B.C. sailors tell of harrowing choices in rescue of charter sinking survivors

PORT BROWNING HARBOUR, B.C. — Two British Columbia sailors who rescued survivors of Sunday’s charter boat sinking that claimed six lives in the Strait of Georgia have told of the harrowing choice to leave two people in the water in order to safely rescue others.

Brian Angus and his wife Dorothy Stauffer had set off from Vancouver that morning on their annual summer cruise when they saw three people floating together, then two others further away.

Angus says they focused on the three closest to them, getting them to hang onto the dinghy they were towing behind their sailboat, in a rescue hampered by a language barrier, but they then lost sight of the other two.

Angus is a former Air Canada pilot and Stauffer was a flight attendant for more than three decades and they say their emergency training kicked in during the rescue.

The RCMP say one other person was rescued, and that the other six aboard the fishing charter vessel that sank are presumed drowned.

Stauffer says they were told by other rescuers and sailors that saving three people was the best they could do given the conditions.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 30, 2026.

Darryl Greer, The Canadian Press