Estimated read time: 1-2 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
SARATOGA SPRINGS — Three kayakers from Saratoga Springs said they fought strong winds and powerful waves on Utah Lake for 45 minutes before being rescued Wednesday evening.
“I’ve lived in Utah for a really long time, and I’ve never been on the lake when it’s been windy like that,” Shadow Hulon said. “It felt like I was in the ocean.”
The teens set out to enjoy the northwest side of Utah Lake around 6:30 p.m. They said weather conditions quickly changed once they got into the water.
“It was calm at first,” Austin Harrington said. “Then it was powerful. The waves were pretty strong.”
The group said they struggled to stay together after one of their kayaks flipped. All three were wearing life-jackets at the time.
“It was right when we realized we are getting a little far (and) we should go back, and that’s right when the wind picked up and it all started going bad from there,” Hulon said.
A passerby on shore noticed the teens struggling and called 9-1-1. Rescue crews arrived within minutes and reached the boys by jet-ski.
“If they called any later or if no one called at all, then it would have been so much worse for all of us,” Hulon said.
“It was so powerful!”
— Ashley Moser (@AshleyMoser) May 8, 2020
As crews continue to search for two missing girls on Utah Lake...we hear from another group of teens who were also out on the water the same time and rescued.
At 10:00, the lesson they want us all to learn from their experience @KSL5TVpic.twitter.com/TrQdtOnFTu
They said they learned a valuable lesson from the experience and hoped their story serves as a reminder to always be prepared.
“Wear a life jacket,” Harrington said.”Tell people where you are going, and tell them what time you are coming back. Because if you don’t do that, then nobody is going to be looking for you.”
