B.C. couple rescues three people from sinking boat
Brian Angus and Dorothy Stauffer, sailing near Saturna Island, spotted five people in the water and managed to save three by circling them with their dinghy until the Coast Guard arrived.
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A B.C. couple with training in aviation became unlikely rescuers Sunday afternoon when they spotted five people struggling in the water after a boat sank near Saturna Island.
Brian Angus and Dorothy Stauffer were sailing from Vancouver when Angus spotted a person on the starboard side, then two more. When Stauffer looked around, she counted five people in the water total. Angus immediately issued a Mayday warning, and both the Victoria Coast Guard and Canadian Coast Guard answered immediately, issuing an automatic call for help to any boat in the area.
"There was no one anywhere near," Angus said. Despite two BC Ferries, multiple RCMP vehicles, and the Hullo ferry responding, Angus and Stauffer knew they had the best shot at saving the three people they could see clearly.
With Stauffer directing and Angus steering, they brought down their sail and circled the three people with a dinghy attached to a floating line 50 feet behind their boat. Stauffer swam to the woman, who was screaming the loudest, and directed her to the dinghy. None of the five had life-jackets on. "That was the most disturbing thing for me to see," Stauffer said.
The three managed to hang on to the dinghy for nearly 20 minutes while they waited for the hovercraft, despite being hypothermic. Stauffer scanned the water for the other two but they had drifted out of sight. When the Coast Guard hovercraft arrived, rescuers jumped into the water with lines and pulled all three onto the vessel.
Angus, trained as a pilot and experienced sailor, knew they couldn't save everyone. Stauffer, trained as a flight attendant, followed the three principles of emergency response: assess, adapt, and act.
