Hard Aground

By: Dave Longley

The call from the Joint Rescue Coordination Centre in Trenton came shortly after 2200 hrs. It had been a busy mid-summer Saturday on southern Georgian Bay, which unfortunately for one group did not end as happily as it began. Ten people aboard a 32 foot pleasure craft had run hard aground on one of Georgian Bay's many nasty shoals. The boat was holed and had taken on water, though fortunately it remained firmly settled in three to four feet of water. We departed base and arrived on scene less than one hour later. All ten persons on board were uninjured, although some were in a state of near panic. One of these jumped off the grounded boat and swam to the Zodiac before we even had a chance to make contact with the vessel's captain.

Evacuating the remaining nine individuals would prove to be somewhat difficult, as we were unable to come alongside the stricken craft without running aground ourselves. It was decided that our towline would be stretched between the two boats and that all remaining people on board would be guided along it. As my coxswain worked aboard the grounded boat, my crew-partner and I held the Zodiac on station in perilously shallow water and prepared to help the passengers aboard. It was a slow process, taking just over an hour as each person on board donned a PFD (Personal Floatation Device) and walked slowly through the cold, black water to the safety of the waiting Zodiac. As the final stricken boater was helped aboard, the Zodiac eased into deeper waters and headed for port, her load of thirteen cold, wet passengers glad that their adventure was nearly over.