A father and son found themselves stranded near Oak Bay after hitting a reef with their boat.
Neither the 71-year-old father John Dann nor his 30-year-old son Chris Dann, who hails from San Francisco, suffered injuries, according to authorities, who have ruled out alcohol.
The duo were travelling to the father’s home on Orca Island in the United States Wednesday morning after spending a few days in Victoria when their boat hit a reef.
The vessel struck rocks near Mouat Reef, according to the Canadian Coast Guard, and started to sink.
Some progress made so far by coast guard and salvage crews working to move the boat. Several bystanders on hand to watch their efforts. #yyj pic.twitter.com/1IZQ9exT3A
— Oak Bay News (@OakBayNews) June 19, 2019
“It really jolted the boat at first,” said Chris Dunn. “We weren’t sure if we were taking on water or not, but within a few minutes it was starting to fill up with water.”
Three coast guard boats and a boat from the nearby Oak Bay marina responded to the call, which authorities received at around 9 a.m.
The Dunns were thankful for the quick response by the Coast Guard.
“It was a little bit scary — especially when we saw the water coming on the boat,” said Chris Dunn. “[But] the coast guard responded really quickly. We were impressed by that. [It] was there within five or six minutes, helping us. They helped us pump water out of the boat and gave us a tow to the beach.”
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Crews beached the boat near the Oak Bay Marina.
Coast guard and salvage crews are on scene at the Oak Bay Marina after a boat hit some rocks at the nearby Mouat Reef and needed to be hauled in earlier today #yyj pic.twitter.com/moHMPKVYxW
— Saanich News (@saanichnews) June 19, 2019
Black Press Media has contacted the Canadian Coast Guard and Royal Canadian Marine Search & Rescue Station 33 Oak Bay Sea Rescue for additional info and will update this story.