B.C. couple urges life-jacket use after rescuing 3 from sinking boat

Brian Angus and Dorothy Stauffer were sailing near Saturna Island when they spotted three people in the water. Angus immediately issued a Mayday call, and the Coast Guard was alerted. Several vessels, including BC Ferries and an RCMP vehicle, responded to the call.

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We were about an hour and a half out of the active pass area when we adjusted course, and as we were under sail, partial sail, and the engine was running, I looked over in the starboard side, the right-hand side, to see a person in the water, and then two more.

Angus and Stauffer, who have aviation training, decided to rescue the individuals they could reach. Stauffer directed Angus to the people, and they used their dinghy as a flotation device. They managed to get three people to hang onto the dinghy, which was tethered behind their sailboat.

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Well, Brian said he saw three people, and I looked around in disbelief initially, and realized I could see five in total in the water, and Brian was saying we had to get the sail down because we can’t do anything with it up, so we proceeded to bring in the sail, and then circled back.

"I went for the female as she was screaming the loudest and was closest, and I basically commanded her to swim towards the line and the dinghy, which she did," Stauffer recounted. She added that the individuals were floating face up, spread eagle, and none were wearing life jackets.

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I went for the female as she was screaming the loudest and was closest, and I basically commanded her to swim towards the line and the dinghy, which she did, and she did get to the dinghy and hung on at the stern of the dinghy, and then basically had Brian circle back again to go after the other two gentlemen.

Angus noted that the rescued individuals were hypothermic and it took nearly 20 minutes for them to hold onto the dinghy. While waiting for a hovercraft, they scanned the waters for the other two individuals but could not see anyone. The couple stressed the critical importance of wearing life jackets.

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They were in the water, floating face up, spread eagle in the water to keep themselves afloat; one had no clothes from the waist up. I imagine he lost the clothing in the water, and none of them had life-jackets on.