In our December 2011 issue Colin Mullen's safety article The Right Place, The Right Time tells about an incident where the tables are turned from our usual safety articles. His story demonstrates how as sea kayakers we are members of the general maritime community and may be called upon to be the rescuer as well as the one being rescued.

We'd like to hear your comments about his experience and hear of experiences where you have been involved as a rescuer using a kayak. If you feel your story would be a good fit for the magazine please contact our editor, Chris Cunningham - chris@seakayakermag.com

Myself and some friends have rescued capsized sailors. Once on Lake Washington and once by Shilshole. Helped to right the sailboat and get the sailors out of the water and/or take them to shore to prevent hypothermia.

We were paddling in the inner harbour a year ago, under the wharves, anywhere interesting when I heard a yacht leaving mentioning on VHF that there appeared to be a run-about in trouble over by the oil wharf. I headed our group across the harbour and found the vessel with the occupants paddling hard to try and get out from being blown between a tanker and the wharf. Two of us promptly put a tow on and a third assisted by pushing. I called the harbour radio to say we had things under control. It was only a few hundred metres to the ramp they wanted to go to and fortunately down wind. Another member of our group took photos for the record. Once we got to the destination I called up and reported. The harbour office said it had looked good from their vantage point and sorry they were too far away to take photos. I think kayakers gained a few "Brownie Points" as far as the authorities go. The Coastguard were not in a position to help, probably because it was a week day and they are a volunteer organisation.

Brian Price and I encountered a classic Damsels In Distress situation back in the day. It was on a very cold and blustery Winter morning, and we were embarking on the return leg of an 18 mile crossing of the Chesapeake that we'd paddled the day before. The route was from the town dock at Ewell, a small community on Smith Island, to Point Lookout at the mouth of the Potomac River.

The channel out of Ewell is quite narrow with some sharp doglegs, and a sailboat had run aground in shoal water beside the channel. Brian and I were dressed to the nines for cold weather and cold water paddling, but the same could not be said of the young Outward Bound instructress standing waist deep in the freezing cold water, wearing naught but a flimsy wet T-shirt and undies, and trying to pull the boat free. Jeepers! It was a grounding and potential hypotheremia!

Turns out it was not two, or three, or even four damsels who needed our help, but a whole bevy of them, all of whom were en route from Bar Harbor to the Virgin Islands. We got the half-frozen lass with the wet T-shirt back on board and then took them in tow, albeit a bit disappointed that our gracious offer to assist with rewarming had been politely declined. Fortunately, they came free with relative ease, and we towed them out the channel and into the Bay.

Last we saw, they were zooming South toward a rendezvous with warmer waters. We celebrated our chivalrous accomplishment with the paddler's best friend - Walkers Shortbread Cookies. A really great way to begin the day!

Is sea kayaking a great sport, or what?