New $15,000 unsinkable craft would add to lake rescue capability
Despite being turned down for funding last month by Town Council, the local sailing club is pressing ahead in its effort to buy a proper, powerful rescue boat for regular use on the lake.
And while Lake Osoyoos Sailing Club Commodore David Eastbury is fairly confident he'll find the $15,000 needed to buy a 13-foot unsinkable Boston Whaler rescue boat with a 40 h.p. motor, it appears it won't happen until this fall at the earliest.
He has $4,000 so far from the former Spanish Development Society. He is seeking $3,500 from Council and the other $7,500 from an application the club has made to the B.C. Lottery Corporation which, since it went forward with Council's endorsement, Eastbury feels the club will likely get. But the Corporation doesn't issue money until August.
The next few months of delay leaves the rescue situation on the lake this summer the same as in past years “ an unclear, ad hoc arrangement where a person in trouble on the lake may get help from the sometimes-available RCMP zodiak boat, or from sailing club members who have an old patched-up motorboat, or from some volunteer firefighters with access to a boat, or from someone else who might pitch in to help.
We don't have a proper rescue situation on the lake, Eastbury says, which is why he and others at the sailing club are pursuing the new boat.
He says the RCMP boat often seems to be unavailable, and is occupied a lot of the time with enforcement of various laws, such as alcohol and licences, up and down the lake.
Many times that leaves sailing club members and volunteer firefighters being the first-responders to boaters in distress.
Every summer they race out a number of times to rescue someone whose boat has capsized or who has other difficulties. And sailing club members have a personal interest in ensuring a there's a good rescue capability on the lake.
Osoyoos Fire Chief Ross Driver recently told rural fire district trustees that a number of times each year he and his crew rescue people on the lake, even though they're not officially authorized to do that.
We did five last year and one so far this year, Driver says, adding that without proper water rescue gear, liability is a concern.
It's a hard thing to deal with. You can't let someone drown.rnDriver says, I think we need to get an actual (lake rescue) program in place. It's something that needs to be discussed.rnEastbury says when the sailing club does get its rescue boat, he has told Driver the fire department is welcome to use it for rescues, too.
Both Eastbury and Driver say the RCMP boat is only available for rescue calls some of the time.
Local RCMP detachment head Corporal Harold Hallett says the Mounties' rigid-hull inflatable zodiak is in the water from May to September and it is available for emergencies on the lake, but there may sometimes be manpower limitations, given the many duties the RCMP must handle in the town and district. Hallett notes the RCMP is getting a slightly bigger boat for Osoyoos Lake duty later this month.
Hallett says he thinks it's a great idea if the sailing club gets a rescue boat.
So, while Eastbury awaits word on funding from the Lottery Corporation, the rescue capability on Lake Osoyoos remains unclear for this summer. Acquisition of a boat by the sailing club this fall may take the current talk of a more co-ordinated system for handling lake rescues another step forward.
