Police say “mixing alcohol and boating can lead to tragedy” after an operation to rescue a man drifting in a small boat off Dettah.
In the early hours of Saturday, people in the community called police to say a drunk man had taken a small aluminum boat and drifted away from Dettah into north-east Great Slake Lake.
He had no life jacket and there were no oars in the boat. Police launched a boat from the community to begin a search but said darkness made that search “very challenging”.
After two hours – and with the Canadian Coast Guard Auxiliary in the process of assembling their own search team – the man was found unconscious in the bottom of the boat, which had drifted to a small nearby island. He was taken back to shore and did not require medical treatment. Police say no charges will be laid.
“Considering the falling temperatures, the dark, the cold water, the lack of life a jacket and intoxication of the male, these circumstances could have easily resulted in tragedy,” said RCMP in a statement on Monday.
