‘Bomb cyclone’ blows boat from Washington state to White Rock

The blustery weather on Monday caused cancellations at BC Ferries and power outages, and also a surprise along the White Rock promenade.

Mounties say a sailboat from Washington state made it all the way across the bay without a crew on board.

White Rock RCMP say they were called Monday afternoon to reports of the boat floating towards the shore with a ripped sail.

“At that time, we did not know if anybody was aboard the boat,” Const. Chantal Sears explained.

“We located it and were able to get the hull number on it and the name of it. Nobody was observed on it. We scanned the waters and did not see anybody that was in distress. Several bystanders advised that they had observed the boat drift in from the U.S. side of the water.”

Related articles:

• ‘Bomb cyclone’ hits B.C.’s south coast, BC Hydro dealing with outages

• BC Ferries resumes sailings after storm-related delays

The strong winds started to tip the boat, according to Sears, so police cordoned off a section of the promenade as a precautionary measure. In photos, the boat appears tilted in very shallow, rocky water.

“Just another one of the calls for service that makes #WhiteRock a unique place to work,” White Rock RCMP wrote in its tweet.

Yesterday’s wind was something, so much so this Washington state boat made it across the bay without a crew. Just another one of the calls for service that makes #WhiteRock a unique place to work. pic.twitter.com/l9rAVJIqtE

— White Rock RCMP (@WhiteRockRCMP) October 26, 2021

Mounties have contacted the owner of the boat, who will be heading to White Rock to get the vessel.

Sears says nobody was hurt and they haven’t received any reports of anyone missing or in distress. She adds this was a very unusual event.

“It’s the first time in my seven years here that I’ve actually seen something like this,” Sears said.

A so-called “bomb cyclone” gained strength Sunday, bringing rain and wind to the region on Monday, as the storm moved over the B.C. and Washington state coasts.

There were periods of heavy rain and wind, leading to power outages to thousands of BC Hydro customers.

BC Ferries cancelled all of its Monday morning and afternoon sailings on its Tsawwassen to Duke Point, Tsawwassen to Swartz Bay, Horseshoe Bay to Departure Bay, and Comox to Powell River routes.

Editor’s note: A previous version of this article suggested the sailboat was removed by city crews Monday afternoon. RCMP later issued a correction, saying the owner of the boat was contacted and as of early Tuesday afternoon had not yet picked it up.

– With files from Claire Fenton