A boater is fortunate to be alive after spending approximately three hours in the waters near Nanoose Bay after his vessel capsized Monday evening (Sept. 23).
A woman and her daughter heard screaming while kayaking near Wallis Point close to Nanoose Harbour and called 911, according to the Canadian Coast Guard.
The Joint Rescue Centre in Victoria took over co-ordination of the rescue and sent out the CCGS Cape Cockburn and a fast response craft, as well as RCMSAR 27 to respond.
Coast Guard’s Marine Communications and Traffic Services broadcast the mayday and two vessels, the Empress III and NPA Osprey, were close by and responded.
The Empress III water taxi arrived on scene first and found a person in the water, hanging on to an overturned skiff.
The Coast Guard Rescue Specialists on board the fast response craft, French Creek 1, administered immediate first aid.
"The person was wearing a life jacket but had been in the water for approximately three hours and was severely hypothermic," the coast guard said in an emailed statement to the PQB News.
A member of RCMSAR 27 assisted the coast guard on the French Creek 1 as the patient was transported to Schooner Cove, where they were handed over to BC Emergency Health Services.
RCMSAR 27 recovered the overturned skiff and brought it to the dock.
"This rescue was a result of the initial 911 call from the two kayakers and the quick responses from our French Creek lifeboat and Fast Response crews, our response partners from RCMSAR 27, and the two vessels of opportunity Empress III and NPA Osprey," the Canadian Coast Guard said in its statement.
BC EHS said it received a call at 7:20 p.m. and sent an ambulance with primary care paramedics to meet the coast guard vessel in the 3500-block of Dolphin Drive. Paramedics provided emergency medical treatment to one patient who was transported to hospital.
