Students Rescued After Raft Made From Buckets And Kiddie Pools Floats Away

It's no secret that by the time we reach college-age, many of us are in the latter part of the stage where we're testing and then finding our limits.

For some, this involves seeing what they can put into their bodies before those bodies make them regret it the next morning. In my case, I learned the limits of my procrastination when I didn't sleep for three nights straight so I could finish assignments due on consecutive days.

But while those are fairly common ways that students may accidentally punish themselves, it seems that one pair was in the process of finding out how far they could push their imaginations when they took one incredibly ill-advised boat trip.

During the wee hours of May 8, two California college students put a creative, if not terribly practical plan into action.

As ABC7 reported, the pair had taken a piece of plywood and bolted two plastic kiddie pools to its underside while also binding together 20 buckets from Home Depot with duct tape before setting out off the coast of Isla Vista at around 2 am.

Although we can see that they brought a paddle, they soon found that they weren't quite equipped for their journey.

As Mike Eliason from the Santa Barbara County Fire Department told the San Luis Obispo Tribune, they didn't bring wetsuits with them, which would turn out to be an unfortunate omission considering that the waters they were paddling in fell to temperatures of 55 degrees Fahrenheit.

And this would turn out to be particularly bad news because, in Eliason's words, "The tide kept pushing them further and further from shore approximately — 300 yards before County Fire was summoned."

Fortunately, someone happened to spot them and notify the fire department when this happened.

According to the San Luis Obispo Tribune, a rescue team dispatched from Isla Vista was able to locate the pair about 30 minutes later and brought them back to shore unharmed.

As Eliason put it, "alcohol was not a factor" and neither of the students involved were enrolled in engineering programs. So with both of our best explanations for why this happened exhausted, their inspiration for this unpleasant cruise will have to remain a mystery.

h/t: San Luis Obispo Tribune

Filed Under: