Ferry rescues 22 guests after floating fishing lodge on Princess Royal Island loses

[Derby]

A group of 22 guests flew into their luxury floating resort on B.C.'s central coast via private charter, but their stay ended abruptly with a ride on a B.C. Ferry after high winds left the lodge hanging by just one anchor Sunday.
Photograph by: B.C. Ferries, Handout
B.C. Ferries vessel Northern Adventure was called upon Sunday morning to help with a rescue at a floating fishing lodge on Princess Royal Island, along the mid-coast.

The ferry, en route from Port Hardy to Prince Rupert, was contacted around 10 a.m. by Victoria’s Joint Rescue Co-ordination Centre after the King Pacific Lodge reported losing all of its moorings save for one anchor in winds exceeding 50 knots. The Northern Adventure was just 35 minutes north of the lodge at the time, while the nearest coast guard vessel was four hours away.

The ferry diverted from its route and arrived at the scene about 11 a.m., taking on 22 lodge guests via boats from the lodge. Employees of the lodge either remained at the site or travelled by boat to nearby Hartley Bay.

The Northern Adventure resumed sailing to Prince Rupert at 1:30 p.m. and was scheduled for a 6 p.m. arrival.

“The owners of the fishing lodge have chartered a bus and a plane,” B.C. Ferries spokeswoman Deborah Marshall said. “When our ship reaches Prince Rupert, they’ll get the folks on a bus and get them over to the airport.”

She said the lodge guests would be flown to Vancouver.

B.C. Ferries chief operating officer Mike Corrigan said ferry crews are trained to be able to respond to such incidents.


Read more: http://www.timescolonist.com/sports...ses+moorings/5421950/story.html#ixzz1YPMwHHo5

 

[Aces]

Hey, those guests wanted some adventure, lol

 

[Derby]

Been to that lodge before..man it must have been blowing in there for that to happen....pretty scary... & they paid big bucks for that ride.....just happy no one was hurt...

 

[yo mama]

Wow! It REALLY sheltered in there. I used to work there and the biggest wave i had every seen at the dock was like a foot.

 

[Derby]

Ya I know...have guided for WCR on occasion and never seen anything that big inside there....

 

[Derby]

I thought that was you that cut that fish off ....

 

[Peahead]

...............forgot quote , see below

 

[Peahead]

Wow! It REALLY sheltered in there. I used to work there and the biggest wave i had every seen at the dock was like a foot.

There may not be enough fetch for big seas in "protected" areas/bays but the wind can do the dammage without the big seas fed by fetch. Wind of 50 knots could circulate in a bay ....like a backeddy - I've seen water picked up in Bays - circulating into waterspouts that can destroy if they hit anything too. 50 knot gusts is alot of wind even if the sea isn't big......

 

[mbowers]

There may not be enough fetch for big seas in "protected" areas/bays but the wind can do the dammage without the big seas fed by fetch. Wind of 50 knots could circulate in a bay ....like a backeddy - I've seen water picked up in Bays - circulating into waterspouts that can destroy if they hit anything too. 50 knot gusts is alot of wind even if the sea isn't big......

That's a lot of wind but doesn't seem more than typical for at least one day a year or every second year. Still you certainly can get very localized tornados that aren't expected from the average wind speed.

Seems funny that all moorings failed and yet one anchor held the entire lodge. That would make you think the moorings were severely compromised in some way. Maybe maintenance was lacking on the moorings or maybe some bad electrolysis got in there and caught them by surprise..