After fireworks, fast boat created havoc, seriously injuring three, court told

It was the long weekend in August 2015. The fireworks show at Butchart Gardens had just ended and about 200 kayakers and paddle boarders were leaving Tod Inlet, Crown witness Kent Lindahl told B.C. Supreme Court on Tuesday.

“We were taken aback because quite a few did not have lights. It was a dark night and to be travelling at night in the dark was an accident waiting to happen,” Lindahl said.

As small boats putted out of the inlet, Lindahl, who was observing the scene from the bridge of his anchored 48-foot vessel, heard an engine revving up and saw a boat 50 feet off his bow. “I could hear the boat coming. They were accelerating at very high speed. The people that got hit were just in front of us.”

The speeding boat struck the rear of the starboard side of a slow-moving boat, launched into the air, turned at an angle and flipped upside down, dumping five people into the water.

Three members of the Henderson family, who were aboard the boat that was struck, suffered serious injuries.

Michael Gettle has been charged with criminal negligence causing bodily harm to Earl, Anne and Brent Henderson. He has also been charged with dangerous operation of a motor vessel causing bodily harm. He has pleaded not guilty. Lindahl, an experienced boater, testified that the speeding boat was being driven at between 20 and 25 miles per hour, unsafe for conditions that night. “There were about 20 or 30 kayakers still out there,” he said. “No one was travelling that speed. Everyone was using their common sense.”

After the crash, Lindahl left his vessel and drove a smaller boat, which had been anchored up with his, to the people in the water. “Fortunately, I was with a group of guys who had first aid training and were large. They were able to pull people out of the water.”

The rescuers pulled four people from the water who had been on the speeding boat, but they couldn’t initially find the driver, Lindahl said. “He was under the boat.” Someone saw a leg sticking out into the water and pulled that fifth person to safety. “He had a big gash on his forehead. He was bleeding pretty hard.”

Lindahl and his fellow rescuers then helped the three members of the Henderson family onto the rescue boat.

During cross-examination, Lindahl told defence lawyer Ryan Drury that he heard a motor that was cranked and sounded as though it was at full throttle.

“The only time that motor shut off was when it was upside down in the water,” he testified.

Brent Schwagley testified that he was anchored in the inlet that night. After the fireworks, a group of German kayakers asked if they could hang on to his boat for safety. They did not have proper lights, said Schwagley, who gave them glow sticks.

As they paddled off, Schwagley heard a motor rev up.

“I yelled at the kayakers to stop and I yelled ‘slow down’ to the boat. My wife was headed downstairs. She said: ‘They’re going to kill somebody.’ ”

Schwagley heard a collision four or five seconds later.

The trial continues.