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Motor boat allegedly sideswiped paddler at Cultus Lake

Operator allegedly left the scene after collision knocked paddler into the water near Main Beach
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Marks on the bottom of the canoe allegedly made when the motor boat brushed it hard enough to leave paint marks. (Rick Joe/Facebook)

Rick and Peggy Joe were in shock after Peggy was sideswiped by a motor boat while paddling at Main Beach in Cultus Lake Wednesday morning.

It happened at about 10:20 a.m. and the operator of the boat allegedly left the scene after Peggy Joe was pushed off their cedar strip canoe.

The boat collided with the canoe, scuffing the bottom with paint marks.

“First of all, my wife and I are safe!” Rick Joe posted while the local couple were at the hospital getting checked out in the ER.

His wife was struck on her back before the boat knocked her into the water, he said.

It was a close call.

“A matter of an inch closer and I’d be planning my wife’s funeral today,” Joe said.

Police were called, witnesses gave testimony, and an RCMP file is open on the incident to be investigated.

Joe posted photos of what looks like paint marks at the point of impact on the bottom of the canoe.

He asked any other witnesses who were lakeside that day, of which there were many, to message him if they later saw the boat or the operator.

“Also a big thank you to the ones that came to help and stayed with us and provided their statements to RCMP,” Joe said.

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The motor boat that allegedly sideswiped a paddler at Cultus Lake’s Main Beach on the morning of July 29, 2020. (Rick Joe/Facebook)


Jennifer Feinberg

About the Author: Jennifer Feinberg

I have been a Chilliwack Progress reporter for 20+ years, covering the arts, city hall, as well as Indigenous, and climate change stories.
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