Five boaters safe after boat upended by surfacing whale

A collision with a whale that sent five boaters into the waters of Head Harbour Passage on Saturday evening, August 21, had a happy ending when all were rescued within 20 minutes.
Mackie Greene, a member of the Campobello Auxiliary of the Canadian Coast Guard and operator of the whale-watching business Island Cruises, received a mayday call at about 8:30 p.m. at his home. He alerted the other Island Cruises captain, Robert Fitzsimmons, who lives across the road, and the two took off "wide open." Within three or four minutes, the duo arrived at the wharf where the speedy whale rescue Zodiac was docked.
Greene and Fitzsimmons heard on the radio that an accident had occurred near Casco Island, so they headed in that direction. As they neared the area, Greene saw that a sardine carrier from Grand Manan, the Michael Eileen, had three people aboard, was helping a fourth out of the water, and a fifth person was hanging on a ladder lashed to the side of the fishing vessel. As he approached to assist, Greene was shocked to discover that among the rescued were friends, two members of a local family who had taken visiting relatives out for an evening boat ride.
"They like to go out, shut off and drift around," says Greene of the Campobello family. "They were on their way home. It was getting dusk, and they were cruising along when a whale popped up unexpectedly, and the boat went up in the air. It leveled, but the three in the stern were thrown out. It even took the canopy off."
No one had been wearing life jackets, so the remaining two in the 17 1/2' bow rider boat unsuccessfully threw all of the life jackets in the direction of the others. When most of the boat submerged, the other two found themselves in the water.
"Ricky Cook and Clifford Urquhart on the Michael Eileen are the heroes," says Greene of the rescue.
Urquhart points out, because there were not many fish, he and Cook had left the weir at Curry Cove, just below Wilson's Beach, and were headed for Blacks Harbour when he just happened to look out the cabin window and notice an object in the water. "I took my glasses and saw a person holding onto a boat, so we turned and headed over. It probably only took seven or eight minutes, but it seemed to take forever. We started waving, and they waved back.
"When we arrived the 15-year-old girl was hanging onto the bow, so we threw a life ring to her and told her to grab it and to let go of the bow so we could pull her over, which we did," Urquhart reports. Then the others were retrieved from the water. "It was getting cold. I wouldn't have wanted to be out there very long."
The rescued boaters were transferred from the Michael Eileen to the Zodiac, which took them in to the Head Harbour wharf. The RCMP reported that two of the boaters were transported to Charlotte County Hospital in St. Stephen, where they were treated for minor injuries.
"It's a freak accident," notes Greene. "I've never heard of anything like that happening before. The family's overwhelmed that they're still here."
"It's a good outcome," agrees Urquhart. "It could have been a tragic situation. It was my first rescue, and I hope it's the last one."

Kayakers should take care
Kayakers who have been attracted by this summer's proliferation of whales are being warned to be very careful around Head Harbour Passage and Head Harbour Lightstation. The tide is strong and tricky, and it's been reported that one or more kayaks have overturned in the area.