A Squamish pilot suffered only minor bruises from ditching an ultralight airplane into the water west of Thormanby Islands after experiencing engine trouble early Sunday afternoon, according to the Halfmoon Bay Coast Guard Auxiliary.
A passing civilian boater brought the pilot onboard before the French Creek and Halfmoon Bay (Unit 12) Coast Guard Auxiliaries arrived. The Joint Rescue Co-ordination Centre had paged out the units after the pilot radioed in a mayday around noon.
The French Creek unit took the pilot to shore on Vancouver Island. The Halfmoon Bay unit towed the floating plane to South Thormanby. While checking on the plane the next day, Unit 12 ended up towing a disabled boat in to Secret Cove. The following day (Tuesday) the unit was again out on the water towing a pleasure craft that had struck a log and was taking on water.
