off Hornby Island - A rogue wave floods a sailboat off Hornby Island — a fishing skipper who heard the Mayday helps pull two from the sea
Two men said a rogue wave smashed the windows of their 30-foot sailboat in the Strait of Georgia and flooded her. She sank, leaving them in whitecapped seas — until a Comox charter skipper who caught their Mayday on the radio raced over and, with a helicopter overhead, helped recover them.
What happened.
About 7 a.m. on 5 July 2026 a 30-foot sailboat was lost roughly five miles east of Hornby Island, in British Columbia's Strait of Georgia. The two men aboard said a rogue wave smashed her windows and flooded her, and she sank, leaving them in whitecapped seas. A Comox charter skipper heard their Mayday on VHF, raced over in his fishing boat, and with a helicopter overhead helped recover both. The Coast Guard took them to hospital; both survived.
About 7 a.m. on Sunday 5 July 2026, a 30-foot sailboat was lost roughly five miles east of Hornby Island, in the Strait of Georgia off British Columbia. The two men aboard told rescuers a rogue wave smashed the boat's windows and flooded her; within minutes she sank, leaving them in about three-foot seas streaked with whitecaps. What saved them was a radio call and a boat that happened to be near. Pete Mathews, who runs Wild West Sport Fishing out of Comox, was heading out with clients when he heard the Mayday on his VHF. He turned toward the position — first reported near Royston, then corrected to five miles east of Hornby — and pushed his 27-foot aluminium boat hard through the seas, taking water himself. A helicopter overhead found the men, but even then Mathews struggled to spot them: he caught only a glimpse of a corner of a yellow jacket in the swell before it vanished again, and worked back to it. The Coast Guard took both men to Comox and on to hospital; both survived. The episode is a compact lesson in how quickly a sailboat can be lost when the sea gets inside her — and in how much a survivor depends on a clear Mayday, a nearby vessel, and being visible in the water.
What it teaches.
- 1A boarding or rogue wave that stoves in windows, a hatch, or the washboards can flood a boat catastrophically fast. Large cabin windows and the companionway are weak points in a seaway. Carry storm boards you can fit fast, keep washboards secured, and know your through-hulls and bilge pumps before you need them.
- 2These two were saved because a clear Mayday reached a vessel already near them — a fishing skipper got there before the Coast Guard could. Even close to shore, get the distress call out at once with your position; a nearby good-samaritan boat is often the fastest help you will get.
- 3Once in the water, being found is the hard part — the rescuer caught only a glimpse of a yellow jacket in the swell. Wear a lifejacket with a light, carry a personal locator beacon or an AIS MOB device, and stay together, because a head in whitecaps is nearly invisible even from a helicopter.
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