A visiting boater took a swim and pulled himself to shore Monday after his kayak was caught in a swift eddy under the Damariscotta/Newcastle bridge.
“I just rolled out of the kayak, pumped her out, hung on to my paddle and headed for shore,” said Rick Merrick of Lancaster, N.H.
Merrick and his wife Evalyn, who are staying with friends in Edgecomb, was enjoying a bright summer-like day paddling up the Damariscotta when the high tide combined with the narrow bridge opening to turn the placid stream into a problem.
“My wife put to shore as I tried to go under the bridge, but I got caught in the current,” he said.
Evalyn’s concerns prompted a passersby to call 911, triggering a response from the Damariscotta and Newcastle fire departments, Damariscotta police and Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office.
Dozens of people out and about during the noon hour Monday watched from the bridge as police and firefighters tried to locate the swimming boater. Moments later, they located him about a half mile north of the bridge as he was pulling his kayak out of the water.
“‘Are you alright?’ they asked. I said ‘give me a moment. I am out of breath,'” Merrick said.
Merrick was a bit chagrined that his spill triggered a response.
“I teach water rescue to these guys (rescuers) all over northern New Hampshire. I am sorry I got these folks out,” he said.
Standing on Glidden St., his clothes dripping on the asphalt as his wife gave her husband a heart-felt hug and kiss, he explained the proper procedure for getting out of a kayak.
“This is a surf kayak. When you dump over, you slide out and hang on to the boat. Then you pump out the water and remember to hang on to the paddle and make for shore.
“Surely you have heard the saying, up the creek with out a paddle.”
“So when I got caught in the eddy by the bridge, it dumped and I moved to what we call “a wet exit and followed the procedure I teach all the time.”
“It was a great day. We were having such a good time,” he said. “Sorry, again, to bother these rescuers.”
