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Vancouver Marine Rescue July 02, 2018

On July 2nd 2018 at 1300 hrs, Constable Courtenay MULHERN and I were just starting afternoon shift at the Vancouver Police Marine Unit located near Canada Place in Vancouver Harbour. It was turning into a nice sunny afternoon thanks to a strong westerly moving a high cloud cover out to the east. There had been a gale warning for the area in the early morning with sustained westerly winds of 40 knots, which allowed the swells to build across Georgia Strait and into English Bay. As the swells funneled into the First Narrows toward the Lions Gate Bridge, they were met by an ebbtide flowing outbound at just over 3 knots. This commonly creates standing waves of four to five feet through this section of water. At approximately 1330 hrs, a “MAY DAY Relay” was broadcast by the Victoria Coast Guard radio station on VHF channel 16. A report was received by the Joint Rescue Coordination Center of an overturned “Raft” in the area of the First Narrows, west of the Lions Gate Bridge, with several people in the water. We immediately headed out from our wharf and within minutes, we were in the area, and commenced searching for the overturned “Raft”. We were joined by the RCMSAR crew from the North Vancouver Station, the Port of Vancouver Harbour Master’s vessel VFPA 5 and the Canadian Coast Guard vessel Laredo Sound from the Kitsilano Base at the entrance of False Creek. The seas in the area were approximately 4 to 5 foot standing waves, making it difficult to see in the troughs of the swells for the raft and any people in the water. A search from the Lions Gate Bridge west for approximately a half mile, failed to turn up any sign of the raft or its occupants. As we continued to search westbound, an outbound deep-sea freighter, aware of the search underway, had all available crew out on the deck searching for the overturned vessel. The crew of the freighter spotted the overturned vessel approximately 2 miles west of the Lions Gate Bridge and 1 mile off shore. The freighter stated that a sailboat was in the area of the overturned vessel. We started heading toward the direction described by the freighter and subsequently caught sight of a sailboat tacking in the area. As we set a course for the sailboat, we were able to get short glimpses of a yellow hull in the swells. As we arrived on scene, we determined that we had four people in the water clinging to an overturned 30 foot outrigger canoe. The swells were cresting over the outrigger and the four people in the water. As I brought the Larry Young alongside of the craft, Courtenay opened the Dive Door on our Portside. I recall looking down and seeing one of the paddlers, Daniel, and one of his partners, under about 2 feet of water every time a wave would roll over them. Due to the time that they had spent in the water, 30 to 40 minutes, Courtenay and I had to physical pull them both in through the Dive Door. AS we were pulling them into our vessel, the RCMSAR vessel was on the opposite side of the outrigger pulling the other two paddlers out of the water. The Canadian Coast Guard vessel, Laredo Sound, had attended to the sailing vessel, Simply Dreaming and retrieved the last 2 paddlers that had been rescued by Gord and Sumi in their Catalina 445. We then transferred Daniel and his partner onto the Laredo Sound where they could receive medical attention and immediate transportation to ambulance crews waiting at the Kitsilano base. The Port of Vancouver Harbour Master’s vessel, VFPA 5 then secured the outrigger and towed it to the Coast Guard Base in False Creek. Fortunately, there were no major injuries and only two of the six required transport to hospital for possible hypothermia treatment. The group believes that they were flipped and floating in the water for 30-40 minutes before they were rescued. Some learning points from this incident are: Always wear an approved and properly fitted PFD Attach a plastic whistle to your PFD Have at least one waterproof VHF radio, set to the area’s emergency hailing channel, with your group Be aware of the weather, tides and currents and their effects for the area you are boating in.