Kayaker pair rescued in Tivoli Bay

TIVOLI – A father and son kayaking expedition turned into a rescue after the pair ran into trouble on the Hudson River Saturday.

The Dutchess County Sheriff's Office said today, Thursday, that they were called Saturday evening by a woman whose 50-year-old husband and 9-year-old son had failed to return from a kayaking trip. The pair had set out about 3:30 p.m. that day and were due back for dinner at 7 p.m.

The sheriff's marine unit set a boat patrol to the area near Tivoli. Inspection of a video and photo the caller got from her son led officers to believe the pair were near Cruger and Magdalene islands and the North Tivoli Bay area. They got help from the Ulster County Sheriff and the Tivoli Fire Department.

AT 2:45 a.m. Sunday, Tivoli firefighters on a Zodiac boat found they pair on the east shore of the Tivoli Bay area, cold but otherwise OK. The father, not identified, said his son was pulled by a swift current under a railroad bridge into the bay. The father then left his kayak to get under the bridge so he could stay with his son. A change of tide barred them from leaving and daylight was dwindling.