Philippe Morin
Northern News Services
Friday, February 19, 2007

PAULATUK - After spending two days stranded on an ice floe in Cape Parry and being rescued by parachuters, Twin Otter planes, a Hercules C-130 and a Cormorant helicopter, Paulatuk Hunter Bill Wolki didn't even return home.

He just kept hunting, said his family. "He sounded tired, but he's doing okay," said his brother-in-law James Ruben jr.

"He said he's going to go about three more days because he's got a lot of hunting left to do."

The story begins on Feb.16, as Wolki took a boat to go hunting.

Ruben said his brother-in-law was looking for seal, and travelling in a party of three.

At one point, Wolki was alone in a small boat, which was caught by high winds.

He drifted out towards Cape Parry in the Amundsen Gulf, which is north of Paulatuk. Once there, he found refuge on an ice floe.

His partners on the shore called the RCMP and informed them of the situation. They called the military, and a substantial rescue operation was launched.

Robert Bradbury, Maritime Coordinator for the armed forces based in Winnipeg, said the Armed Forces were notified at 1:30 Mountain Time on Feb.16.

A Hercules C-130 plane was called from the 17-Wing base in Winnipeg, and two Twin Otter planes were called from the 440 Squadron in Yellowknife, with one Twin Otter coming from Rankin Inlet.

The Hercules arrived on the scene at 11:55pm, he said, and dropped night illumination flares throughout the area.

One such flare landed next to Wolki, and a Twin Otter plane spotted him.

Having seen Wolki, two parachutists from Winnipeg's 435 squadron were launched from the Hercules aircraft.

In complete darkness, they parachuted towards the flares and landed on the slippery ice.

When they landed, they found Wolki and assessed he was in good condition, before building a survival shelter. With the winds howling all around, they prepared to wait out the night.

Bradbury said it was safe to send parachutists, but not to arrange pickup in strong winds.

He said a local helicopter from Inuvik was called to extract the three individuals at sunrise.

However, he said, the small helicopter was unable to take off in the morning, because winds were too strong.

The military then called for a Cormorant Helicopter from Sitka Alaska, which stopped in Whitehorse and Norman Wells on the way to drop off cargo and refuel.

The Cormorant arrived around 9pm on Feb.17, and airlifted the three men to safety.

The two parachutists spent the night in Inuvik, while Wolki went right to the Brown's Harbor hunting camp, which is a few hours snowmobile ride north of Paulatuk.

He is expected to return home in a few days.

"We saw no reason to bring him anywhere else than where he wanted to go," Bradbury said, adding that Wolki was judged to be in good health.

Ruben said he's thankful Wolki is okay, and said his survival was probably helped by the fact he's an experienced outdoorsman.

"Oh yes, everybody in the community was worried. Everyone is worried when something like that happens," he said.

He added: "Everyone is so relieved."