Photo: Twitter/Santa Barbara County Fire
Tom Brady probably thought he got a good deal with the $2 million he paid for the Wajer 55 S dayboat, but here’s a real deal: two college students from California built a raft using a couple of kiddie pools, a piece of plywood, and a bunch of paint buckets.
Necessity is the mother of invention, they say. The quest for a cheap thrill might also work, as was the case with these two dudes. They built their very special raft gluing two kiddie pools on a piece of plywood and then gluing 20 five-gallon (19-liter) plastic buckets to the bottom and set out for what would turn out to be the adventure of a lifetime.
According to the Santa Barbara County Fire, the two college students, both male and both in their 20s, set out off the coast of Isla Vista in Southern California. At nearly 3 a.m. on Saturday morning, they were rescued from the Pacific Ocean after being carried out to sea by the current. Rescuers were called by someone from the shore who had seen the signals they were sending out with their strobe light, a spokesperson tells the LA Times.
The two students were not in distress when rescued, but they were probably cold since they did not have wetsuits on. They were some 300 yards (274 meters) away from the shore. They did have a paddle and were using it to steer their homemade raft, but the currents were too strong. The pitch darkness did not help.
The spokesperson notes that neither of the men was an engineering student, adding, “I just wish they had planned whatever they were doing a little better.” Like, for example, not head out on a raft made of plastic buckets in the dead of night. Alcohol was not involved—you know you were thinking it.
The aforementioned media outlet notes that the raft could have been part of a school project. That would be the only excuse for attempting seafaring on a homemade raft, risking their lives and costing taxpayers money in midnight rescue operations.
According to the Santa Barbara County Fire, the two college students, both male and both in their 20s, set out off the coast of Isla Vista in Southern California. At nearly 3 a.m. on Saturday morning, they were rescued from the Pacific Ocean after being carried out to sea by the current. Rescuers were called by someone from the shore who had seen the signals they were sending out with their strobe light, a spokesperson tells the LA Times.
The two students were not in distress when rescued, but they were probably cold since they did not have wetsuits on. They were some 300 yards (274 meters) away from the shore. They did have a paddle and were using it to steer their homemade raft, but the currents were too strong. The pitch darkness did not help.
The spokesperson notes that neither of the men was an engineering student, adding, “I just wish they had planned whatever they were doing a little better.” Like, for example, not head out on a raft made of plastic buckets in the dead of night. Alcohol was not involved—you know you were thinking it.
The aforementioned media outlet notes that the raft could have been part of a school project. That would be the only excuse for attempting seafaring on a homemade raft, risking their lives and costing taxpayers money in midnight rescue operations.
If Nautical Nonsense Is Something You Wish-Two male students in their 20’s were rescued unharmed at 2:37 a.m. Sat off Isla Vista after they were unable to return to shore in their boat fashioned from duct tape, buckets, and kiddie pools. Alcohol was not a factor. *Call Newsline* pic.twitter.com/Ug568BY9EF
— SBCFireInfo (@EliasonMike) May 8, 2021
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