KNYSNA NEWS - A young boy from Hornlee in Knysna came to the rescue of SANParks during the weekend when he spotted one of their dinghies drifting in the lagoon and called on the crew of Knysna Charters to rescue the boat.

Eleven-year-old Benito Titus was out with his family at the jetty opposite the SANParks offices on Thesen Island on Saturday 16 January, simply casting their lines on a beautiful summer's day.

Young Benito thoroughly enjoys being around the water. "I just love fishing and boats so much, but the boats are better and are my favourite," he said with a smile.

Just after 12:00, he suddenly spotted something drifting in the lagoon. "I saw the boat and I ran to try and get some help." This is when he called on the help of Hans Viljoen and the crew at Knysna Charters, a private boat charter company on the island. 

"We were a bit confused at first as to why he was running up to us, but as soon as he explained that there was a loose boat drifting in the lagoon we knew we had to do something to help," Viljoen said.

Knysna Charters launched their boat, The Oyster, and let Benito tag along as they set out to fetch the dinghy. 

"Luckily the boat wasn't manned, so all it took was a simple tow back to the jetty," Viljoen explained. Once they returned the boat to the jetty, they informed SANParks that its boat had drifted off but was safely back again. 

Manager of the Knysna section of the Garden Route National Park, Megan Taplin, said the boat drifted away "after the rope with which it was tethered to the jetty broke". She explained that it wasn't noticed immediately as their rangers "were not in the immediate vicinity but busy with patrols in other areas" at the time.

Taplin said they are immensely grateful to Benito as well as the crew from Knysna Charters. 

"What a star he [Benito] is and a good young citizen for taking the initiative to call for help! We hope that Bonito might be a young Knysna Lakes ranger in the making!" 

Surely enough Benito shares this vision, and when speaking to KPH he said, "I want to train for SANParks as a ranger one day, especially on the boats because I love them so much."

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