Hey Baby: How a Destin restaurateur played a key role in gulf rescue of Chris Smelley
Tina Harbuck
Chris Smelley launched off Grayton Beach early Thursday before South Walton Fire District Beach Safety lifeguards were on duty. The lifeguards patrol the beaches 9 a.m. until 7 p.m.
Smelley, a 37-year-old former South Carolina quarterback who was a high school star and later football coach at his alma mater, American Christian Academy in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, went out kayak fishing on Thursday, March 28, while on a beach vacation.
Once South Walton Fire District Beach Officer Austin Kisner was contacted by friends of the family that Smelley had been out on the water for longer than usual, he contacted his on-duty lieutenant and beach safety director, and they started a land search.
Once the land search was completed, a “massive water search,” began, according to Kisner.
The South Walton Fire District put two jet skis on the water. The Walton County Sheriff’s Office had one, as well, as did other agencies.
Kisner, who was handling the jet ski operation, said they covered an area of 5 square miles offshore, from Grayton east to the Bay County line.
RELATED:Timeline of Coast Guard rescue of Chris Smelley, former South Carolina QB who went missing
“We completed it with nothing found on our end. At that point, it was a Coast Guard matter,” Kisner said.
Collin McManus, who was a lifeguard on duty with the South Walton Fire District, rode one of the jet skies. He said they were out about six hours.
Kisner said they never saw Smelley on the water.
As for the family: They stayed on the beach near the command post the entire time. “They seemed worried but very hopeful,” Kisner said.
Hey Baby to the rescue
When Eddie Morgan of Harbor Docks restaurant in Destin got a call from his dad, Charles, telling him that their friend Chris Smelley was in trouble on the water, he jumped into action.
Morgan called the Destin Coast Guard to let that agency know they would be assisting in the search, and that they would stay in contact if they could help in any way.
Morgan and Capt. Kevin Moak boarded the Hey Baby, a 1974 30-foot G&S boat owned by Charles Morgan, at 3:30 p.m. and headed east to Grayton Beach.
Morgan said they got to the Grayton area about 4:30. It was right before dark when they found Smelley, Morgan said.
Moak and Morgan said they could tell something had happened when the Coast Guard helicopter had turned around and then hovered over a certain area.
The Coast Guard radioed over and had them stand by for a few minutes while their diver contacted Smelley and made sure he was safe. At that point, they called the Hey Baby in to support.
Morgan was standing on the bow as they pulled up to Smelley, now head football coach at Sylacauga High School in Alabama.
“We pulled up to him ... he looked up and said, ‘Eddie.’ I said, 'Yeah. There are a lot of people worried about you. You need to get in the damn boat,'” Morgan recalled.
“He was happy to see a familiar face,” Morgan said.
Smelley declined to board the Coast Guard boat. He wanted to ride back on the Hey Baby.
“He said when he saw a little boat with a cobia tower getting close to him, he knew exactly who it was,” Morgan said.
Morgan and Moak loaded him onto the Hey Baby and brought him back to the Harbor Docks restaurant in Destin. Smelley's parents were there, and his wife and kids showed up shortly after. On the ride back to the restaurant, Smelley checked in with people and rested.
A celebration feast
Morgan said the restaurant fed them all dinner. He doesn't recall exactly what Smelley ordered, but he remembers seeing "a ridiculous amount of sushi" being brought to that table. As everyone ate, they watched on TV as Alabama beat North Carolina in the NCAA men's basketball tournament. He noted that the Smelleys are from Tuscaloosa and big Crimson Tide fans.
Smelley played a season of baseball at Alabama after his football career at South Carolina ended.
Later, Morgan asked Smelley: When did you really think you were in trouble after you launched the kayak off Grayton Beach?
“As soon as I left, I knew I was in trouble,” Smelley told Morgan.
He went on to tell Morgan that the first time he stopped and tried to paddle back in and got nowhere, then it was just a matter of “waiting and hoping.”
Morgan said that Smelley told him he spent most of the day “floating, fishing and waiting.”
“The three or four times he tried to make a move toward shore, he was unsuccessful. So, he decided to just save his energy,” Morgan said.
When Smelley was rescued, just before 7:15 p.m., he had drifted about 2 miles down the beach from where he launched. Morgan said he was just a little west of Seagrove Beach when he was found.
“He was glad to see us ... he couldn’t wipe that smile off his face,” Morgan said.
Right before he was rescued, Smelley had caught a remora, Moak said. But he soon threw it overboard.
Smelley has been friends with the Morgan family for 25 plus years.