Royal Canadian Marine Search and Rescue Station #106’s boats were on Mara Lake on May 29, but rather than racing to a rescue they were on a short cruise to pick up a large donation.
Waterway Houseboats contributed $13,000 to the volunteer rescue organization. A portion of every Waterway sailing is pooled together to help fund the group that responds to emergencies on boats and at the many beaches, cabins and parks along Shuswap and Mara lakes that do not have road access.
“RCMSAR is very important to Sicamous and the area, they are the safety of the folks on the lake. Waterway especially really appreciates them. Prior to these guys being out on the lake we used to take the paramedics out with our service boat in the middle of the night,” said Waterway operations manager Colleen Anderson.
“It was a good, temporary solution, but for the safety of the folks on the lake it’s best to have professionals out there knowing what they’re doing.”
Station Leader Fred Banham said the donation will go towards operating costs including fuel and maintenance for RCMSAR Station #106’s boats.
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The RCMSAR volunteers have already helped patients suffering from medical emergencies at cabins without road access get to hospital.
On the Saturday of the May long weekend, Station #106 responded to help a woman who had slipped on some stairs at a cabin and badly injuring her leg. Banham said it was fortunate the Search and Rescue Boat was at the Cinnemousun Narrows for the floating concert when the call came in, allowing them to respond very quickly.
More recently, they responded to an unconscious woman at a cabin who also had to be rushed to hospital.
“It’s nice that they were both very successful missions and people in need got back to base where they could be transported by ambulance to hospital.”
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