'Severely hypothermic' sailor rescued after spending hours adrift off B.C. coast

A sailboat captain was found alive but suffering from a severe case of hypothermia on Monday after spending up to five hours adrift in the ocean off British Columbia, according to the coast guard.

Rescue co-ordinators in Victoria dispatched a military C-130 Hercules search plane and a CH-149 Cormorant rescue helicopter after a 13-metre sailboat was found abandoned on the rocks on Cortes Island, northwest of Powell River.

Multiple coast guard vessels were also sent to the area, including an inshore rescue boat whose crew searched the stranded sailboat and determined it had been occupied earlier in the day, according to Canadian Coast Guard spokesperson Kiri Westnedge.

One of the coast guard vessel crews eventually spotted the missing sailor, who was wearing a yellow lifejacket and floating in the channel between Cortes Island and Hernando Island to the south.

"The person had been in the water for approximately four to five hours and was severely hypothermic," Westnedge said in an emailed statement Tuesday.

"The crew of the lifeboat were able to get the person on board and provide first aid while transporting the person to emergency health services" in Lund, on the B.C. mainland, she said.

"Without the yellow lifejacket, it is unlikely that responders would have been able to find the missing captain and save his life," the coast guard spokesperson added.

Authorities are reminding boaters to always maintain proper safety equipment and wear flotation devices when on the water.