Close call for Port Bruce boaters
A pair of boaters in Port Bruce are lucky to be safe and sound after their boat caught fire and started sinking a mile from shore Tuesday morning.
“We were heading out on the lake to see how the boat was running and it started smoking and started filling up with water so we turned around and worked our way back in and here we are,” explained Scott Wisstow.
He and his fishing partner Paul Thomson were heading out onto Lake Erie to catch walleye when they ran in to trouble. Wisstow says he put out what looked like a fire in the engine with a fire extinguisher, then they sputtered back towards shore.
They made it as far as the harbour when the local fire department arrived to get the men safely off the sinking boat.
St. Thomas resident Frank Gatto was fishing on the pier with his buddies when the drama unfolded in front of them.
“I seen the boat going out, it was really smoking really, really bad,” said Gatto. “Coming back again it was worse than it was the first time. We were all saying ‘That boat shouldn’t even be out.’ We were wondering why he even took it out.”
Scott Wisstow and Paul Thomson following their rescue off the coast of Port Bruce on May 24, 2022. (Bryan Bicknell/CTV News London)By the time the Canadian Coast Guard Auxilliary arrived the men were already safely on land and waiting for a tow.
Coast Guard Auxilliary Captain Charles Smith said it’s already shaping up to be a busy boating season. He said 2021 was their busiest year ever for search and rescue.
“In 2021 we spent 60 hours on the water rescuing people. So most boaters would put maybe 20 hours on their engines. We put 60 just in rescue operations.
Smith said boaters need to check for everything, every time before heading out.
“Make sure you have life jackets, that your gas is topped up,” he advised. “If you have children under 12 put life jackets on them. Use some common sense out there. If you think something might happen, it will happen.”
He added that boaters in distress should call star-16 on their cell phone if they are further than one mile from shore, while those closer should call 9-1-1 for help.
In the meantime, Thomson and Wisstow got their boat towed back to dock by late morning. No worse for wear, but maybe a little shaken up.
“Depressing, you try and do everything right but you run into all kinds of problems,” said Wisstow.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
BREAKING Honda to get up to $5B in govt help for EV battery, assembly plants
Honda is set to build an electric vehicle battery plant next to its Alliston, Ont., assembly plant, which it is retooling to produce fully electric vehicles, all part of a $15-billion project that is expected to include up to $5 billion in public money.
BREAKING New York appeals court overturns Harvey Weinstein's 2020 rape conviction from landmark #MeToo trial
New York’s highest court on Thursday overturned Harvey Weinstein’s 2020 rape conviction, finding the judge at the landmark #MeToo trial prejudiced the ex-movie mogul with improper rulings, including a decision to let women testify about allegations that weren’t part of the case.
Residents of northern Alberta First Nation told to shelter in place
Residents of John D'Or Prairie, a community on the Little Red River Cree Nation in northern Alberta, were told to take shelter Thursday morning during a police operation.
Monthly earnings rise, payroll employment falls: jobs report
The number of vacant jobs in Canada increased in February, while monthly payroll employment decreased in food services, manufacturing, and retail trade, among other sectors.
Doctors say capital gains tax changes will jeopardize their retirement. Is that true?
The Canadian Medical Association asserts the Liberals' proposed changes to capital gains taxation will put doctors' retirement savings in jeopardy, but some financial experts insist incorporated professionals are not as doomed as they say they are.
Secret $70M Lotto Max winners break their silence
During a special winner celebration near their hometown, Doug and Enid shared the story of how they discovered they were holding a Lotto Max ticket worth $70 million and how they kept this huge secret for so long.
Remains from a mother-daughter cold case were found nearly 24 years later, after a deathbed confession from the suspect
A West Virginia father is getting some sense of closure after authorities found the remains of his young daughter and her mother following a deathbed confession from the man believed to have fatally shot them nearly two decades ago.
Something in the water? Canadian family latest to spot elusive 'Loch Ness Monster'
For centuries, people have wondered what, if anything, might be lurking beneath the surface of Loch Ness in Scotland. When Canadian couple Parry Malm and Shannon Wiseman visited the Scottish highlands earlier this month with their two children, they didn’t expect to become part of the mystery.
Metro Vancouver mayors call for serial killer Robert Pickton to be denied parole
A dozen mayors from around Metro Vancouver say federal Attorney General and Justice Minister Arif Virani should deny parole for notorious B.C. serial killer Robert Pickton, and reassess the parole and sentencing system for 'prolific offenders and mass murderers.'