A Cape Town father has urged beachgoers to monitor ocean patterns closely after he and his nine-year-old son were trapped on rocks at Ganzekraal on the West Coast. 

After months of planning, businessman Oswald Paris and his son, Zachariah, from Ottery finally went to Ganzekraal last Saturday (October 24) to fish. 

“Fishing is something that Zach and I do often when we have free time. He also does karate and fights tournaments on weekend.” 

Paris says he has been fishing since he was eight and was taught by his father. 

“It is a hobby that I want to pass on to Zach and he is really getting the hang of it.” 

Trapped by rising waters 

Father and son were at the fishing spot from about 09:00 and fished until about 13:30 when Paris realised that the other guys who were also fishing there had already left.

“We packed up and tried to go back over the rocks and saw the wave washing over it and it was very slippery.” 

Paris tried to cross and slipped on the rocks.

“We then tried to cross over the other side, but waves were coming from the back and from the front around and it was getting deep, Zach would not have been able to get over and myself,” says Paris. 

He adds that despite their predicament, they were ‘okay’. 

“I had my phone with me and was chatting to my wife, she made the call to the National Sea Rescue Institute (NSRI). I was planning to wait out the tide and then cross over when the water dropped.” 

He says that with everything going on, his son was fine. 
 
“We were laughing and carried on fishing from the other side. My brother-in-law also tried to come across to us from shore but it was too deep, then sat there for about an hour on the shore chatting with us.” 

Rescue 

NSRI Yzerfontein station commander Junre Marais says they received a call informing them that Paris and Zachariah were on rocks offshore at Ganzekraal and cut off from the mainland by the spring high tide. 

“They had been fishing from rocks that were easily accessible during the spring low tide, but at the spring high tide they were cut off from being able to get back to mainland,” adds Marais. 

The NSRI Yzerfontein Station 34 rescue base responded and a vehicle towing the craft JetRIB Janine was dispatched. 

“An NSRI rescue swimmer was deployed onto the rocks where the father was assisted onto the rescue craft, accompanied by their fishing gear, and he was brought to shore safely. 

“The NSRI craft returned to the rocks and without incident the son and our rescue swimmer were brought to shore onboard our rescue craft,” she adds. 

Vital tide lessons 

Paris says it is important to watch your surroundings at all times. 

He adds the tide came in within 30 minutes but took around six hours to drop.

He explains that while they had planned to head back at 14:00 ahead of the 15:00 high tide, they should have departed by 13:00. 

Paris advises other anglers to always keep a phone on hand and to inform family of their location and expected return time. 

“Again, watch the tide at all times.” 

Gratitude 

Paris extends his gratitude to the rescuers, saying they had been caring and had constantly checked if he and his son were OK and had water. 

“Even though I felt we could have waited for the tide to drop, they said it was best we called them because it started to get a bit worse out there and if it was dark it could have been worse.” 

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