A snowmobiler had a close call on Georgian Bay in Penetanguishene today.
The machine was part of a group travelling near a stretch of open water cleared by a Coast Guard icebreaker just hours before.
Just after 1 p.m. this afternoon police say a nearby resident called in to report a snowmobile had gone into the water in Georgian Bay near Sucker Creek.
The operator was traveling with two other snowmobiles at the time right along the path where the ice breaker had been earlier today.
“The opening there was pretty wide anywhere between 50 to 60 feet across,” says OPP Const. Dave Hobson. “It's not just calm water out there. It's filled with hunks of ice that could be anywhere from a meter to several meters in size. It's very sharp, jagged, broken ice.”
Emergency crews did respond but it was a privately owned boat that rescued the snowmobiler from the water. Police say they could see all of this from shore. And even though emergency crews were there, the three operators did not come to shore to be treated and instead drove away. Police have no idea who they are, and at this point say the investigation is ongoing
Police want snowmobilers in this area to know that the icebreaker fractures the ice over a large area and despite the cold there is a lot of open water and they should stay off this ice.
