Hamilton police marine unit made four rescues during storm

Hamilton police are cautioning boaters to be prepared and check the weather before heading out on the water after four rescues during a storm Monday afternoon.

The storm came in rather suddenly in the early afternoon, with strong winds and waves up to four feet, said Const. Ben Rushton of the marine unit. No one was injured during the four rescues, which took place over several hours.

“There was plenty of warning in the forecast,” he said, adding that the water in Hamilton Harbour and Lake Ontario was choppy in the morning and the pending storm was visible in the sky before the weather turned menacing.

Before the storm hit the area, the marine unit warned of a “squall watch” on Twitter. Rushton said boaters can check the forecast through weather apps or on the radio.

Three out of four rescues involved boats with mechanical issues that became trapped during the storm.

“The recurring theme each year is the majority of our rescue calls are weather related and mechanical breakdowns,” Rushton said.

As soon as the storm landed, the marine unit received a “mayday” call from a sailboat in Lake Ontario that had lost engine power and was adrift, he said. At that point, the waves were between three and four feet, and the strong wind was rapidly changing direction, making the boat’s sails ineffective.

“When you get a thunderstorm, sails don’t do much good with those winds,” Rushton said.

While officers were responding to that call and attempting to tow the sailboat to shore, they received another call for a 21-foot powerboat in the harbour that had run out of gas and was being tossed about by the waves.

About two and half hours after the first mayday call, police got a call from someone who was concerned that their spouse was on the water in a kayak.

Rushton said this call was “concerning,” but fortunately police found the woman “in good health” and “fighting with the choppy waves” close to shore.

The last call, about 90 minutes later, was again for a sailboat that had mechanical failure.

Because of the long weekend, the marine unit had extra staff. The unit has four full-time and four part-time officers. It has two primary response vessels: a 32foot aluminum boat with an enclosed cabin and, for faster responses, a 29-foot Zodiac.

The Halton police marine unit was also out during the storm, as was such volunteer units as the Hamilton Beach Rescue Unit and the Grimsby Auxiliary Marine Rescue Unit.

“It wasn’t just us out there ... everyone was busy trying to help boaters,” Rushton said.

The biggest message, he said, is that these rescues are preventable.

Very often, especially on a long weekend, people decide there is a particular day or time they want to go boating, and the weather doesn’t seem to factor into their decision, he said.

“Checking the weather is a very important part of the planning,” Rushton said. “We want people to check before and once they’re out on the water, depending on how long they’re out.”

For boaters who are already out on the water, they should make their way to the closest port at the first sign of bad weather, he said, adding that boaters who aren’t wearing a life-jacket should put it on.

Anyone in distress can call *16 on their mobile phone or communicate through channel 16 on the marine radio.

Boaters should always check their vessel before heading out, be aware of the boat’s limits and their own capabilities on the water — and continually monitor the weather, Rushton said.