On Wednesday (Jan. 1), a search and rescue boat found a kayaker in distress on the waters in Sidney at around 10 a.m.

As the official event safety boat of the Polar Bear Swim, the five-person Royal Canadian Marine Search and Rescue (RCM-SAR 36) team was en route to Glass Beach when they happened upon a man in the water following the capsize of his kayak.

"It was our first rescue of the year," says crew member and RCM-SAR media liaison, Max Shaw. "It was just great timing when our crew saw him and were able to rush over and rescue him." 

Shaw clarified that the rescue was quite simple. "Search and rescue is typically the most important aspect of our missions, but in this instance, there was no searchB次元官网网址攊t was a straight rescueB次元官网网址攁nd since he wasn't in the water for very long, there was no medical emergency like hypothermia."

The man was rescued in minutes and was thankful to the crew for getting him out of the 8C cold water.

To ensure safety, Shaw encourages everyone to wear a life jacket every time they go out in the water. 

He also recommends having a proper waterproof VHF radio which he says is more reliable than a cell phone. "That way they can get help immediately and it also means that when we're proceeding to the person in the water or whatever the situation is, we can maintain communications with them."

A lot of these incidents, Shaw added, can be avoided by checking the weather ahead of time and looking at the forecast throughout the duration of your trip.

"What happens sometimes is that, if you're launching from a marina, the conditions may be fine now, but what are the conditions gonna be like in the next hour or two?"  

is funded by Saanich Marine Rescue Society, a non-profit society.

If you need emergency assistance on the water: call on VHF channel 16, on a mobile phone dial *16, or direct via 1-800-567-5111.