Navy and RCM-SAR work together to save sailing vessel

Navy and RCM-SAR work together to save sailing vessel.

Navy and RCM-SAR work together to save sailing vessel.

SLt Sully Heraud, HMCS Yellowknife ~

Three weeks ago, on May 14, HMCS Yellowknife was conducting operations for intermediate multi-ship readiness training when a call was made by Victoria Coast Guard looking for information on a sailing vessel, Trinity 1.

The vessel was adrift with a bent mast in the vicinity of Darcy Island.

The decision was made by Yellowknife Captain, LCdr Jeffrey Hopkins, to render assistance to the vessel.

Once on scene, Yellowknife established communications with the vessel’s two crew members and was informed that its engine was broken and the crew had no way of manoeuvering it out of danger.

Trinity 1 was drifting towards the rocks at Kelp Reef, southeast of Sidney Island, and sunset was approaching.

As proximity to dangers increased, Yellowknife decided to tow the sailing vessel with it rigid hulled boat.

Once the sailing vessel was safely in tow, LCdr Hopkins requested assistance from the Royal Canadian Marine Search and Rescue Unit (RCM-SAR) located close by in Oak Bay.

A RCM-SAR rescue boat was sent to the Ten Mile Point area to affect a turnover of Trinity 1 and tow it back to Cadboro Bay, where the vessel originated.

The quick reaction of the crew of Yellowknife, as well as an eagerness to respond by the RCM-SAR potentially saved two lives that day.

“It is a good thing when the cooperative effort of different organizations results in the successful rescue of people in distress,” said LCdr Hopkins.

“The events of that day show us that in order to keep our coastal waters safe, everyone has to work together.”

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