Royal Canadian Marine Search and Rescue volunteers saved two young paddleboarders Thursday after they were swept away from shore and into dangerous waters.
The young women had been paddling around Whytecliff Park when they began to drift.
“Before you know it, with the flooding tide and the inflow winds, they ended up getting pushed between Horseshoe Bay, if you will, and Bowen Island – out in the middle there,” said Jason King, unit chief for RCMSAR Station 1 in Horseshoe Bay. “Once they were out into the open Queen Charlotte Channel, they couldn’t actually make way against the wind and current.”
Luckily, they had a cellphone with them and were able to call 911.
“They were certainly scared,” King said.
The Joint Rescue Co-ordination Centre in Victoria dispatched RCMSAR volunteers who were in their Zodiac within 10 minutes.
From there, it was easy for rescuers to go collect the women and get them back to Whytecliff.
King said neither of them had a personal a floatation device of any kind, which is never advised.
But, he added, they were smart to call for help as soon as they knew they were in trouble.
“It is amazing how quick things can go sideways,” he said. “If they hadn’t gotten the call out, they could have been closer to Anvil Island or Bowyer or Gambier Island. They could have been pushed way far north. It can be quite dangerous out there.”
