Two boaters in Manitoba are safe and on shore after being marooned on Lake Winnipeg for over six hours.
Saturday evening, Selkirk RCMP said they were told about a boat on Hardmans Lakes.
Mounties said the 81-year-old and 59-year-old boaters, who were fishing, told officers their boat was banked on a sand dune and couldn’t get it to budge.
Police said four boats were sent out to look for the stranded pair, who were able to say they were somewhere north of the Netley boat launch before their cell phone died.
Volunteers from the local fire department also joined the search, RCMP said.
Six hours later, authorities said the stranded boaters were found, and safely brought back to land.
Mounties said that for a safe boating trip, minimum safety equipment requirements for a motorized craft, no more than six metres long, should be followed.
The requirements include:
- an appropriately sized, Canadian-approved personal flotation device or life jacket for each person on board
- a 15 m long buoyant heaving line
- a manual propelling device or anchor with at least 15 m of rope, cable or chain
- a bailer or hand pump
- a sound-signalling device
- navigation lights if the craft is used between sunset and sunrise, or during periods of reduced visibility, like mist and rain
- a class 5BC fire extinguisher for any craft equipped with an inboard motor or fixed fuel tank
- a waterproof flashlight or three Canadian-approved flares (Type A, B or C flares)
- a vessel licence if your craft is outfitted, even temporarily with any motor of 10 hp or more
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