The search has been called off in Beaconsfield for a man who jumped from a boat into Lac-St-Louis on Tuesday night.
The search was called off Wednesday afternoon – however, until he is recovered, the man is still considered missing. Rescuers gave up the search as the current and winds picked up in the area, and after many hours of searching.
Rescuers presume he has drowned.
Pierre Lajeunesse and another man were in the 20-foot-boat when at around 8:30 p.m. Lajeunesse's hat blew into the water. The 40-year-old dove in after it without a life jacket and didn't resurface. His companion, who remained in the vessel, did not know how to sail.
With the sails up, the boat kept moving and he lost sight of his sailing companion. The man, also in his 40s, called 911 from the boat and rescuers came quickly, but in the darkness, it was hard to spot him.
On his Facebook page, Lajeunesse posted numerous photos of his boat and offered sailing lessons.
"If you don't have a life jacket, you can get tired quickly, depending on what you're wearing and whether you're a good swimmer or not," said Beaconsfield Yacht Club general manager David Speak. "I think people overestimate how much time you can spend in the water without a life jacket, wearing shoes and long pants, who knows? The life jacket is key. If you're able to get back to the boat, getting back up into the boat can be not easy if there's not a proper ladder."
Police said Lajeunesse may have been under the influence of alcohol or drugs.
Speak, who was helping in the search, said the boat did not belong to the club. He noted that the current in the area isn't strong.
"The water moving isn't really an issue here, maybe half a knot, at the maximum a knot," he said. "Where they were in the middle of the lake, the current is not an issue, it's probably more the fact the boat was sailing and would continue to sail away, perhaps."
He added that it isn't unusual for boaters to be out in the evening during the summer but that doing a rescue operation isn't easy even under brighter conditions.
"It's very difficult to see. I rescued somebody two years ago in the water but it was during the day and they were able to do a sound signal with a whistle and then we were able to see them," said Speak. "But it's not until you get very close, even on a sunny day, and you see somebody waving. In the dark, you don't see much."
Police boats and a Surete du Quebec helicopter were called in to conduct the search. After stopping at 2:30 a.m., the hunt restarted on Wednesday morning, led by Montreal police, with assistance from the fire department and Coast Guard.
While the Coast Guard was initially in charge, the operation was handed over to the SPVM after it was determined the man jumped into the water voluntarily and did not fall.
The man’s sister burst into tears when she was notified the search was called off. She had waiting at the shore all morning, watching rescuers search the water for him.
