The Coast Guard has had its first major marine incident in local waters since it closed the Kitsilano Coast Guard Base February 19th.
It received a mayday call at 5:15 this morning from two people who were abandoning ship because their 61-foot fishboat was sinking three kilometres west of Point Grey.
Coast Guard officer John Milman says, “A commercial tug , the “Island Tugger” and a deep sea motor vessell “Clipper Ann” both responded to the mayday relay. The tug Island Tugger was the first to arrive on scene and reported sighting two people in the waIer. The tug illuminated the area with search lights. Coast Guard C-A (hovercraft) arrived five minutes later and recovered two persons.”
CKNW’s Laura Baziuk was at Spanish Banks when the hovercraft arrived to transfer the two men to waiting ambulances.
One man wrapped in an orange blanket and strapped to a stretcher yelled out a thank you to one of his rescuers as he was loaded into an ambulance.
His companion was already strapped into his emergency vehicle with the doors closed.
The ambulance doors shut, the massive red hovercraft roared to life, it’s crews sailing it down the point west, apparently to retrieve the boat.
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