Crease Island, Broughton Marine Park

After retrieving the crab pot with two crabs, including one Dungeness, we pulled anchor and headed for Crease Island.  Our hope was to find good anchorage between Goat Islet and the island as the forecast is for gale force winds (30 knots) to blow this afternoon and evening.  Temperatures are cool, estimated at 55 degrees.  While it was a short passage, there were several narrow channels that needed to be negotiated.

While in route, we heard a mayday call over the radio with a man over board call.  We knew we were fairly close, but felt that the Coast Guard and other boats closer than us that responded had things well under control.  It was amazing to see how quickly the Coast Guard had planes, helicopters and boats on scene.  After seeing the aircraft in the air, we realized that we were closer to the incident than we thought, but by then it would have been of little use for us to be involved.  The helicopter and plane searched up and down the various channels for several hours and then returned later in the day to continue their search.  Presumably the outcome for the victim was not good.  The following morning the Coast Guard issued a request for all mariners to keep an eye out for the victim.

We arrived at our anchorage, dropped the hook, got the crab pot in the water and spent the balance of the day reading and just relaxing.

The Canadian Coast Guard was on scene within about 15 minutes
of the Mayday call.  A plane and helicopter continued to
circle the area for hours, while patrol boats made the
rounds through all of the various inlets and bays.

The Canadian Coast Guard was out in force.