Trio of Quebec Anglers Grateful To Be Alive After Their Boat Gets Swamped by Waves on Lake Ontario

Pete Fisher
1 year ago
• Categories: Editor Choice, Local

Three people are grateful to be alive after being rescued by the Canadian Coast Guard “just in time” off Cobourg on Wednesday, July 26, 2023.

The trio of Quebec anglers came down through the night for early morning fishing off of Cobourg.

It was around 7 a.m. when Quebec residents, Jonathan Langlois, another man and a youth were approximately 14 miles south of Cobourg Harbour fishing at a depth of 500-feet when waves started to come over the back of the 20-foot boat he’s owned for three years.

Although the boat kept floating, the main motor stopped working, but the secondary motor used for trolling was still working, but couldn’t maintain a speed to keep the water out.

After numerous calls to the Coast Guard that didn’t work, Langlois texted a relative in northern Quebec and gave him the GPS (Global Positioning System) coordinates. The person then phoned the Coast Guard and members of the Cape Rescue based in Cobourg immediately went out to rescue the men.

While equipment was floating at the back of the boat, the three people had their life jackets on and stayed close to the front of the bow-rider because it was the highest area out of the water.

When Langlois saw the Coast Guard coming to the rescue he said his heart started beating so fast – “that was awesome. They are awesome guys.”

The three occupants of the boat were transferred to the Coast Guard vessel and their half submerged boat was towed into shore – along with the three fish they caught.

Once safely on shore Langlois said it was such a close call that it’s his last trip on the water in the boat that will be put up for sale.