By ALEXANDREA BAILEY
editor@portisabelsouthpadre.com
Longboards Bar and Grill was the setting for a heroic save on Wednesday, Oct. 23.
While on a solo-trip to the Lower Laguna Madre to visit Starbase, Bocca Chica, Kathi Hiett, 77, had rented a paddle board from a water sports rental company for the day. According to Hiett, she has four years of
paddle-boarding experience and the last time she paddled was August 2024.
She says she met with an employee of the rental company at Longboards, located at 205 W Palm St, South Padre Island, at around 11:45 a.m. and was presented with an inflatable paddleboard.
“I said to him, ‘I’ve never seen a paddle board like that before and I’ve paddled before.’ And he said, ‘Well, these are inflatable and you’ll love them. They’re lighter. They’re a little shorter. They’re easier to
maneuver,’” Hiett recounted.
According to her, the instructor showed Hiett how to get on to the paddleboard and she launched off of Longboard’s floating dock. The instructor then departed.
Hiett says everything was fine at first, but after about an hour, she got hot and decided to return to the dock.
“So, I came back to the dock and I went to use the paddle to push myself sideways so that I could get off and on to the dock, and the thing flipped,” said Hiett.
Hiett attempted to push herself back up onto the board but was unsuccessful.
“I tried about four or five times, and I couldn’t – There was no way it was going to happen,” said Hiett.
She called out to a couple of construction workers who were nearby, working on the new development neighboring Longboards. They then alerted daytime bartender Ernesto Corona, but meanwhile, she was drifting farther from the dock. According to Hiett, that’s when she started to panic.
Corona ran from the bar, removed his watch and other belongings, and jumped into the water.
“He said, ‘Don’t worry, we will be fine. Just keep kicking and we will get back to the dock’” recounted Hiett. “Well, we were getting nowhere fast…He got behind the board, and pushed it…and he did it again and
then we got to the dock.”
Then, Hiett and Corona were pulled out of the water, and Corona went straight back to work, dripping wet.
Hiett says she thanked God when her feet hit dry ground again and expressed much gratitude to Corona for coming to her rescue.
“I thought, ‘My guardian angel was with me today,’” said Hiett. “I am so thankful. He really saved my life.”
Corona has been working at Longboards since 2018. He says he’s never experienced something like that there before.
“I’m just glad she’s okay,” said Corona.