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Bachelor party rescues man from capsized boat near Victoria

A witness said the boat was going in circles before it went under.
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One man is uninjured after his boat capsized off the coast of Victoria at Ogden Point this morning when he was rescued by a passing boat.

Five local men chartered a fishing boat for a bachelor party and were surprised to find the boat in trouble at the mouth of Victoria Harbour, and went over to help. They pulled him out of the water before the Coast Guard arrived.

One of the party-goers, Andrew Johns, said the man, around 50 years old, wasn’t wearing a lifejacket.

“We look over and I say, ‘hey guys, that boat does not look good;’ it’s got its nose tipped right up and going around in circles,” Johns said. “Next thing we know it went sideways and capsized.

“He was holding one hand onto a floating seat with his iPhone in his hand, and the other hand is holding onto the nose end of his boat … This guy is very lucky; there was nobody really near him.”

The Coast Guard is currently on site deciding what to do with the boat, according to Darren Morely of the Joint Rescue Co-ordination Centre for the Canadian Coast Guard.

lauren.boothby@vicnews.com