An Alabama man and former college football player has spoken out about a harrowing kayaking trip that left him stranded at sea for 11 hours.
On Friday, former University of South Carolina quarterback Chris Smelley spoke to local Alabama Fox station WBRC about the Thursday fishing trip that led to his disappearance.
According to the network, Smelly, 37, took his kayak out to fish off the coast of Grayton Beach, Florida, around 8:30 a.m. Thursday morning. However, she said that after a few minutes she was hit by high winds and soon found herself seven or eight miles from the coast and there seemed to be no way back.
“I was in a big, heavy kayak, and as soon as I hit the shore, the wind was blowing, and it was a lot stronger than it was on the shore,” said Smelly, who played for the Gamecocks from 2006 to 2008. looks back. To WBRC. “I wish there was a story about being dragged away by a giant shark or fighting a sea monster, but it was really just nature, it was just the wind.”
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“My body was so upright, it was basically like a big sail,” he added. “I was doing my best, but there was a long period where I was at the mercy of the wind.”
When Smelley did not return for several hours, his wife became concerned, and the Walton County Sheriff's Office called in the Coast Guard to help search for the former quarterback, according to WCNC Charlotte.
“We're at the beach a lot, we've done a lot of fishing, and it's really nice to be in the water,” Smelly told WBRC. “I can't say I was necessarily scared, but I have seen rescue helicopters fly over me pretty close a few times, especially as the sun starts to set, and they don't notice me. I was thinking of spending the night at the sea.”
“I had just caught a fish and was preparing to fillet it to give me the energy to continue paddling again when the rescue helicopter arrived,” he added.
Eleven hours later, a Coast Guard helicopter spotted Smelly and brought him back to shore for a quick medical evaluation, the agency reported. Smelly said he was not dehydrated or injured, just sunburned.
Smelly, the head coach at Sylacauga High School in Alabama, said his wife won't let him forget the incident any time soon. She says especially because the next morning she tried to go fishing again.
“Well, at first she was a little upset. I mean it in a loving way,” he joked. “But yeah, I went out without my cell phone and without a life jacket. I think the lesson was just to understand that safety comes first when you're out in those situations.”
