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Bachelor party rescues man from capsized boat off the coast of Victoria

Coast guard is determining what to do with the vessel
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A man aboard a Transport Canada patrol boat watches his boat sink near Ogden Point. Photo courtesy of Andrew Johns.

One man is uninjured after his boat capsized off the coast of Victoria at Ogden Point on Friday morning when he was rescued by a passing boat.

Five local men who had chartered a fishing boat for a bachelor party were surprised to find the boat in trouble at the mouth of Victoria Harbour. They went over to help and 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 had not decided on what to do with the overturned boat by the time of publication.

lauren.boothby@vicnews.com