found Upon Arrival.”