(GEORGIAN BAY TOWNSHIP, ON) – On June 23, 2015 at 5:00p.m. members of the Southern Georgian Bay Detachment of the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) along with Georgian Bay Fire responded to a call of a flipped over kayak on the waters of Georgian Bay. The OPP marine unit attended the scene to assist.
The male occupant of the kayak was able to make it safely to shore and he was wearing his personal floatation device (PFD). The OPP Marine Unit Officers attribute the safe outcome of this mishap to the fact that the kayak operator was wearing his PFD at the time.
This is an important reminder that wearing a lifejacket or PFD significantly increases survivability, should a mishap occur. Not wearing this equipment continues to be a contributing factor in the overwhelming majority of boating fatalities from year to year, on OPP-patrolled waterways.
The last five years
2014: 20 boating deaths, 17 of them attributed to not wearing a PFD or lifejacket.
2013: 23 boating deaths, 20 of them attributed to not wearing a PFD or lifejacket.
2012: 22 boating deaths, 18 of them attributed to not wearing a PFD or lifejacket.
2011: 22 boating deaths, 19 of them attributed to not wearing a PFD or lifejacket.
2010: 28 boating deaths, 22 of them attributed to not wearing a PFD or lifejacket
The differences between a lifejacket and a PFD
Please see the following link to more safe boating information
Canadian Safe Boating Council
– 30 –