Volunteers have returned to the waters off northern Vancouver Island after wild weather forced the RCMP to suspend its efforts to find and rescue a missing canoeist. Dakota Smith, 35, was last seen around noon on Nov. 6, when he set off to go fishing in the Johnstone Strait north of Sayward, B.C. The Joint Resue Co-ordination Centre in Victoria contacted the Sayward RCMP shortly before 4:30 p.m. that day and mounted a search effort that would include watercraft and helicopters. Smith’s capsized canoe was found but efforts to locate the father of two young children have been unsuccessful. While the official search was stood down on Tuesday after the RCMP said the man’s chances of survival had “drastically been reduced” by high winds and heavy rains drenching the region, members of the Ma’a̱mtagila Nation and neighbouring communities were back searching the waters and lands on Wednesday. Jen Ambers, who is co-ordinating the community-led search for her nephew, says Smith knows the remote terrain well and has conducted several hunting and fishing trips through the region. “There are areas with cabins that have food and water in them,” Ambers said in an interview with CTV News. “He knows that if he can get to them, there’s warmth, there’s food, there’s water. We just need to know if he’s made it to those cabins.” Searchers were planning to check the wilderness cabins Wednesday, while nearly a dozen boats were also scouring the bays and inlets of Johnstone Strait for any sign of the missing paddler. “We’re very hopeful and we continue to be optimistic,” said Smith’s aunt. “We have a lot of support and other nations are stepping up and saying they will be ready to get on the water with us tomorrow.” Wind and rainfall warnings continue to plague the region where Smith disappeared, with Environment and Climate Change Canada warning that more than 250 millimetres of precipitation could fall in the area. The weather service said flooding is possible in low-lying areas while heavy rains would reduce visibility and potentially trigger landslides across B.C.’s South Coast.
