Watch as kayaker has very near miss with cliff after being swept up in freak wave

One kayaker had a very near miss after getting trapped in a freak wave off the Sovereign Islands, near Kinsale in Cork.

Thu, 02 Jun, 2016 - 01:00

Steve Neville

Cian Walsh captured the footage of his friend's kayak getting swept up by a wave and thrown against the side of the cliff face.

Gene Cahill, the other kayaker seen in the video told irishexaminer.com that thankfully, he didn't suffer any injuries.

"We had all gone through the area in the minutes before after first watching it for about 10-15 mins to read the swell and wave sets.

"It was moderate swell and nothing we hadn't encountered before but when he went through, it was just a freak wave."

Gene said, as can be seen in the video, they all wear helmets and have ropes and radios. The trio are very careful when it comes to safety.

Gene also highlighted that the training they do helped the trapped kayaker out of the tricky situation.

"We do a thing called rock hopping where we paddle close to rocks and use the swell to surf and manoeuvre, and kayak through gaps in rocks. It's a popular kayaking skill."

"We practise rescue techniques regularly so his own training kicked in and he was able to roll out of it."

The video looks very dramatic and Gene admits it looks worse than what it is. The three kayakers continued in the sea for another few hours after it happened.

We're glad to hear he is alright but as Gene points out, the freak wave is a valuable reminder of the power of the sea.

So if you're hitting the beach with all this beautiful weather, stay safe!

Thanks to Gene and Cian for the video. Got something to send us? Get in touch via Facebook or Twitter or else send an email to steve.neville@examiner.ie.