AST in Kodiak was contacted at approximately 40 minutes after midnight on Thursday morning advising them that two people in kayaks “who were overdue in the area of Mission Beach and Trident Basin,” trooper reported.

The caller identified the two kayakers 26-year-old Merrick Allain and his 14-year-old niece. The kayaking duo were to be picked up late on the previous evening. Allain’s mother informed troopers that Allain had called her around 10 pm and said that they were stuck on Crooked Island, then his phone died.

At first light the Coast Guard launched two helicopters and searched the Crooked Island area for the two kayaks reported to be blue and red. A short time later a passing fishing vessel called the Coast Guard on VHF channel 16 to report that they had seen one of the kayaks at the high-water mark on the west side of Woody Island.

With that information, the P/V Ethics and the Kodiak Island Search and Rescue Team responded to Woody Island. A short time later Allain and his niece were located near Camp Woody. They reported being cold and hungry, as they did not have survival equipment, but otherwise unharmed.

The two were transported to the Kodiak Harbor.

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