Russell Crowe Rescued By Coastguards: Gets Lift After Getting Lost Kayaking In Long Island
New Zealand-born Australian actor Russell Crowe found himself stranded in the waters off New York's Long Island and was picked up by a U.S. Coast Guard boat and ferried to a harbor, officials said Sunday.
According to U.S. Coast Guard Petty Officer Robert Swieciki, the bearded Oscar-winner was kayaking with a friend and launched from Cold Spring Harbor Saturday afternoon on the Long Island Sound. As darkness approached, the two made their way towards shore, beaching their kayaks in Huntington Bay.
They found themselves nearly 10 miles east from where they had set out.
Swieciki who was patrolling the area, heard cries of help from the shore around 10 p.m. Crowe and his friend, who Swieciki didn't recognize at the time, headed towards the rescue boat. The pair were pulled aboard, along with their kayaks, and given a ride to Huntington Harbor.
"He just needed a little bit of help, he just got a little lost," Swieciki told AP. "It wasn't really a rescue, really, more of just giving someone a lift."
The men sustained no injuries and were wearing their life vests. Swieciki said the grateful "Gladiator" actor seemed like an experienced kayaker.
Crowe later tweeted a thank you message to the officers at approximately 1:30 a.m., and claimed to have been on the water for four and a half hours.
"Thanks to Seth and the boys from the US Coast Guard for guiding the way...4 hrs 30 mins, 7m(11.2km)," he wrote.
He later explained, "We knew where exactly where we were, paddling around from csh into wind, we ran out of day. Grand adventure eh."
Crowe, who is set to star in the biblical epic "Noah" has been involved in quite a few brawls over the years, and like most celebrities, cites being famous as a hindrance. "A whole part of my creative life has been ruined by becoming famous." He told interview Magazine. "1 was the prime observer. I was the person who could just slip into any situation, see what I needed to see. and take the information away. But that way of working has been taken away from me."
He compensates by trying to keep low-key, telling the publication, "there are still ways of walking down the street without being recognized-and without getting a false nose or moustache. If you just change your energy, you can sort of get away with it."