Marine search and rescue crews were dispatched to Crescent Beach Sunday night, after a luxury powerboat carrying four men hit a sandbar.
No one was injured in the incident, which occurred just before 8 p.m., about 300 metres west of the pier, and sparked multiple 911 calls.
Andrew Newman of White Rock Sea Tours described seeing the vessel hit a sandbar outside of the channel – which has a five-knot speed limit – “causing it to come to a sudden stop and possibly injure its four occupants.”
Newman estimated the boat’s speed at 30 km/h.
The Coast Guard was notified, and a hovercraft was dispatched from Sea Island; the RCM-SAR5 team out of Crescent Beach was also sent to the scene.
Newman said he was asked to help transport Surrey firefighters to the stranded vessel.
None of the men aboard the boat in question were wearing life jackets, he noted.
Surrey Fire Services assistant Chief Chris Keon said the occupants were lucky to come away unscathed.
Officials with the Joint Rescue Co-ordination Centre described it as a non-event.
“They floated (the boat) off, they went home,” a man who answered the media line said Monday.