Brent Reaney
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (Aug 10/05) - A near-emergency rescue on Great Slave Lake this past Sunday was a false alarm, although a group of boaters spent an evening on an island about 12 miles outside Yellowknife.

Having just bought his used boat two days earlier, Joey Day was surprised by engine problems during a Saturday evening outing on the big lake.

Day's group of Michael LeBlanc, Michael Jr. and another youth left for a four-hour tour of Great Slave Lake about 6:30 p.m. Saturday evening.

"It all looked good," he said of a tour and inspection in Long Lake earlier that afternoon, except for a hole in the gas line he learned about later. "And who really looks at the gas tank when they buy a car?"

At around 10:40 p.m., just as they were turning around, the engine stalled because of the leak in the fuel line.

"I figured the best thing to do was to give the kids something to do, so I did: paddle," said the 45-year-old, who has past experience in search and rescue missions years ago in British Columbia.

The crew made it to the nearest island, built a fire, called for help on Day's cell phone, and waited.

Bernie Payne was at work that night at the Salvation Army.

'I didn't hesitate'

"I didn't hesitate, I just took off," he said.

"I knew about where he was," but after searching for about five hours "it just got too dark, so three o'clock I came in."

After an evening around the fire, the group moved to another island around 7 a.m. to catch some fish for breakfast.

Payne, along with Bill Booth, and Greg Martin, brought Day a 25-gallon drum of gas soon after.

While all this was happening, the wind began to pick up and a small craft warning was in effect for Great Slave Lake. Waves taller than a metre were reported.

After receiving a call from LeBlanc's concerned wife, who did not know what happened to her husband, the RCMP and the auxiliary coast guard were assembled early that afternoon.

Day's 17-foot boat pulled into the Fisheries and Oceans dock just as the search party was getting ready to go out on an extended search.

Police advise boaters to tell someone where they are going before leaving town, and to carry a marine VHF radio with a license. A trip plan can also be filed with the RCMP.