Yellowknife (Jun 28/06) - Choppy water and torrential rains made enjoying a day on the water difficult on Sunday.

At least three people were stuck waiting-out the storm fronts on shore. A 58-year-old man was declared missing Monday morning, only to turn up safe and sound Monday around 7 p.m. said RCMP Const. Colleen Werrell.

The number of missing boaters is up compared to last year said Const. Colleen Werrell. "It's higher than average, I'd say, this year."

In two months, the bodies of three boaters have been found in the NWT, two near Rae-Edzo and one in the Nahanni National Park. A fourth man from Yellowknife is still missing, last seen in Yellowknife Bay June 18.

The official search for the 43-year-old man was called off last Friday until new evidence is found.

The man who turned up safely was 58-year-old George Williamson.

Const. Roxanne Dreilich said the man was spotted at 4 p.m. near Narrow Islands in the East Arm area by a military Twin Otter plane.

She said the man, who was supposed to be home in Yellowknife by 8 a.m. Monday, had waited out stormy weather on shore.

"It was rough waters due to wind," said Dreilich.

Two other reports of boaters in similar situations were reported she said, but turned up safe.

All were in small boats.

Blair Jensen was the NWT director for the Civil Air Search and Rescue Association (CASARA) for roughly 10 years and said he's not sure why there have been so many drownings so early in the boating season.

Not wearing life jackets could be one reason.

"You'd think in this day and age, you'd wear a life jacket," said Jensen.

He added the cold water temperatures of rivers and lakes in the North could also be a factor.

Bad weather was attributed to at least one of the drownings according to police.

Alcohol is suspected to play a factor in the Yellowknife Bay case.