COUPLE IN CANOE CAPSIZE SATURDAY NIGHT ON STEWART LAKE CLOSE TO SHORE. MAN, 31, DIES, LOCAL FAMILY RESCUES HIS ‘GIRLFRIEND’
Mark Clairmont | MuskokaTODAY.com
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MACTIER — A couple out canoeing last night here on Stewart Lake — “without life jackets” — capsized just feet from shore, with a man drowning and his “girlfriend” being rescued by two local men and their friends who witnessed the tragedy before they “hauled ass” to get out to them.
However their immediate search efforts for the man were unsuccessful.
Police said this afternoon that they continue investigating the fatal incident that happened in Georgian Bay Township, in the west of Muskoka.
The OPP say that on Saturday, August 8, shortly after 8 p.m., they responded to a 911 call of an overturned canoe on Stewart Lake, just right and to the southeast of MacTier’s town beach near a point in the lake.
The couple who were reportedly on a “work weekend” at an Airbnb rental cottage were out in “choppy” water, said one of the rescuers, after a storm had just blown through and the canoe turned over say police “approximately 40 feet” from the lake’s waterfront.
Officers from the OPP at Bracebridge, the Muskoka Lakes Fire Department and other emergency responders including a Muskoka Search and Rescue unit with Zodiacs were fast on the scene and continuing search efforts after sunset.
The OPP Underwater Search and Recovery Unit (USRU) was also called in to assist in the search, which was called off due to darkness later in the night.
On Sunday, August 9, the missing man, a 31-year-old from Mississauga man, was located by the dive team deceased.
Family ‘hauls ass’ to canoe in rescue boat
Dawn MacDonald, who lives across a short distance from the beach, was having a late family supper — “fortuitously” with visiting relatives — on her balcony overlooking the lake when they all witnessed the “green canoe” paddling along, she told MuskokaTODAY.com from her home by cellphone.
“They were in our bay,” said MacDonald, who grew up across the lake in MacTier, the daughter of CP railroader Don MacDonald.
“We watched them and they were in the canoe. They didn’t seem to be in any distress. “They looked like they were leisurely paddling. And we thought they were from one of the cottages, like a guest. But then the water got a little more choppy and they started going to the left of us and we were watching.
“And then, you know, we were nervous because they didn’t have on life jackets.
“No life jackets, she said “100 per cent.
“Suddenly we saw it tip over. And I said they’re in distress.
“That’s when the boys all ran down to the dock. And (her son) Garrett (MacLeod) threw two life jackets in the boat.”
He thought they could “tow them in to shore.”
MacDonald grabbed her binoculars and said she could see “two people in the water.
“I saw two heads, but you could see that they were in distress. Definitely.”
“Yeah, it kind of happened quick,” said MacLeod. “Once we realized they were having trouble getting out, we were gonna go in the boat and then just tow them back to where they needed to be.
“And by the time we got to the dog and before we could untie the boat, that’s when they noticed that they had tipped.
“So then we kind of hauled ass to get to them as soon as we could for sure.
“We assumed or we hoped, I guess, they had life jackets. But as soon as we got close, we realized they didn’t. And they were clearly drowning at that point.”
“By the time Garrett, my grandson Joshua and two of his university buddies got down to the boat, we could only see one person,” said MacDonald.
It took the four men “less than a minute,” said MacLeod, an off-duty Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) officer, to race to the overturned canoe with him helming the ski boat.
He was on the first day a family vacation with his wife and two young children at his parents home.
Said MacDonald: “When they jumped into the boat, I still saw two heads in the water. But by the time they got to the where they were, one had gone under. And we understand he wasn’t a swimmer. And that they were a couple staying at an Airbnb on a work weekend.”
“It was just around sunset. The water was dark enough. You really couldn’t see anything,” added MacLeod, who also grew up on the lake, and estimated its depth at about “15- to 30-feet.”
‘It was pretty windy’
He said a “storm had already passed, but it was pretty windy and the prevailing wind blows, basically, against where they had to go to get to their cottage. I think they were trying to get back, but the wind just kept blowing them back into our bay. So they were out really in the big bay. It’s like the larger bay on the lake.
“I was watching them. I thought maybe they were fishing because it’s kind of a local fishing spot. But then as we ate, I noticed they were likely having trouble with the wind.”
“So (Garrett) jumped in,” continued MacDonald “and was able to save the woman.”
But not before the more experienced driver turned boat control over to his nephew, Joshua Aubert, 22.
And with the help of him and buddies, Connor Jones and Joey Arbour, they pushed and were able to pull the woman into their boat.
“Then the two other university kids jumped in to try and find the second guy,” added MacDonald. “But it was too late. He was gone.”
“We went to the canoe,” said MacLeod, hoping that maybe he was under the canoe. But it was clear he wasn’t, and we couldn’t find him.
“So we all got back into our boat and went to the closest dock,” somebody’s cottage or house he thought was “about 50 metres away.
“We took the woman (and the canoe) to shore and got her a blanket from one of the people on shore, who saw the whole thing, and consoled her. Then called 911.
“She was pretty exhausted,” said MacLeod. “But didn’t resist.
“She had no injuries aside from the emotional.”
Finally the four went out again on the lake, and with help from some other boaters from the lake, hoped to see or if they could find the missing man.
“But it was getting dark. And we were losing light.”
MacDonald said she is proud of her “amazing” son, grandson and his friends.
“They kept their heads about them. They had a plan as soon as they got in the boat.”
To her it seemed like seconds for the boat to race to the canoe and just minutes for them to save the woman.
‘Emotional and traumatized’
But once MacDonald’s heroic family rescuers were safely back at the lakeside home, she said they were still pumped and “very emotional.
“Josh was pretty traumatized.”
After the search was called off for the night, OPP divers arrived this morning and with MacLeod’s help and knowledge of the lake he was able to pin-point the exact location of the accident in front of the cottage or home they landed at.
“I met up with the OPP Marine Rescue And we took them out to where we pulled her out of the water and showed them.
“Within about a half hour they had located the man. They didn’t even do four sweeps.”
“They were able to recover the body, not far from where we pulled her out of the water.”
Since the accident MacDonald said she’s received lots of calls, texts and emails from others grateful around the small lake west of Bala, praising her and her family for their heroic life-saving efforts and everyone’s help.
MacDonald also described the emergency responders’ response and reaction as “really quick. I was surprised.”
Police still investigating drowning
The investigation, conducted in conjunction with the Office of the Chief Coroner and the Ontario Forensic Pathology Service, remains ongoing. Anyone with information regarding this incident is asked to contact the OPP at Bracebridge, at 1-888-310-1122 or anonymously through Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS.
The OPP reminds all boaters and paddlers to make water safety a priority by wearing a properly fitted lifejacket or personal flotation device (PFD), checking weather conditions before heading out, and ensuring all required safety equipment is readily available.
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