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Three injured after boat slams into Alberni Inlet rock face

Crash took place over salmon derby weekend
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A Royal Canadian Marine Search and Rescue vessel patrols the waters around Port Alberni. (NEWS FILE PHOTO)

Three people were taken to the hospital after a boat crash in the Alberni Inlet on salmon derby weekend.

On the evening of Saturday, Sept. 3, Port Alberni’s Royal Canadian Marine Search and Rescue (RCM SAR) was contacted by the Joint Rescue Coordination Centre. A camper in the Macktush area reportedly heard the sound of a boat going by, followed by a loud bang.

Search and rescue officials aboard the Alberni Responder located the collision scene at Hocking Point, where a pleasure boat had struck a rock face and was lying partially submerged on its side. The RCM SAR crew was able to nose the Alberni Responder into the rock face while one crew member went ashore to assess injuries. The submerged vessel was secured to shore with its anchor line.

All three occupants of the boat had been thrown into the water and received “minor” injuries, including a broken nose, some facial cuts and sore backs and shoulders. They were taken back to shore, where they were looked after by the Port Alberni Fire Department and BC Ambulance

According to RCM SAR, the vessel was travelling at a “high rate of speed” and the crash may have occurred due to a navigational error.

“The occupants were extremely lucky that someone heard the crash and summoned assistance,” the RCM SAR noted in a social media post.