BARRIE, ONT. -- Two men spent two hours in the choppy waters of Georgian Bay Saturday after their catamaran flipped off Balm Beach in Tiny Township.
A neighbour and family friend knew the men were heading out and was keeping an eye on them when the catamaran turned over.
“I watched them for a bit, hoping they would be able to upright it,” Wayne Abbott said with a blanket draped over his shoulders. ”I knew they were in trouble, so I went and got a neighbour’s Sea-Doo and went out there. And the shocking part was when I got there; nobody was on the catamaran.”
Abbott says he spent about 10 minutes in “brutal” conditions looking for the missing pair himself before calling the police for help.
The OPP eventually tracked the pair of 24-year-olds down and pulled them to safety. Both men were wearing life jackets.
The OPP says the men were so grateful to be plucked out of 8’ waves that they bear-hugged their rescuers. Paramedics treated the men for signs of hypothermia.
