A HALF-TERM surfing holiday for Froxfield vicar Paul Kennedy and his family ended with a dramatic sea rescue when he was carried away by a strong current. Paul's nightmare began when he became caught in a strong rip-tide current, which had been created by a new sandbank. He had surfed many times before in the last six years from Sennen Cove in Cornwall with his children, but he was unaware of the new sandbank. Paul, 40, battled for an hour in bitterly cold water, but exhausted and with aching and heavy arms, he was carried further and further out to sea. He was watched helplessly by his 14-year-old son, Felix, who had managed to battle back to shore. Safely back in his parish this week, the Froxfield and Privett vicar told The Herald that he had learned valuable lessons from his life- threatening experience and would, in future, always surf with others. Paul had joined his wife, Paula, and their three sons, Felix, Rowan and Angus, at their holiday home in Trewellard last week, driving through the night after the Ash Wednesday service in Froxfield. "The boys couldn't surf without me because there are no lifeguards at this time of year, so Felix and I put our wetsuits on and went down to the beach at Sennen Cove on Thursday morning," Paul told The Herald. Mrs Kennedy had gone for a walk along the beach, so while the two younger boys played on the sand, Felix and his father headed for the water. "We were the only ones going in, which should have raised some alarm. We should have thought 'why is noone else here,'" said Paul. "We only caught a few waves and were waiting for the next one, but it never came." It was then that Paul realised he and Felix were drifting out to sea. "I realised we were in danger and we paddled against the tide for about five to 10 minutes, then Felix managed to get back in towards the shore by going sideways," said Paul. But he was unable to reach Felix and quickly got carried out to sea. "I knew I was in a dangerous situation," he said, "but the only time I was really worried was when I thought about trying to rest against some rocks and suddenly realised how big the waves were, and that I was in imminent danger of being crushed against them. I was also beginning to get very cold. "I was scared but I knew there was no point in panicking as I was more likely to get hypothermia if I did. I knew I was in a life- threatening situation, but I did expect to be rescued because I knew there was a lifeboat station at Sennen." After 45 minutes in the water, Paul heard the alarm siren and knew that help was on its way. The coastguards had spotted him in the water and Felix had also raised the alarm. The coastguard's rescue "rib" came into view and he was eventually hoisted into the boat. "I was exhausted, very cold and humiliated," he said.
