Six people are cold, but otherwise unharmed after being plucked from the water near Mayne Island by a BC Ferries rescue boat.
It happened just after 9:30 a.m. on Sunday near Georgina Point, when a 21 foot runabout with four people on board was sunk by a large wave, said the Coast Guard’s Joint Rescue Coordination Centre.
After about 10 minutes in the water, a pair of kayakers attempted to come to their aid, only to have their own boats flipped by another large wave, said rescue officials.
BC Ferries spokesperson Deborah Marshall said the nearby Spirit of Vancouver Island was called to assist and launched its rescue boat, pulling all six people from the water.
No one was seriously injured, but the Coast Guard said the boaters were suffering from minor hypothermia.
“They’re very cold. Coast Guard has taken the folks that were in the runabout, and the two kayakers were brought to shore with their kayaks,” Marshall said.
Marshall said it’s not unusual for ferry crews to be called to help with a rescue.
“On average, we perform about 24 rescues in a year. Our crews are well trained to do this. We have had quite a few actually this summer,” she said.
“But we have 500 sailings a day up and down the coat in the summer time, so often we are the closest vessel that can offer assistance.”
The Coast Guard said all of the rescued boaters were wearing life jackets at the time.
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