Three Vancouver Island teens were pulled from the frigid waters of Georgia Strait after their inflatable plastic dinghy capsized.
The teens, between 15 and 19 years of age, were rescued by the crew of HMCS Whitehorse around 9 p.m. Thursday. They had fallen into the water while attempting a return trip from Maude Island to Lantzville in what was essentially an inflatable pool toy that capsized, said the commander of a passing navy ship. Luckily, they managed to grab hold of a large piece of styrofoam floating nearby and cling to it until help arrived.
Lt.-Cmdr. Jim Sprang, commanding officer of Whitehorse, said his crew spotted the boys and initially thought they were on a small raft. But as they drew closer, the crew realized something was wrong and the boys started calling for help. All three were soaking wet, having fallen in the water when their dinghy capsized.
"We stopped the ship and sent a boat to investigate," Sprang said. "When we got there we saw that they in fact were not in a boat but on a large piece of styrofoam and none of the individuals were wearing life-jackets."
Maj. Chuck Grenkow of the Joint Rescue Co-ordination Centre in Victoria said the boys wouldn't have been able to survive for more than a couple of hours in the water, which hovers between 13-15 C.
"Thank goodness youth have ability to sustain long exposure to the cold," he said. "But still, they were pushing it out there. It was not that warm out there."
During the day there are a fair number of boats travelling through the area, but in the evenings there is little marine traffic so it was lucky the Whitehorse found them, Grenkow said.
The boys were part of a group of five teens who had headed out in three inflatable pool rafts from Nanoose Harbour to Maude Island earlier in the evening. The trio was headed back to Lantzville when their five-foot rubber dinghy started to deflate. The capsized craft was found floating nearby shortly after they were brought on board Whitehorse.
The other two boys were located a short time later with the other two inflatable dinghies on the shores of Maude Island by the Whitehorse crew who offered them a safe ride back to shore.
"It was getting dark and my team was quite insistent that they accept our hospitality for the transportation," Sprang said.
All five boys were checked out by waiting paramedics and then sent home with their parents.
No one seems to know where the piece of styrofoam that saved the boys came from, but Sprang said it likely broke off from a finger float at a nearby marina.
"It certainly wasn't suitable for three young men to be crossing a mile of open water on," he said. "But, it was better than swimming."
Sprang said his crew has seen a number of unusual incidents while patrolling the waters of Georgia Strait.
"Working in a maritime environment, we often see people that aren't fully prepared for their transit," he said. "In this case, it was maybe on the extreme end of not being fully prepared but I was certainly surprised to see these young men crossing in what were essentially pool toys."
Back on dry land, Sprang's crew had a few friendly words of advice for the them.
"My crew members passed to them that perhaps they should be utilizing all of the personal equipment that's required as a mariner for the transit, including lifejackets."
HMCS Whitehorse, a Kingston class maritime coastal defense vessel weighing about 1,000 tons, was on routine patrol when the crew spotted the teens. For approximately the past month, the ship and its 35-member crew have been doing a route survey of the seabed in the area. After the rescue, the ship headed back to Canadian Forces Maritime Test Range in Nanoose.
