TILTON — Emergency crews were called twice Sunday to rescue overturned boaters in distress. No one was injured.

About 4 p.m., fire rescue crews responded to a report of four people clinging to two overturned kayaks in the Winnipesaukee River, which is running a little higher than normal because of recent rains, said Tilton-Northfield Fire Department Capt. David Hall.

They found four men in their mid-20s in the river just east of a downtown convenience store near an island in the river, a short distance above a bridge, Hall said. The men were from the Tilton-Northfield area, he said.

The men apparently went through some of the river's choppy rapids and were tossed out of their kayaks.

“They were stopped at a point in the river, they were holding tight to themselves and to the boats,” Hall said.

A firefighter threw the men a “throw bag” — a plastic bag with rope in it — and told them they had to let go of their boats. Once they did, they were all pulled to the shore by rescue crews, he said.

None of the kayakers were hurt. Their kayaks are downstream, caught at the bridge, and will be recovered in the coming days, he said.

“The water is a little high and that makes it a little more dangerous (in the river's rapids near downtown Tilton),” Hall said.

“If you don't have experience kayaking you shouldn't be in that river.”

Earlier, Tilton-Northfield fire crews were called to Silver Lake in Tilton as two canoeists were reported in the water after their boat overturned.

Two local men had lost control of their boat, Hall said, but when rescuers reached a nearby beach, they found the men had been pulled to shore by “good samaritans,” Hall said. The boat had been recovered as well.

One of the men was evaluated by medical teams but had no injuries, he said.

“On nice summer day like that, people are usually there to help you if something like that happens on the lake,” he said.

dseufert@newstote.com