Home page

Text size

E-mail this page

SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
After a weekend that brought one of the worst storms of the season, the RCMP are reminding boaters to take precautions before heading out onto the water.

Police issued a news release Friday due to "three incidents of boaters overdue or in distress on Great Slave Lake" the day before. Four people in two sailboats were overdue and had not checked in, so the coast guard auxiliary was called to locate them.

Only one of those sailboats made it back Thursday despite confirmation from the coast guard that they were returning. A party aboard a third vessel, a 20-foot Crestliner powerboat, made a distress call after springing a leak and taking on water. The boaters were able to fix the problem before the coast guard arrived.

"In all incidents, the boaters have been in possession of the appropriate safety equipment, such as satellite phones, GPS, SPOT locating devices or a marine radio," stated the release. "However, the lack of knowledge on the use of the safety equipment and the failure to follow planned/scheduled reporting appears to be the root cause for these incidents."

Two more incidents on Great Slave occurred Saturday, according to RCMP Search and Rescue co-ordinator Jack Kruger.

Two people on board a 23-foot Grampian Maranatha sailboat that did not make it back Thursday, hit a sandbar near Burnt Island, about 40 km southeast of Yellowknife.

The Grampian crew fired a flare, which a search and rescue aircraft happened to notice while searching for a Behchoko family of eight who were missing on a 16-foot Lund. The family was found stranded near a cabin in the Goulet Bay area, 60 km southeast of Yellowknife on Sunday, according to Kruger.

All were assisted by the coast guard out of Yellowknife by Sunday night.

"I think most (incidents) were tied to the wind conditions, but on Thursday it was an issue of not communicating with the people that they said they would," said Kruger, adding he felt all were experienced boaters, except maybe the Behchoko family.

"People are buying high-end, high-tech vessels and going out on an adventure on Great Slave Lake with absolutely no idea of the capability of the vessel, the communications on it or how to use them. We have even had to have the communication ladies at the RCMP tell some people how to use a GPS so we could figure out co-ordinates."

Pietro de Bastiani, who has been conducting boat safety courses with the Great Slave Yacht Club for 20 years, said he had planned to go out this weekend to fish and tour the North Arm. He backed out when he learned from weather reports that there would be white caps and that the winds would rise above the 15 and 20 km/h, or 15 knot range.

He said he shares many of the same concerns outlined by the RCMP and the Canadian Coast Guard Auxiliary, adding that people should strive to make as best use as possible the safety equipment and information that is available.

"There are a lot of experienced boaters up here and there are a lot of people entering the boating market because it is a wonderful place," de Bastiani said this week. "But I don't know if people are making as good use of local knowledge or relying on people with experience to try to become more competent boaters."

Randy Heinrichs was coming off the water late Monday night after a long weekend of boating. He showed Yellowknifer a whole range of survival equipment that he takes with him including a fish finder, a GPS and a marine radio. As well, he had a large white container with survival gear, blankets, mosquito coils, lighters and some food. He has a satellite phone, which he hasn't had to use, but admits he doesn't have a SPOT device.

"It isn't too necessary because your main marine radio has a button on it and if you were having problems you push it to let someone know," he explained.

Fact file

Boat safety equipment

Knowing how to use these pieces of safety equipment can make your voyage safer

Marine radios - Primarily used for picking up weather reports by VHF. These are mostly for when vessels are close to another vessel or to Yellowknife. Once past a 40 km radius from the city, coverage is less reliable.

Satellite phone - Allows a boater anywhere in the NWT to have access to weather information by phone and to call friends or emergency services to advise on the status of a vessel.

SPOT device - Used in a high risk emergency. Allows a boater to send a message to friends or an emergency signal to authorities to pinpoint exactly where a vessel is located.

Global Positioning System (GPS) - An electronic chart commonly used on vessels to pinpoint an exact location, to help a boater navigate, and establish a position or route to take.

Source: Canadian Coast Guard

We welcome your opinions. Click here to e-mail a letter to the editor.