A County native who dealt with multiple tragedies on North Beach as a member of the beach patrol in the late 1960s says there is no replacement for a parent’s vigilance along the shoreline.

Or feeling the wild wind in your hair and the spray of surf on your face and deciding today isn’t the best day for a swim.

But Mr. Alyea also says that when the worst hits, and a child has gone missing in the water, or when a loved one is struggling beneath the waves, trained staff on the ground can make the difference between life and death.

Mr. Alyea has scuba dived in the ocean and swum all over the world. 
Lake Ontario, 
especially when the wind is 
up, is far more 
treacherous than anything 
he’s seen anywhere else.

Long Days in the Sun

Mr. Alyea recalls the days when he was one of about a half dozen members of the North Beach Patrol. Eight hour days on paper often turned into ten.

“We’d get there early and have a bunch of tasks before we would even start patrolling the beach,” he recalled.

The MNR had a motor boat on the North Bay side of the beach that needed to be started up and tested. First aid kits were checked, packed and delivered to the lifeguard towers. 

Flags indicating that day’s swimming conditions — green for good, red for dangerous — were unfurled and flown along the beach.

The patrol walked up and down the shorelines, checking on swimmers and sun bathers, keeping an eye on the water and preparing for the call to action.

“We’d get moms coming up to us, ‘I can’t find my child’, or ‘My husband is in trouble out in the water’. We’d reassure them and get to work.” 

If it was a missing child, maintenance staff would hear the call over the radio and start walking the dunes between Lake Ontario and the Bay.

The Beach Patrol focused on the water and, if the conditions were right and enough people around, start a grid search.

Level-headed, experienced people on the ground take control and start the search-and-rescue process. Beach patrollers would be in constant contact via radio with the park office, coordinating next steps.

“That was so important, especially in the case of a person who had drowned. One lifeguard would be performing CPR, another would be doing mouth-to-mouth and the third would be talking to the office about the ambulance,” Mr. Alyea said.

Tragedy Strikes

In his five summers as a member of the North Beach Beach Patrol, Mr. Aylea recalls numerous close calls and three drownings.

“The one that’s stuck with me was two boys, 8 and 9. The red flags were up and they were playing on the shore in front of their mother and her friend,” he remembers.

Heavy waves and strong westerly winds. Their mother looked up to find the children had vanished into the undertow.

After she alerted the Patrol, the boys were recovered, floating face down in the waves near shore. CPR was administered for an hour to no avail.

Mr. Alyea has scuba dived in the ocean and swum all over the world.  Lake Ontario, especially when the wind is up, is a far more treacherous body of water than anything he’s seen anywhere else.

“Getting knocked over in the waves and pulled under in the undertow, if you have presence of mind to let the current take you, hold your breath and can do it long enough, you will come up to the surface,” he explained. 

But a child or even an able swimmer who gets surprised by a wave and yanked beneath the surface?

“They are quite likely going to drown.”

Getting Serious

Mr. Aylea said if the Province is serious about saving lives at their provincial parks, they will re-invest in life-saving infrastructure and staff. 

Reversing course on a mid-90s cost-cutting measure that eliminated Beach Patrol programs is a good start.

But even with complete emergency preparedness and the most qualified responders nearby, Mr. Alyea says there can still be tragic consequences.

“I remember that day well on North Beach. Later in the afternoon there were a couple of regulars we knew who were out swimming and we were encouraging them to come in to saftey,” Mr. Alyea remembers. “Our maintenance guy Ralph Margetson saw our frustration and pulled up to see if he could help.”

The late Mr. Margetson got out of his truck and charged into the waves, work boots and all.

Pulling out his wallet, he unfolded a $20 bill and waved it at the gentlemen.

“Boys, two little kids died on this beach today!” he bellowed “Is $20 enough to get you to come out of the water?”

It was enough.

“Sometimes, the best decision you can make is to examine the wind and the waves and turn around and go home.”