A family on a paddle boat had a close call when strong winds at Victoria Beach blew them far from shore on Sunday.
Police said none of the four adults and two young children on the boat were wearing life jackets at the time and charges could be laid.
Inspector Paul McQueen with the Victoria Beach Police said the family had only intended to go a short distance from the shore, but the strong winds ended up pushing them far out, and prevented them from paddling back.
Police said a person in a kayak managed to take life jackets out to the boaters. Another citizen on a jet ski tried to pull them back to shore, but it wasn’t powerful enough.
Police called in the local volunteer fire department, which has a Zodiac inflatable boat. They managed to get all six safely into the boat. Shortly after they got into the Zodiac, a large wave capsized the paddle boat.
“This was a tragedy averted,” McQueen said.
All six made it safely back to shore and no medical attention was required. McQueen estimates they were out on the water for about an hour.
Provincial law dictates that everyone on a water vessel must have access to a life jacket, McQueen said. He said they haven’t determined whether charges will be laid.
Our priority was to get them to shore safely. A report is going to be done and forwarded to the chief, and we’ll determine at that time whether charges should be laid.”
