A cottager who helped rescue a stranded boater on Lake Manitoba had no idea what to expect when a neighbour handed him a two-way radio dropped from an aircraft circling above his Lundar Beach cabin.

Marty Danielson found himself talking to members of the Canadian Armed Forces.

"They're saying that there's a stranded boater that has been drifting for over a day. And he's a long way out in the lake and they need a boat out there," said Danielson.

While he put gas in his Sea-Doo, Danielson's wife and kids packed drinks and a snack for the boater, in case he needed it.

Danielson said a flare dropped from the aircraft helped him find the boater about eight kilometres from shore. The boat's engine had stopped working leaving the man stranded, Danielson said. He estimates the boat drifted for about 40 kilometres.

The boater was alive and in good spirits, but relieved to have been rescued after spending nearly 24 hours on the water.

"There was a big storm here on Friday night and he said he thought for sure he was going to be dead," said Danielson.

Rescue mission

The search began on Saturday after Ste. Rose du Lac RCMP received a report of a missing 60-year-old man who was camping at Vakker Beach Campground.

The man was last seen fishing in his boat on the lake on Friday around 5 p.m. Local campers started looking for him the next morning when he didn't return to his campsite.

Campground owner Chris Thorsteinson has lived on the lake his whole life. At 9 a.m. Saturday, someone alerted him the man had not returned, he said.

"Unfortunately this lake can be very unforgiving ... when it gets bad, it can get bad real fast," he said.​​​

Thorsteinson said the whole campground was concerned about the man's safety. He says an off-shore wind may have pushed the boat into choppy open water.

RCMP search and rescue members believed he may have drifted across the lake to the Ashern and Lundar area and, with help from Manitoba Sustainable Development and the Joint Rescue Coordination Centre, they found him around 3 p.m. Saturday.

He's a long way out in the lake and they need a boat out there. - Marty Danielson

A spokesperson for the Canadian Armed Forces said low waves and clear visibility allowed their crew to spot the missing man from the air as soon as their plane flew overhead.

Second Lt. Alexandra Hejduk said 435 Squadron's CC-130H Hercules dropped a one-time use radio bundle to communicate with the cottagers, who climbed onto two Sea-Doos and chased the plane back to where the fisherman was seen.

"The crew had dropped a smoke marker at that point, as well, just to help those civilians on the Sea-Doos find and locate the fisherman," Hejduk said.

435 Squadron’s CC-130H Hercules aircraft crew dropped a smoke marker, top, to guide two civilians on personal watercraft, seen at the bottom of the photo, to where a missing fisherman was located on Lake Manitoba. (Submitted by Capt. Leonard Portelance-Bedard, 435 Squadron)

Hejduk said the RCMP were waiting on the shore to take over and provide aid once the Sea-Doos reached the land.

"The plane [followed] the civilians just to make sure everyone got back to the beach okay," the second lieutenant said.

RCMP had a rescue boat, but weren't able to launch it because the lake is too shallow, according to one of the cottagers involved in the rescue mission. That's why they needed someone with a smaller watercraft, Danielson said.

After finding the man, Danielson tied the boat to his Sea-Doo and towed it back to his dock, where it remains.

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