But what bird is that?’ I was trying to listen very closely to it because I didn’t recognize it,” Swanberg said. “There was definitely a noise that I was like, ‘That’s a bird. That night, she was at work trying to identify one. Swanberg was walking her dog Charlee on the bridge at the Starrigavan Estuary that evening when she heard a strange noise.ĭuring the day, Swanberg works with birds at the Alaska Raptor Center. It was Sheila Swanberg, and Solar was in luck - she’s a five-year veteran of Sitka’s search and rescue team. “Or this could be someone’s head going toward me.” “And I’m thinking this could be one of those buoys,” he said. Then, after about half an hour, Solar saw something moving toward him in the water. Solar yelled out to them, but they didn’t hear him over their engine. At one point a boat drove by in the distance. Then he just held onto the kayak and yelled for help. “I tried swimming as hard as I could for maybe 15 or 20 minutes up to the shore, but then I look back and the kayak is right next to me, and nothing changed,” Solar said. Solar estimated he was almost a half-mile from the shore.
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“The compartment where I sit is 100% full of water, and the compartment behind me is 100% full of water.” “I flip it sideways, and instead of water going out, even more water gets in,” Solar said. He tried flipping the kayak sideways to empty it. A wave hit his kayak, dumping Solar into the ocean and swamping his boat. As the sun dipped, he turned around to go back.Īs he was nearing the Starrigavan boat launch area on his return trip, the water began to get a little choppy.
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He paddled three miles toward Nakwasina Sound. on Sunday, he set out on his first solo kayaking trip in Starrigavan Bay. “So I was kinda like, the only one leftover.”Īround 5:30 p.m. “We planned a group of people, but the other people were busy, and some people kind of changed their minds,” Solar said. He went for the first time in early April, but on his second planned trip, his friends couldn’t go. Roman Solar moved to Sitka in February, and with spring’s arrival he’s been getting a taste of the outdoors with kayaking.
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The woman who rescued him was aware of the risks - she’s a five-year veteran of Sitka’s search and rescue team.
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(Photo courtesy of Roman Solar)Ī Sitka man who spent half an hour in the ocean after his kayak capsized last weekend was rescued by a quick-thinking local who swam from shore and pulled him to safety. A photo Roman Solar took from his kayak on April 10, shortly before he fell into the water.