Watchstanders in the control center of the Juneau Sector received an initial phone call from one of the kayakers asking for assistance. The kayaker suggested that after an estimated 9-hour, 23-mile paddle in their 10-foot kayaks he and another male friend had become exhausted.

“They were lucky to have enough cell phone battery left to call for help. As the weather begins to warm up each spring, it is very common for boaters to head out on the water unprepared for the conditions. The water temperature is still frigid and the air temperatures at night still dip into the 30s. Hypothermia is just one way that Alaskan boaters die each spring,” said Petty Officer 2nd Class Theodore Bach.

Maritime Business World