After the protracted, punishing winter Windsor and Essex County have endured, the lure of the water on a warm day may be hard to resist for boaters.
But as two teens experienced on Sunday on Lake St. Clair when their jet ski became disabled and eventually overturned in high waves — leaving the pair floating in 1 C water — it pays to take precautions when heading out on the water in spring.
“Often at this time of year people, want to go out boating with the warm weather but, of course, the water hasn’t warmed up as quickly as people would like,” said Perry Smith, program director of The Lifesaving Society Ontario Region.
One of the pair rescued Sunday remained in hospital Monday being treated for hypothermia, while the other was released. Both declined to comment on the incident.
They were travelling from Pike Creek to Belle River.
Smith said people on personal watercraft should consider the extra protection of wetsuits at this time of year, because plunging into water barely above freezing is a shock to the system.
“At those temperatures, within about 10 minutes it can incapacitate you, you can suffer from muscle cramps, loss of co-ordination and mobility, so it’s very important that if you do fall into cold water that you do have a plan to get out of it in a very short period of time,” said Smith.
“We don’t recommend that people go very far from shore because your canoe might tip or boat might get swamped, that type of thing. Being prepared and making sure people know where you are, and there is a plan, so that if you don’t return people know where you are. We call it a float plan.”
One of the teens had a cell phone and was able to call his father, who called police, and the OPP marine unit plucked the pair from the water. Nonetheless, the pair were in the water for about half an hour, and are lucky to have survived.
“The first 10 minutes are critical because of the heat loss and the initial cold water shock that can happen,” said Smith. People can also ingest the frigid water as a result of the gasp reflex from the water, which can lead to drowning.
During a March heat wave in 2012 a young couple were thrown into the frigid waters of Lake St. Clair and an 18-year-old woman, Amy Wagner, did not survive.
The Lifesaving Society recommends boaters do not overload their vessel to prevent swamping, avoid any situation where you may fall overboard and always wear a lifejacket.
Without thermal protection you can lose body heat 25 times faster in the water than in the air and that can be increased by a factor of up to 10 with movement like swimming or moving water.
If you do find yourself immersed in cold water, draw your legs up close to your chest in the tuck position to conserve body heat. If there is more than one person, huddle together.
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