SACO, Maine — An hours-long air, sea and land search by multiple agencies for kayakers reported missing Tuesday night ended at about 10:30 a.m. Wednesday when the three University of New England students reported they had made it back to shore safely the previous night.
“Everyone has been safely located, and the Coast Guard is closing out the case,” Command Duty Officer Kenneth Stuart of Coast Guard Sector Northern New England said just after 10:30 a.m. Wednesday.
Lt. David T. Bourbeau, chief of Waterways Division Management for the Coast Guard Sector Northern New England, said Wednesday that another kayaker told several people on the shore late Tuesday night that two kayakers seemed to be in distress near the University of New England.
The U.S. Coast Guard received that report at about 12:30 a.m. Wednesday and initiated a search. An MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter from Coast Guard Air Station Cape Cod joined the search at about 2 a.m., along with a 25-foot response boat from South Portland, a Maine Marine Patrol boat and the Saco Fire Department boat.
Later Wednesday morning, two fixed-wing planes, one from Cape Cod and the other from the Maine Marine Patrol, continued to search the shoreline and islands in the area of Saco Bay, Stuart said.
Two Coast Guard boats, a 29-foot response boat from South Portland and a smaller boat from Camp Ellis, as well as Biddeford police and Saco police and fire, also assisted in the search.
At about 10:30 a.m., three kayakers — all University of New England students — contacted police to say they had made it to shore safely.
Bourbeau declined to name the students.
He encouraged boaters to dress for conditions, wear personal floatation devices and remember that warm days don’t necessarily mean warm water.
“These days that are 70, 80 degrees … in 40-degree water, hypothermia can set in quickly,” he said.
He said that boaters also should carry a manual radio and develop a “float plan,” telling a friend of family member where they’re going and when they’ll return, “so if they don’t come home, the Coast Guard can initiate a search.”