Search underway for two kayakers reported missing near Sidney, BC, say RCMP

RCMP say two kayakers are missing in waters near Sidney, B.C., located just north of Victoria, and a search is underway.

The Sidney/North Saanich RCMP is asking for the public’s help locating two men who went missing while kayaking from D’Arcy Island to View Beach on Saturday afternoon.

The RCMP said the men were in a teal blue fibreglass, two−person, tandem kayak.

They are identified as Daniel MacAlpine, 36, and twenty−six−year−old Nicholas West.

Daniel MacAlpine is described as:

• Caucasian man
• 36-year-old Caucasian man,
• Approximately 5 feet, 10 inches tall,
• 150 pounds

Nicolas West is described as:

• 26-year old
• Caucasian,
• Approximately 6 feet, 5 inches tall,
• 170 pounds

RCMP say members of the Central Saanich Police Department and Peninsula Emergency Measures Organization search and rescue are involved in the search, and the Joint Rescue Co−ordination Centre and Canadian Coast Guard assisting.

D’Arcy Island, once a leprosy colony from 1891 to 1924, now is part of a national park reserve in Haro Strait, about 17 kilometres from Victoria, and is a popular location for kayakers and campers.