Boaters rescued from brink of falls

A Fort Erie couple is counting their blessings tonight — after their boat ran out of gas upriver from the brink of the Horseshoe Falls. New York State Parks Police saw the boat pass the danger buoys and rescued the boaters within seven minutes.

Jared Johnston and friend Chantal Necessian were on the Niagara river Sunday night, racing ahead of a thunderstorm, and just about to turn the 21-foot boat into Chippawa Creek: “Suddenly she died. And that’s it — we knew we were in trouble right away. We were in the middle of the river. I couldn’t see my gas guage and I didn’t notice we were running out of gas.”

They had lifejackets, but no anchor. And were being carried by the current past the danger buoys.

Jared said: “So we’re facing the falls with no anchor. And it’s night time and there’s nobody around.”

Chantal called 911. Jared set off flares. And the New York State Parks Police were there in about seven minutes. At that point, Jared guesses they were less than half a kilometre from the brink of the falls.

The trouble started earlier in the day in Lake Erie. A friend of Jared’s ran out of gas in his 30 foot boat. Jared then burned additional fuel towing him for 45 minutes to the Bertie Boat Club.

Jared said: “And I only had $200 worth of gas in my boat which is what he put in his twin engine boat.”

The couple was fortunate they had a cell phone. And the police responded right away. Chantal had thought about jumping out and swimming. But with a 20 kilometre per hour current, they would have never made it to shore.

Now, after coming so close to the brink of Niagara Falls, Jared Johnston is now telling people to follow boating regulations and bring all the safety equipment with them — including an anchor.