An alert woman and her daughter likely saved the life of a man clinging to his overturned skiff on Monday evening.
The pair were kayaking off Nanoose Bay when they heard the man’s yells from the choppy waters between Maude Island and Wallis Point and immediately called 911.
The man was wearing a life-jacket, but had been in the water for about three hours and was severely hypothermic, said a spokeswoman for the Canadian Coast Guard.
The Joint Rescue Co-ordination Centre in Victoria tasked the Canadian Coast Guard’s Cape Cockburn ship and fast-response craft French Creek 1 and Royal Canadian Marine Search and Rescue station 27 with responding.
The coast guard broadcast the mayday, and two nearby vessels, the Empress III and NPA Osprey, also responded.
Empress III, a water taxi, arrived first and located a person in the water, hanging on to their overturned skiff.
The coast guard rescue team and a member of RCMSAR 27 on the French Creek 1 administered first aid.
The patient was transported to Schooner Cove, where they were handed over to paramedics for transport to a nearby hospital.
RCMSAR 27 recovered the skiff and brought it to the dock.
The coast guard credited the initial 911 call from the two kayakers and the quick responses from area boats and fast-response crews for saving the man’s life.
