Fishing Story Monmouth Beach: Fishing in any conditions?....the $20,000 question

[DarkSkies]

Yesterday I was driving along Rt 36 and saw a commotion in Monmouth Beach. There were several fire engines, EMS units, rescue vehicles, etc.

At first I thought they were doing a "mock rescue" because personnel and equipment were there from 3 towns, Sea Bright, Long Branch, and Monmouth Beach. There had to be around 40 personnel there as well, and many onlookers.

Why was this?

[DarkSkies]

It turns out the "item of concern" was a kayaker in an orange Ocean paddle kayak out there about 200' offshore of the condos. There are rocks there, and the guy (with a wetsuit) was allegedly spearfishing for blackfish or striped bass.

Contrary to reports on some sites, there was one single yakker aboard, and his gear.
A concerned woman from the hi-rise condos called the police when she saw a yak without anyone in it. She saw the yakker swimming around in a wetsuit and diving, mistakenly assumed he was a shark, and called it in.

That set in place a series of events that was pretty dramatic. (based on an interview this morning with a volunteer fireman who was on site for the whole "rescue")

1. Rescue teams showed up.
2. Fire engines and rescue equipment from 3 towns were brought to the "scene"
3. A Coast Guard Helicopter was sent out to investigate, and circled, twice.
4. The yakker was approached by a boat concerned for his safety, as the skies were dark, torrential rain, tornado warning were in effect, and the winds were picking up. (the OCEAN actually wasn't that bad, though, truth be told)
5. The yakker, feeling the boat was coming in too close, allegedly gave the boat the . I can definitely understand that.
6. The yakker was unaware (at first) all these people were coming to rescue him. When he did become aware, he resisted all efforts to "rescue" him, as he didn't feel he was in distress, he was just spearfishing for tog or bass.

7. The Monmouth Beach fire rescue, using a water bike on the Sea Bright trailer, launched and went out to him to assess. He assured them he was ok, and they came back.

8. Meanwhile, one of the rescue trucks got stuck in the soft sand for awhile, and finally maneuvered out.

9. Last but not least, the USCG Medium response boat came out, circled him, assessed for themselves, and then went back to Sandy Hook.

So, to recap.....Fire trucks, EMS, ocean rescue, USCG Medium response boat, USCG chopper all made an appearance.

How much did all this cost, minimum?
My source this morning said: "$20.000, easily."

[DarkSkies]

Pics of him out there....






Sea Bright's rescue bike coming to check on him...



Coast guard Helo circling...

[DarkSkies]

Pics of the contacts from rescue personnel, Coast Guard cutter coming out and assessing if he was OK

[DarkSkies]

Big engines all over....

[DarkSkies]

More......the truck temporarily got stick into the very soft sand until they aired down to the max.

[DarkSkies]

Successful surf landing,,,,,

[DarkSkies]

I watched this guy come back and load up to go home. Got close ups, but I don't want to publish them as we don't know his side of the story.

I gotta admit, at first I was pretty judgemental of him being out there.
Felt it might give a bad name to us yakkers if something did happen....we did lose a yakker in the river in Rumson last year.

He seemed competent, and at ease in the water. You could tell he has some good experience in rough water.

I did hear from the fireman this morning (who claims they are friends) that the yakker is experienced, does this all the time, and didn't feel the need to quit even though he saw the rescue personnel.

He did explain that there is a protocol. Police and fire depts must follow through thoroughly when they get certain calls. If not, they're exposed to lawsuit liability if the person dies.


So my question to you folks here....

is to what extent should we be allowed to control our own lives?

At what point does the danger we are in supercede our right to self-enjoyment and pursuit of our hobbies?
Remember there are no right or wrong answers here....I'm merely asking for opinions...thanks!