From Jessamine Journal:

A Jessamine County man is safely ashore after firefighters from Jessamine County and Garrard County spent several hours searching for him along the Kentucky River.

Bob Bryant said he saw the water rising from the bank near Camp Nelson Wednesday morning and was scared his boat, which was caught between two trees, was going to break loose. That was when the 68-year-old got into another small boat to reach his boat, intending to paddle it back to the bank. But his trip became a lot longer when the current started carrying the boat away and Bryant realized he didn’t have a gas tank to start the motor.

The Jessamine County Fire District received a dispatch at 11:30 a.m. referencing a boater in distress on the Kentucky River. Firefighters from Wilmore and Camp Dick in Garrard County also responded to the call. No boater was found at the dispatch location near the U.S. 27 bridge, but Capt. Steve Proffitt said officials were advised by a friend of Bryant on the phone that he had moved farther down the river.

The responders moved to High Bridge and set up a staging area. They deployed a boat upstream to search for Bryant. After making contact with a boat from Camp Dick, responders found Bryant on the shore near Jessamine Creek just before 1:30 p.m. The rescue boat carried Bryant back to the staging area, where he arrived a few minutes past 2 p.m. He had no physical injuries or complaints and was returned back to his house.

Proffitt said the cold, the water and the high wind made for treacherous rescue circumstances.

“Any type of rescue that involves moving water is probably one of the highest rescue modalities that we do,” he said “ ... You add the cold environment to it, the exposure for the victim and also the crews who are out here — that increases the danger quite a bit.”

Bryant said he was never worried.

“No, I wasn’t concerned,” he said. “I’ve been on that river 40-some years; I wasn’t concerned.”

It wasn’t the first time Bryant had found himself in the situation. He said he had already tied his boat up near Jessamine Creek and was ready to walk away when his wife called him and told him rescue workers were searching for him. He returned to the river and waited for the boat to come get him.

“I’ve been out there and my motor’s quit several times with the river up, and I’ve got to the bank and walked out; I was just gonna do it again,” Bryant said. “I didn’t have to this time; they came and got me this time.”

Copyright: The Jessamine Journal 2009