NICE, Calif. – A kayaker was pulled from Clear Lake on Monday afternoon after his boat overturned several hundred yards from shore.
Northshore Fire Protection District personnel were dispatched to the 3800 block of Lakeshore Boulevard and Hudson in Nice just before 1:30 p.m. on the report of a man in the water, according to radio reports.
Pat Brown, the district’s deputy chief, said firefighters arrived to find the overturned kayak and the man about 300 yards offshore.
Initially, firefighters had requested two helicopters – one from the California Highway Patrol and one from the US Coast Guard – to assist with the rescue, said Brown.
However, a State Parks boat from Clear Lake State Park in Kelseyville was able to cross the choppy lake and pick the man up from the water, said Brown, who added that the sheriff’s patrol boat is off duty on Mondays.
Brown said firefighters warmed up the man, whose name was not released, but didn’t end up transporting him.
“He walked home,” said Brown. “He did not want to go to the hospital.”
Brown estimated that winds on the lake were steadily at around 25 miles per hour, with gusts up to 40 miles per hour.
Firefighters were released from the scene just after 3 p.m., according to radio traffic.
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