OPP, fire crews rescue stricken pedal boater on Lake Simcoe

OPP, fire crews rescue stricken pedal boater on Lake Simcoe
Date: May 06, 2008

A Toronto man is facing a barrage of charges, and police say he should count himself lucky to be alive, after police and fire crews had to scramble to rescue him over the weekend on Lake Simcoe.


OPP say the man went out for a pedal boat ride early Sunday morning after leaving a party at a waterfront house in Oro-Medonte. His boat was soon blown into open waters on an unseasonably cold day (6 degrees Celsius). Officers from Barrie OPP came to the house and spotted the boater – without a lifejacket – adrift due to a reported difficulty with the pedal system.


An OPP launch, which normally patrols in Lake Simcoe, began to make its way into the area into which the man had ventured. Oro-Medonte firefighters soon arrived in their airboat and managed to bring the man aboard. Shortly afterwards, their vessel was swamped by a wave and sank in about 25 metres of water.


OPP rescued the partygoer and the four firefighters, all of whom were examined by paramedics at the government dock and released a short time later.


The 18-year-old man faces charges including impaired boating. He’ll be in Barrie court June 9 to answer the charges.