'One of the single most terrifying things ever': Canadian couple among tourists on sinking sailing boat tour abroad
CTV
A Toronto couple are speaking out about their “extremely dangerous” experience on board a sinking tour boat in the Dominican Republic last week.
A Toronto couple are speaking out about their “extremely dangerous” experience on board a sinking tour boat in the Dominican Republic last week.
Brock MacKenzie and his partner, Kerri Wolanski, were enjoying a tour of the Haitises National Park caves on Monday, April 15 when they first noticed water seeping onto their boat.
MacKenzie said that he initially didn’t understand what was happening but soon realized the seriousness of the situation, as the boat was approximately 25 minutes from shore at the time.
“I looked over (at Wolanski) and I’m like, ‘how are you getting wet?’ Like I couldn’t figure out where the water was coming from,” MacKenzie said in an interview with CTV News Toronto. “I happened to look around and the boat was sinking.”
MacKenzie said that there were around 30 other people on board the boat at the time – including at least one child and some seniors.
He said that most of the passengers were not wearing life jackets and that crew members “handed out rum” as the boat took on water.
“The craziest part about the whole trip was not the fact that the boat took on water,” MacKenzie said. “It’s that we left and nobody had lifejackets on, there was no safety, nobody talked about safety of this boat, what happens if [the boat was to take on water].”
