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PADDLE BOARDER ELLEN Glynn, who was rescued off the Galway coast yesterday after being swept out to sea the previous night, remained calm while spending 15 hours at sea by resolving that there was “no point in being panicky and that we’d be fine”.
Glynn and her cousin Sara Feeney, aged 17 and 23, were found off Inis Oirr yesterday morning after a search and rescue operation launched by the Irish Coast Guard on Wednesday night.
The pair had gone paddle boarding from Furbo Beach at around 9pm when they were swept away from the coast by a sudden north wind and blown out to sea.
Speaking to Today with Sarah McInerney this morning on RTÉ, Glynn, who has experience paddle boarding, said that they “just went out a little bit because there were people swimming, and then the winds came quickly”.
“We were distracted because we were talking and didn’t realise how far out it took us, and the waves and wind got really strong all very quickly, so we knew we weren’t going to be able to get back in.”
Glynn said that she and her cousin were a “bit panicky” at first, but “we said that there was no point in being panicky and that we’d be fine”.
They tried to paddle in, but the strength of the waves meant that they couldn’t come in to the coast.
The women kept themselves together and in one place overnight by tying their paddle boards to a buoy and to each other.
We had realised we weren’t going to get anywhere so we were looking around, we didn’t see anything anywhere, and then saw the buoys. It was like a blessing.
“There was a strap on my paddle board that had a clip on it, so I took that off and clipped it onto the other paddle board.
“There are leads on paddle boards to connect to your ankle, so if you fall off in the water, you don’t get separated from the board.
“We swapped leads so we were connected into each other’s paddle boards.”
The women were wearing swimsuits instead of wetsuits, and the weather overnight proved to be one of the most difficult challenges they faced.
“The water was warm, but as soon as the sun went down it got really cold outside. The wind was getting heavier, and then there was thunder and lightning and heavy rain, so we were absolutely frozen.”
“I think that we were quite sure we were going to be found. The only think I was worried about was how cold we were – we were shaking like leaves.”
During the night, there were times when the women could see search boats in the water, but the boats couldn’t find them.
“At one point it was really really close and we thought for sure [that it would find them].
“As well, with the helicopter, it stopped really near us and we thought the light was hitting us, but apparently not – we got a bit unlucky with that,” she said.
“This morning when we woke up, it was dark, so we couldn’t tell where we were going and we had drifted out,” Glynn said.
“The waves were huge and splashing down on top over us and flinging us all over the place, so for a while, that was scary.
The Irish Coast Guard had launched a search and rescue operation on Wednesday night after Sara Feeney’s mother raised the alarm.
The operation continued throughout the night and attracted the aid of multiple coastal agencies.
When morning came, the women began to lose track of time, and believed it was later in the day than it was.
“We thought it was evening time. We thought it was about 5 o’clock and we hadn’t seen a single boat.”
The pair began to think that nobody was looking for them.
They were discovered by Patrick Oliver, a former Galway RNLI lifeboat crew member and current shore crew member and fisherman, and his son Morgan.
“Out in the distance, we saw a boat and waved our paddles in the air like crazy, and that was the Olivers, and they came to save us.”
“I didn’t know they were out looking for us, I thought they were just out fishing.
“We’re so, so grateful. I’ve no idea what would have had happened if they hadn’t found us.”
Glynn said she felt fine in the water on the paddle board, but when she stood up to get into the boat, her legs collapsed under her.
“We were very shaky getting on to the boat but they wrapped us up in the corner and gave us drinks and everything, so they were very good to us.”
Feeney was released from the hospital yesterday evening, while Glynn stayed overnight and is due to be released this evening or tomorrow morning.
“We’re okay. There’s something with my muscle enzymes, but I’m fine.”
Glynn credited their life jackets as vital to their survival.
“We probably would have been panicking if we didn’t have those on. We knew at least that if anything happened to the paddle boards, we would still have those on.”
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Lucky lucky girls. Also a fantastic rescue story.
So so lucky and we done to the Olivers.. great guys.. these girls were great not to panic. Its really up lifting to hear a good news story like this. Make the very best lives for yourselves ladies. Delighted to hear you are both well safe and sound!!
We’ll done all who helped.
You saved two lives.
Thanks
From a boater myself
Tom
The good news is that when you’re shaking with the cold you’re still ok. It’s when you stop it’s time to worry. Must have been very worrying for them.
@Paul Potts: Thankfully it happened in very humid temperatures, if it happened even last month it could have been trouble.
Amazing outcome. And fair play to them for quick and good thinking in a very panicky situation. The search units and locals sounded relentless in their efforts. Well done all. Great to hear a good news story like this in challenging times.
Fab outcome to a very dangerous mishap, & congrats to all who responded to the call for rescue service.
Without dampening the joyous outcome, I suggest that the failure of the helicopter sweeps to locate these very colourful paddle boards needs close scrutiny.
Our seagoing fraternity need these backups to work well when called upon.
@William Kelly: The conditions that night were very challenging.
@William Kelly: surely they were using FLIR… It should have picked up the body heat against the cold water
@a politicians promise is as good as a lie:
The amount of body heat after been in the water for several hours would be negligent and would not register on a Flir.
@william Kelly: It was dark, therefore colours would have been irrelevant.
2 very lucky ladies who should have checked the weather forecast before heading off to paddle board at 9 o clock in the evening…
@Martin Smith: that may not of made any difference. There was no weather warning on either of the two apps I use on the night in question
@Sam Glynn: …May not HAVE ..!!
Well done everyone who searched for them. They did well not to panic that’s probably what saved them. Again well done all involved
They’d be on Ellen if this was a year ago.
@Ed: Why Ellen? did she have something like this on her show? she does seem to have a penchant for bits involving the Irish
Would it not be possible to design a life jacket with a beacon in it which you could activate when you get into trouble?
@Virgil: you beat me to it Virgil! I came to the comments section to wish the girls well and say the exact same thing about the lifejackets with built in beacons.
@Virgil: you beat me to it Virgil! I came to the comments section to wish the girls well and say the exact same thing about the lifejackets with built in beacons.
@Sean Whelan: Yes, there is also lifejackets with PLB’s inside (the RNLI use them) – personal locator beacons. However at a cost of in excess of €300, they are generally out of price reach for a basic paddleboarder.
Would the helicopter not have the infrared and be able to see in the dark more easily that there are white parts in dark background?
@Peter: I could be wrong but it’s my understanding that IR cameras detect heat sources. These girls where cold in the water so IR probably wouldn’t have picked them up.
@Jason Ebbs:
Yeah but I’m sure they’d be spotted. There must be a reason they didn’t use it or maybe they did where they were flying but you’d think they’d cover a larger area more quickly if they were using it.
@Peter: Their bodies would have been at the same temperature as the sea after a few hours – so hardly anything would register on the FLIR….
They were just lucky with the sea temps, or it would have been a different story.
@Peter: There was very little said about this, very little mention as to why they were not spotted. There seems to be a bit of embarrassment about this ??. It certainly needs to be probed as to why they were missed.
@Frank Flanagan: I’m sure that the Crew would have known all that, they surely have some other means of detecting people in the water?. Haven’t they big search lights? This is a big worry now, and needs to be addressed .
Really highlights the importance of ALWAYS having a charged phone in a waterproof pouch. Apparently, this just happened to be the one evening when they forgot theirs. Unfortunate luck but because of their calm and smart actions thereafter, they are here to tell their story. Well done ladies.
@Michael Bracken: Phones aren’t the be all and end all…. there are many spots out to sea where there is no coverage. The important things are to tell someone where you are going, what time you will be back, and what to do if you don’t return after a set time. This can also be done volunarily by calling the Coast Guard. If i was going to sea, i’d much prefer to have a VHF handheld radio to rely on than a mobile phone!! That way you can talk directly to the search boats and direct them towards you etc.
Well done to every one involved in the rescue whiskeys all round
Amazing story and fantastic outcome, so glad to hear they were found safe and sound. Well done to everyone involved :)
Maybe a little bit stupid of them in the first place, that said they really stayed calm and used their heads. Fair play to them and to those involved in rescuing them.
@Richard Carroll: not stupid of them at all, there didn’t seem to be an immediate danger when going out, the wind could of picked up at any stage of the day…. At least they were experienced paddle boarders and are most than used to water activities so knew exactly what to do when the realised they would not be able to paddle back to shore.
@Pat Andrews: your the absolute dope!! How dare you!! The families and these girls have gone through enough without you calling them names. They didn’t intend for this to happen, they are experienced paddle boarders and are used to the water. They never expected the winds to suddenly pick up (which could of happened at any time of the day btw) and blow them into the sea, they had tried to paddle back into shore but couldn’t, also they had tried to paddle to the island once they saw they were close but couldn’t either. If it was you or someone you loved I doubt you’d be so quick to call names and be so judgemental!!
How did the Rescue Helicopter miss them? , isn’t anybody asking ?
@Eugene Comaskey: 1.) It was dark. 2.) Their bodies dropped nearly the same temp as the water – so wouldn’t register on FLIR.
You’re welcome.
@Frank Flanagan: That is hardly good enough, the Helicopter was out there searching, is their equipment not good enough ?? . This needs to be addresses now.
@Pat Andrews: The irony of a Cork man calling anyone dopes.
I cant understand peoples dangerous obsession with the sea. Its like Jerry Seinfeld says about it: The sea is like an exclusive nightclub, and the waves are like the bouncer who doesn’t let anyone in. So you keep trying to get in, and the bouncer waves keep saying, ‘no you dont!’, and keep throwing you out. Finally, after repeated attempts, the bouncer says; ‘Oh you want in? how about coming in 20 miles?’
@Sam Glynn: They went to a beach they werent familiar with, ie were the strong currents and rip tides might be, and went in the evening when it would be dark soon. Dope is a bit strong, but it wasnt their best decision.
@Pauline Gallagher: how would you know if they were familiar to that beach or not? Their family are from the west and all of us in the west of the city are very familiar with that beach. They are also very experienced paddle boarders along with other watersports. They went out at 9pm when it gets dark close to 11pm while their mum/aunt brought the dog for a quick 30min walk. The water was full of people when they went out so they went past them for safety reasons and within minutes of chatting to eachother they suddenly realised the wind had taken them out and were unable to paddle back in. From their actions they were very clever in how to deal with the situation and it has been proven so as they were both found safe and well. Two very clever women there.
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