None other than off duty Coast Guard member Thomas Kerr and Shirley VFD chief Donovan Ray. Kudos to both.

Thank you for the update. Awaiting status of person pulled from water.

Our unit brought our 2 RHIBS to attend the scene. On a calm day it takes about 20-25 minutes to get to JR at 30knts. It was clear to us upon exiting Sooke Harbour, passing Whiffin Spit into the open waters of Juan de Fuca Strait, it would be much longer in arriving. Facing 8-10 foot seas, we exited the harbour and headed for Jordan River.

As we passed Otter Point, 8 miles away from our base, a USGC Helo from Port Angeles quickly passed overhead. They had heard the MAYDAY call and proceeded for Jordan River. It’s wonderful to know that our two countries have no boundaries when it comes to situations like this and all hands available are there to assist. We have encountered this numerous times over the past years. Working together to get the tasking done.

We could also hear the sirens of police, ambulance and fire racing to the scene from Sooke and we could make our the flashing lights on Sooke Rd. Shirley Fire Rescue would likely have been the first tasked and the first to make it to Jordan River.

At Sheringham Lighthouse we stopped the boats to receive a transmission from Coast Guard Radio. An update to the situation. A surfer(s) had witnessed the boat being overturned from shore and one of them headed out on their board to assist the person. They had successfully brought the person back to shore to the waiting EMS.

However, two other people in ocean kayaks decided they would also try to lend a helping hand and proceeded out in the direction of the overturned boat. They seemed to be having difficulties after and reports had them overturned a couple of times. Coast Guard wanted us to assist them now. Keep in mind that JR is a great surfing spot so these waves are very large right now considering the weather we’ve been having and the wind storms.

As we arrived on scene both USCG and Canadian Coast Guard Helo’s were present, one on land ready to take the patient if needed and the other flying around to assist again if needed until the kayakers were brought safely to shore.

We quickly located the overturned vessel but left that to lend a hand to the kayakers. They were approx. 0.25nm off shore and were stationary in the water. The Spirit of Sooke took one of the kayakers and put them on the boat and quickly took him to shore because he didn’t think he would be able to safely make it back in . The other kayaker said he didn’t need any help and he made his way safely back to shore under his own power, with us closely following behind.

After everyone was safely brought back to shore we started our search of the overturned vessel but we only had a moment before the sun finally dipped into the ocean rending us helpless to locate it in those heavy seas.

In my opinion it probably went under the water to the bottom. The bow was just poking out of the water when we first located it, so it clearly had poor flotation and it would probably would only take a couple of those large waves to send it to its final resting position.

It took us another hour to navigate back to our base in the Sooke Harbour in the dark with those large waves.

Very pleased to say all crew performed extremely well. Proud to call all of them crew mates and would like to thank the CG Helo and the USCG Helo as well.

I don’t know who the surfer was that managed to get the person out of the water, but would like to extend a huge thank you as well for risking it all and bringing him safely back to shore to the waiting EMS. Well done.

And another big thanks to the ocean kayakers who also put it out on the line to assist. Thank you very much for trying. Greatly appreciated.

I don’t know the status of the person taken to hospital, but if I find out I will update this and let everyone know.

Unit 37 out!

For more information on our unit, please visit our official website at http://www.ccga37.org

In doing so it was noted that we have some great training footage on YouTube and Global National asked if they could use it in their piece. Of course we’d agree to that!

I’ve asked when the story will run and they thought it might be this weekend. Either way, if you miss it, we’ll be given a copy of the footage so we can showcase it on our website.

If you’d like to see the whole training footage, please click the link below.

watch?v=XNfNnmT_TM4

Approximately 7pm last Thursday, the night shift received a page 2, empty dinghy adrift in Sooke Harbour. 5 crew arrived at the Spirit of Sooke and off they went to investigate this boat. It only took 5 minutes to locate. It was in rough shape, had a lot of debris and green algae in the bottom and didn’t appear to have been used recently. Most likely came off a dock or the shore.

We attached a tow line to it and proceeded to bring it back to our home base.

Following is the RCMP write-up about this mission.

“A 25 year old Michigan man was rescued by the Canadian Coast Guard Auxiliary yesterday evening, after a failed attempt to swim across the Sooke Basin. Sooke RCMP responded to a call for assistance from the Rescue Coordination Centre, and attended the Basin to view the man floundering in the water. The Coast Guard Auxiliary were ultimately able to coordinate the location of the swimmer with RCMP and Fire personnel on scene. The man was fished out of the water and was found to be incoherent and shivering.

“He was found to be wearing only swim trunks” said Sooke RCMP Corporal Scott Hilderley. “He was transported by ambulance to the hospital to be treated for hypothermia. With the quick onset of that condition, combined with the tides and the current, he was lucky to have been rescued in time. Without the quick response from the Auxiliary Coast Guard, Fire Department and Police, the likelihood that he would have survived would have been minimal. As it now stands, he has firsthand wisdom of “what not to do” to impart to his future kids and grandkids.”

Cpl Scott Hilderley
Sooke RCMP

Also, we have a video outlining the event, please watch the video here.

Sooke Swimmer

We are always looking for new volunteers. Please contact us if you are interested in learning more on being a volunteer with the Canadian Coast Guard Auxiliary Pacific.

watch?v=XNfNnmT_TM4

We are leaving the dock at 18:30 hrs and should arrive back at dock around 21:00 hrs.

If anyone has any questions or comments, pleaes feel free to let us know.

We are always looking for new members. You do not need to be experiences, nor do you need to have any formal training. Once you become a member, the Sooke Coast Guard Aux. will train you in all aspects of SAR related training.

For more information or if you have any questions, please feel free to contact us.

We look forward to hearing from you.