Chris Smelley knew within an hour of leaving the shore to go fishing in his kayak off the Florida Gulf Coast on Thursday morning that he was in trouble.

The Sylacauga High head football coach and former South Carolina quarterback left his family’s Grayton Beach vacation spot about 7:30 a.m. CST for what he expected to be an hour or two of fishing and relaxation.

What followed was a long day on the water that Smelley will never forget.

“I went out with nothing,” he told AL.com on Friday morning.

“It was really calm on the shore when I went out. I didn’t have a life jacket or anything. But the wind blew me out pretty quickly. I got out about a half mile from the coast, and I knew right away I was in trouble. I made three really hard paddles, giving it all I could, and was still moving backward.

“I knew this wasn’t good.”

By late morning, Smelley’s wife, Josie, was worried. By early afternoon, a lot of other people were as well.

The Walton County Sheriff’s Department posted on social media at midday that a search was on for Smelley. The Coast Guard joined in, as did Smelley’s friends. As the sun went down – approximately 7:15 p.m. – he was found and rescued. He said his lips were a bit sunburned, but he had no other injuries.

“The big takeaway for me is the absolute power of prayer,” he said.

“I know there was a network of people praying for me in Tuscaloosa and in Birmingham and in Sylacauga. When I got back, I saw so many messages from coaches and players. It was really overwhelming. God is good.”

The Journey

The 37-year-old Smelley, a record-setting high school quarterback at American Christian in Tuscaloosa and former ACA head coach, said his wife helped carry his kayak to the Gulf before he went out.

His goal was to catch a few Spanish mackerel. He thought about taking his cell phone with him but didn’t.

“I was going to take it and had a Ziploc bag with me but just decided not to,” he said. “I usually go out for about an hour. I’ve done it so many times I just took it for granted. Lesson learned on that.”

As he quickly drifted out, Smelley saw signs of trouble.

“I had two trolling lines behind me,” he said. “The wind was blowing me so far back; the baits were in front of me. That told me right there that I wasn’t going in the right direction.

“I saw a lifeguard out Wednesday on the beach. My first thought was, ‘Man, this is going to be embarrassing if they have to come save me on a Sea-Doo.’ I was just hoping a boat would come out. By about 10, I had a feeling the only way I was going to get rescued was a Coast Guard helicopter, and that’s what happened.

“I just didn’t expect it to be at 7:30 p.m.”

The search begins

Smelley’s wife later told him she started worrying about 10:30 a.m. and began texting people for help. He said approximately 11:30 is when lifeguards and authorities got involved.

Eddie Morgan, a longtime family friend who owns Harbor Docks’ restaurant in Destin, was called to help find Smelley about 2 p.m.

“Chris’ wife called my father asking for help,” Morgan said. “My dad was out of town and called me and told me about the situation and asked me if I could help, so that’s what I did.”

Morgan said he reached out to Josie to make sure the correct authorities were contacted.

Morgan said she already had contacted the Coast Guard in Panama City, and he contacted the Coast Guard out of Destin, knowing they were closer. The guard had a helicopter out of Mobile join the search.

By the time one of Morgan’s boats was ready to join the search, it was approximately 3:30 p.m.

“We didn’t really know where to start,” Morgan said.

“By the time we got to Grayton, it was probably 4:30. At that point, Chris had been on the water for eight hours. We didn’t know if he was injured. Was he still on the kayak? With a Northwest wind, we thought he was potentially 8-10 miles out, and we headed that way. We could see the Coast Guard vessels and helicopter, so we looked offshore of them.”

Smelley, meanwhile, was in waiting mode.

“Sometimes, I kept fishing to pass the time,” he said.

“I was really just having to sit there. When I had gotten what I thought was four or five miles offshore, the wind was really whipping. It was almost like a cold Antarctica situation. I was just out there, and nature was having its way with me. The waves were big. I almost turned over about three times. It definitely turned into a survival type feeling. I wasn’t in calm waters.”

Morgan and the rescuers were trying to keep a positive mindset.

“We knew if he was on the kayak, he was OK,” Morgan said.

“He was going to be found eventually. That is what I told his wife. That is obviously optimistic. We didn’t know if he was still on the kayak. He could have been knocked off by a wave. A million things could have happened. Maybe he hooked a shark, and it drug his kayak was off the beach. That can happen. But I also knew Chris is young and healthy. He’s a former Division 1 athlete. He is definitely more equipped to handle the physical aspect of staying out there than most.”

Desperate times, desperate measures

Smelley said he felt safe the entire day but as time passed, he considered his options.

“The rescue helicopter that was flying got pretty close and missed me on two occasions,” he said. “The second time, it had started getting dark. I put my paddle in the air and screamed as loud as I could, but it kept going. It was at that moment, I started looking at the sun going down and, in my mind, I’m thinking I’m about to spend the night out here.”

Smelley said he could still vaguely see the shore at that point.

The waters had calmed a bit.

“I made up my mind that I was going to paddle as hard as I could,” he said. “I paddled for about an hour straight, and I could tell I was moving at least a bit closer. Then I started thinking about my energy running out. So, I threw my fishing line out and hooked a two-foot-long shark sucker (remora).”

Smelley’s plan was to clean the fish – he did have his tackle box – and eat it raw for energy.

“I don’t think it’s on a sushi menu,” he said. “It probably wouldn’t have tasted that great.”

The rescue

Morgan knew the sun going down wasn’t a good sign for his friend.

“I didn’t think it was good news obviously,” Morgan said. “We had talked about if we tried to go back out in the morning there would be no way for us to find him with a drift like that and not knowing if he was on the kayak or really having any information. By the next day, he might be 20 or more miles out. There would be no way to even guess where he was.”

A second helicopter had joined the search.

However, as it got darker, Morgan said he and his crew had started to give up hope for the night and head back to shore. He said the second helicopter looked to be returning as well, possibly to refuel.

“But while we were preparing to go home, we saw it turn around,” he said. “When that happened, we knew something had developed. We held tight at our location.”

A Coast Guard plane had located Smelley. The helicopter circled back to his location. Morgan contacted the Coast Guard to ask if he could help. They eventually got back with him and asked him to go pick up his friend.

“I was just about to clean that fish when I heard the helicopter,” Smelley said. “Man, I was glad to throw that thing back in the water.”

End of the night

A first responder from the helicopter reached Smelley first and checked on his health. A few moments later, Smelley saw a boat headed his way.

“I was on the bow when we got to him,” Morgan said. “He looked at me and said, ‘Eddie?’ I said, ‘There are a lot of people worried about you. Get in the damn boat.’”

Morgan said he believes Smelley was found approximately 2.5 or 3 miles off the beach, maybe 4-5 miles East of where he initially put in. Smelley said it seemed more like 7 or 8 miles.

“He told me he thought he was maybe twice as far off the beach before that and maybe worked his way back, but when you are on a kayak your sense can be heavily distorted,” Morgan said.

The group returned to Morgan’s restaurant. Smelley’s parents were already there, and his wife and kids soon joined them.

“There were a lot of hugs,” Smelley said.

The group had dinner and was able to watch the second half of the Alabama basketball team’s Sweet 16 win over No. 1 seed North Carolina in the NCAA tournament.

Smelley, a Tuscaloosa native, transferred back to Alabama to play baseball after starting his college career as a quarterback at South Carolina. Morgan also attended the University.

“It ended up being one hell of a night,” Morgan said.

The final message

Smelley said his Sylacauga players held a prayer vigil about 6:30. The Coast Guard found him 45 minutes to an hour later.

“I love for them to know that prayers can be answered,” he said. “I feel like the Lord will use this experience in a positive way.”

The Smelley family will spend their final vacation day on the beach today before heading home.

“If I do any fishing, I’m sure it will be from the shore,” he said. “It’s a beautiful day. Hopefully, it will be a lot more relaxing for everyone.”