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The victim, who responders said was alert and suffering from hypothermia, was taken to Bayonne Medical Center after being rescued off Lefante Way while holding on to the kayak around 5 p.m.
“At 4:35 p.m. [Saturday], the Bayonne Fire Department was dispatched to a report of a kayaker in distress on the east side waterways," Bayonne Fire Chief Keith Weaver said.
"Responding firefighters found a kayaker clinging to his vessel in the middle of the inlet that separates the Peninsula at Bayonne Harbor (former MOT) and the LeFante Way Shopping Plaza,” Weaver said in a statement.
“First responders were able to communicate with the stranded kayaker using a bullhorn and determined that he was wearing a life vest," the chief said. "The victim was approximately 100 yards from either shore and was unreachable except by boat.
"The Bayonne Fire Department boat successfully reached the man and pulled him to safety.”
Various agencies responded – among them, the Coast Guard, the North Hudson Regional and Hoboken fire departments, Port Authority police and New Jersey State Police, all of whom sent boats. An NYPD chopper flew overhead.
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