Timeline of Coast Guard rescue of Chris Smelley, former South Carolina QB who went missing
Anna SnyderFormer American Christian Academy quarterback and coach Chris Smelley was missing for nearly 12 hours in late March after going kayak fishing off the shore of Grayton Beach, located between Destin and Panama City on the Florida Gulf Coast.
The former South Carolina quarterback and current Sylacauga High School head football coach was reported missing at approximately 1:24 p.m. by his family after going out at 7:30 a.m. and was rescued by the U.S. Coast Guard shortley after 7 p.m.
Multiple agencies were involved in the rescue of Smelley, including the Coast Guard, Walton County Sheriff's Office, South Walton Fire District, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) and the Okaloosa County Sheriff's Office.
Here's a timeline of the March 28 search-and-rescue mission of Smelley, starting when he went out that morning and ending with the time he was rescued.
RELATED:Hey Baby: How a Destin restaurateur played a key role in gulf rescue of Chris Smelley
People to know in the story
Chris Smelley: A 37-year-old high school football coach with ties to Tuscaloosa and American Christian Academy. Smelley was a former player and coach for ACA and a quarterback at South Carolina.
Corey Dobridnia: Dobridnia serves as public information officer for the Walton County Sheriff's Office.
Petty Officer Third Class Garrett Hedspeth: A Coast Guard officer, Hedspeth was the coxswain, or leader, of the 45-foot rescue boat that was dispatched out of Destin to find Smelley.
Lieutenant J.G. Carson: Carson serves as public affairs officer for Coast Guard Sector Mobile, which coordinated the search and rescue effort.
Eddie Morgan: A longtime family friend of Smelley's and owner of Harbor Docks restaurant in Destin. He assisted with the search and rescue of Smelley, and his father's boat, Hey Baby, retrieved Smelley and his kayak.
NICK SABAN COMMEMORATIVE BOOK:Relive Nick Saban’s epic Alabama football coaching career with our special book! Preorder here.
MORE:Why Nate Oats' Final Four should build belief in Kalen DeBoer, Alabama football | Toppmeyer
The timeline
7:30 a.m.: Smelley entered the Gulf of Mexico waters off the shore of Grayton Beach in his rented kayak for an expected one-hour fishing trip.
Approximately 8 a.m.: Smelley began to realize the water was not as calm as he thought and the wind was strong. Smelley said he noticed he had drifted about 400 yards off shore.
1:24 p.m.: The Walton County Sheriff's Office was contacted by Smelley's family. It handled the case as a welfare check, and a deputy was dispatched to Grayton Beach.
The situation quickly escalated to search-and-rescue mode. An incident command was set up by the department on the shore where Smelley originally entered the water. Agencies began working together, with a 45-foot response boat from Coast Guard Station Destin, a Sikorsky MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter, two South Walton Fire District jet skis, one Walton County Sheriff's department jet ski, two FWC boats, two FWC deputies on the beach and an Okaloosa County Sheriff's Office 28-foot Ambar boat – a rigid-hull inflatable watercraft used by many rescue and fire departments – assisting in the search.
2 p.m.: Coast Guard Petty Officer Third Class Garrett Hedspeth, leader of the 45-foot response boat, along with another crew member and an engineer were notified that Smelley was missing.
2:38 p.m.: Hedspeth and his crew were en route from Destin to Grayton Beach, about 18 miles east.
Sometime in the afternoon: Smelley noticed two Coast Guard helicopters that come close to spotting him but ended up flying by without seeing him.
Smelley tried for an hour to paddle to shore, then decided to try to catch a fish in case he needed to eat.
7:03 p.m.: The sun set.
7:12 p.m.: A Coast Guard airplane spotted Smelley about 2 1/2 miles offshore in the last leg of the search pattern. A Coast Guard helicopter was diverted and employed a rescue swimmer to make sure Smelley was OK.
Morgan's boat Hey Baby was closer than the Coast Guard vessel so got there first to recover Smelley, along with his kayak, and bring them back to Destin.
Anna Snyder covers high school sports and University of Alabama softball and football recruiting for The Tuscaloosa News. Reach her at asnyder@gannett.com. Follow her on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, @annaesnyder2