What was supposed to be a relaxing day on the water, turned into quite an adventure recently for former South Carolina quarterback Chris Smelley (2006-2008). Smelley was vacationing on the Florida coast near Grayton Beach last Thursday and went out on his kayak to go fishing when he was carried several miles out to sea and was missing for more than 12 hours.
“I got in the water around 7:30 a.m., and it looked really calm,” Smelley said. “There was a strong north wind that was being blocked by the land, so right off shore, it was really windy. Within about 30 minutes of being in the water, I made my first attempt to come back in, and I immediately knew I was in trouble. The wind was really strong. I was paddling with everything I could, but I was still going backwards. Then I got washed way out.
“I was probably about 400 yards off the beach when I first tried to come back in, and then I think I got pushed out around seven or eight miles.”
Despite the situation, after spending part of his life dodging 300-pound defensive lineman, Smelley kept his wits about him.
“I wasn’t really that scared,” Smelley said. “I’ve done this a lot, and I’m very comfortable with the water. I never totally lost sight of land. There was always a little bit that I could see. As the day dragged on, I saw helicopters out there looking for me.
“The scariest time was about an hour and a half before dark, and a helicopter came right over me. I threw my hands up and screamed ‘yes, they found me!’ But it kept going because it didn’t see me. At that point, I thought that they’re not going to see me, so I’m going to have to really try to get in myself.”
Smelley didn’t have his cell phone on him because he didn’t want to lose it in the water. In fact, he didn’t have a life jacket either because he hadn’t planned on being out very far.
“I didn’t have anything with me!” Smelly said. “I’ll definitely do it smarter next time!”
As the sunlight began to fade, the wind finally died down a bit. Smelley focused on one point of land and just started paddling hard.
“I didn’t care if it took me seven hours, I was going to paddle until I got there,” Smelley said. “After 45 minutes of that, I felt like I was making a little progress, but I figured it was going to be a long night. Then I heard a helicopter right behind me, and they spotted me.
“It was great because I had actually just paused and started dragging my fishing line…
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