The Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) credit the use of a personal flotation device with saving the life of an area man who was thrown from his boat on Wabigoon Lake, April 20.

Michael Graham, age 28, entered the 10 degree Celsius water after his seat became detached from his boat while making a turn near Green Island, just south of the village of Wabigoon.

Graham declined an interview though he wished to thank all of those involved in his rescue.

Around 5:30 p.m. OPP received a call from residents on Muskimerk Rd., east of Wabigoon who were puzzled to see Graham’s unoccupied boat moving westward across the lake in tight circles at full throttle.

“It was going full bore,” said Joyce Cockle who notified police. “At first we just thought it was a kid or someone just doing that, making their boat go around and around. Jim (husband) took the binoculars and said, ‘I don’t see anyone in it’.

For 30 minutes, residents say they speculated on how they might stop the rampaging boat, and even considered shooting the outboard motor with a rifle.

Eventually, the boat entered shallow water shearing off its propeller, allowing neighbourhood residents to take command of the vessel.

As OPP arrived at the scene, officers spotted smoke on uninhabited Green Island to the west.

Finding an available boat, just days after ice had left the lake proved a challenge, though one neighbourhood resident was able to hastily launch one, allowing the police to cross the open water.

Graham was found uninjured by police on the island at the source of the smoke.

“They said he’d had a pretty good fire going, so he must have had a trusty ‘Bic’,” said Cockle. “And he’d had his life jacket on. He was really cold and shook up.”

The OPP would like to remind everyone about safe boating practices and to wear your life jackets when on the water.

- Chris Marchand