Couple rescued after Vesuvius Bay mishap
Friends help bring in the McPhees' boat, which capsized in Vesuvius Bay on Saturday.
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Updated: August 06, 2009 11:18 AM
Janet McPhee doesn’t downplay the severity of narrowly escaping a capsized boat last weekend, but her laughter as she recalls the details plays up the rescue’s comedic element.
Janet and her husband Richard McPhee had just returned from a successful trip to Thetis Island in their 18-foot double eagle Saturday afternoon. They tied the boat to their buoy in Vesuvius Bay and boarded their canoe to paddle home, where they would get ready to join their friends Darcy Eaton and Andy Doyle for Eaton’s birthday dinner in Maple Bay that night.
Janet noticed the back of the boat was exceptionally low and alerted her husband, who immediately jumped back aboard.
“We didn’t realize that it was sinking,” she said. “We had no idea.”
Within seconds, a crack in the boat’s hull brought on too much water and the boat capsized, sending Richard over one side and Janet into the drink.
“He’s in the water in his only pair of jeans and I’m thinking ‘Can I get these jeans off and in the washer and in the dryer by 5 o’clock tonight when we’re supposed to be at dinner?’” Janet said. “I bet I can.”
Janet, now clinging to their canoe, had her Blackberry between her teeth and her purse around her neck, and called their dinner partners, who also happened to live on the bay with a boat.
“I said, ‘Oh my God, we’re being rescued by four naked men!’”
After Eaton accepted that Janet wasn’t pranking her, Doyle and their children went down to help tow the boat in while she took photos from the house.
A group of “merry muscular mermen of Fulford” had been swimming out on the rocks near the accident and came to the rescue in nanoseconds. They pulled them from the water, righted the canoe and “clearly knew what they were doing,” said Janet. “As soon as I saw their faces, I knew that we were going to be OK,” she said.
The two were injury free except for one bruise on Richard’s back and some minor cuts caused by a broken window.
Emergency professionals also joined in the efforts: the ambulance crew, coast guard, RCMP, Salt Spring Fire Rescue and the Howe Sound Queen’s emergency response team.
“Within an hour of this whole thing, we were sipping champagne in our boat in the bay,” Doyle said.
“It had its humourous moments,” but it was still shocking and awful,” said Janet.
Janet and Richard would like to thank everyone for their reassuring rescue, including their mechanic. If the muscular mermen wish to come forward, the McPhees have some drinks waiting.
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