Damage to the hull of a boat that sank off Vancouver Island’s west coast, claiming the life of an Ahousaht man, is being investigated as the cause of the incident.
The lone occupant was about six kilometres from Tofino when his body was found in a freshly sunken vessel, said Capt. Colin Henthorne of the Joint Rescue Co-ordination Centre in Victoria.
A mayday call went out at 11:21 p.m. Friday and was relayed by Tofino coast guard radio a minute later. The man said the boat was taking on water.
The damage to the hull suggests some sort of possible impact, said Capt. Sean Morris of the Joint Rescue Co-ordination Centre.
When the mayday call went out, the coast guard vessel Cape Ann and a Royal Canadian Air Force Cormorant helicopter were immediately dispatched.
The boater did not give an accurate position, forcing search crews to locate him, Henthorne said. This was compounded by the likelihood he was moving, trying to get to shallow water, he said.
The man had set out from Flores Island, a small island in Clayoquot Sound populated mainly by members of the Ahousaht First Nation. The boater was apparently headed to work on a fish farm in Cypress Bay, about 11 kilometres north of Tofino between Flores Island and Tofino, when he encountered trouble.
His 21-foot aluminum boat had a cabin and was equipped with two 150-horsepower motors, GPS and radar, according to the Joint Rescue Co-ordination Centre.
Henthorne said he believes the boater likely had two choices: stay in the cabin and steer the boat to shallow water; or stay outside and be ready to abandon the boat in frigid water. “The choices are not good either way,” he said.
At 12:11 a.m., the Cormorant crew reported they were 10 minutes from the scene, making their expected arrival time 12:21 a.m., about an hour after the mayday call went out.
The Cape Ann arrived at 12:46 a.m.
The vessel was “freshly sunken with a person trapped inside,” Henthorne said.
Search-and-rescue technicians dove into the cabin of the vessel and located one person. The man was transported to Tofino hospital by coast guard lifeboat, Henthorne said.
“The lone occupant had not survived,” Henthorne said.
Tofino and Ahousaht RCMP and the B.C. Coroners Service are investigating.
The man’s name is not being released until his family has been notified.
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