This afternoon had a strong onshore breeze from the east, and scattered thunderstorms. During a break in the weather, I decided to head off and see if I could catch some fish for dinner. Very shortly after I pulled away from Harmonie I came across a pair of rented sea kayaks who were struggling to return to the beach they had launched from, about 2 miles straight up into the strengthening breeze. Dad had worn himself out trying to tow the two kids, and there was no way one paddle was going to move two kayaks that far into a 15 knot breeze!

Before they accepted a tow, they asked me to go check on Mom and her friend. I buzzed over to them, and the ladies insisted they were OK (Yeah, right!) so I went back to Dad and the kids, and told them I’d tow them into the beach, and then come back to check again on Mom.

When we safety got back to the beach, the kids thanked me for going back out to rescue their Mom.

It took me a few minutes to find the other kayak, but there they were, essentially in the same spot I last talked to them. After half an hour of paddling–and making no progress–toward the beach, with dark clouds looming, and lightning flashing in the western sky, they were now much more agreeable to a rescue tow. I told them they really didn’t have a choice since I had already been thanked for rescuing them.

I don’t think much of the livery operation that rented inexperienced people kayaks with a strong offshore breeze. I didn’t see that they had any kind of chase boat of their own. Certainly I saw no evidence that the rental staff even knew there was a problem. They gave no indication that they were aware that three of their boats had been towed back. Sloppy… and dangerous.

On another note, we really like the town of Lewes. Pretty, clean, like a summer resort town should be, but without any of the “Disney-Fake” vibe a lot of them have. There is a town dock right in the middle of downtown, but we weren’t sure Harmonie would have fit, so we just took the dinghy in. Wonderful restaurants, and provisioning at Lloyd’s Market, a great small independent grocer. Beautiful gardens all over. It is a town worth a stop even if you don’t have to.

We got a recommendation for here as a stop from an Ocean Cruising Club member. A great organization for finding information and the inside scoop about lots of things.