A dad and his two adult children are lucky to be alive after they spent hours in the open waters of B.C.'s Howe Sound after their boat flipped.
Royal Canadian Marine Search and Rescue got the distress call at around 4:30 p.m. Thursday and were quickly on their way to the north of Anvil Island, located just west of Porteau Cove.
"They were in a little 10 foot [boat] and it got swamped by a wave," said Ian Grantham of Royal Canadian Marine Search and Rescue.
"They were floating then all of a sudden they were in the water."
The father swam to shore and alerted the Coast Guard, but the others needed help getting onto the rescue vessel when officials got there.
Despite the warm temperatures, the waters of Howe Sound can still be dangerously cold in the summer.
Paramedics and a doctor were at the scene checking on the men, but it does not appear that either of them was seriously injured.
Crews say the reason the family survived for so long in the open water is because they were wearing lifejackets.
