Wearing a life-jacket and a little bit of luck made all the difference Thursday for a 66-year-old Mono Township man.
A leisurely boat ride on a sunny fall day on Georgian Bay turned dangerous sometime prior to 11:30 a.m. when the lone occupant of a small pleasure craft went overboard alone into the cold water of Sturgeon Bay just north of the Town of Waubaushene, Tay Township, an OPP news release said.
The man inflated his life-jacket and had to tread water and swim for more than an hour until he was able to pull himself onto a rock shoal and out of the 10.5 C water.
Near 11:30 a.m. a retired OPP officer and his spouse, who have a home overlooking the water, just happened to glance out over the bay prior to sitting down to watch a noon-hour TV show. They noticed an unusual object with a speck of yellow on one of the many shoals that protrude out of the water approximately 400 meters off shore. Concerned, they called the OPP Communication Centre, which resulted in a quick response by an officer, who relayed information to an OPP Marine Unit heading from the Southern Georgian Bay OPP Detachment.
At approximately 2 p.m. two officers aboard the OPP vessel Thomas P. Coffin found the man and brought him aboard. He was suffering from signs of hypothermia, the release said. Police took the man to waiting paramedics, who triaged and transported the patient to an area hospital, where he remains receiving medical treatment.
Officers credit the survival of male to the fact of wearing a colourful life-jacket which was inflated shortly after going overboard and the good fortune of being spotted by the callers on shore.
The Southern Georgian Bay OPP Detachment maintains a marine unit late into the fall season. For interactive boating information with equipment requirements at your fingertips police suggest viewing the following marine safety information site - Better Boater - Become a Better Boater Today and always remember to put that life-jacket on before heading out on the bay.
