Candlewood Lake Kayakers Rescued During Intense Macroburst

Imagine you're out on Candlewood Lake taking a relaxing kayak ride when the skies turn from sunny to black as night.

That's exactly what happened when Josh Gonzalez and Melanie Porter frantically tried to row back to the Candlewood Isle clubhouse as a macroburst of air reaching upwards to 110mph overturned their kayaks. The intense waves and wind lasted for 16 minutes as the two held on for dear life as they were bounced around in Candlewood Lake waters.

Neither had taken their life jackets and the water was a chilly 58 degrees. According to the NewsTimes, after the storm had passed, Bob Stryker, one of their Candlewood Isle neighbors heard yelling out on the lake and saw Josh and Natalie hysterically waving from their overturned kayaks.

Stryker jumped onto his pontoon and raced out and rescued the two who were totally exhausted. Here's what Gonzalez told Stryker on Friday afternoon:

We can't tell you how relieved we were to see your boat coming. We were really spent . I don't think we could of made it. It was surreal. It was like some apocolyptic scene!

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