Page 54 - Sports Energy News, Cornwall, Issue No 133

54 Issue #133 February 2024 www.sportsenergynews.com

Meet Sylvain Audet, who salvages vehicles from

the bottom of lakes and rivers

By Christine Ouellet an “Ice Test” on different areas, to
assess the type of ice and its thickness,

ne day in February last year, a before bringing his equipment and
Ocouple of fishing buddies ventured deciding where he will set up. Hence,
onto Lake Heney with their truck. The he knows what to expect and has no
ice appeared solid on the shore, so they nasty surprises.
drove 3100 feet, (945 M,) onto the His team always includes two or
lake and parked. They unloaded their three divers who are equipped to dive
fishing equipment about a hundred feet in icy waters. He always wears a float
away and got ready to fish. suit. His mobile equipment consists
of an impressive amphibious truck to
Then the unbelievable happened: the
retrieve vehicles that are over 3000
truck started sinking through the ice. It
landed on the bottom of the lake, some feet (914.4 M) away, some VTT’s,
seventy-one feet down. 4x4’s, etc.

Sylvain Audet, owner of He sends down a camera to the
Renflouement de Vehicules, an expert bottom to scan the area and to see Photo Submitted
in rescuing people in trouble, was called how to grab the vehicle. For this, he location. I try to sensitize people to other toxic substances, you can’t leave
designed a special grappling hook.
to the rescue to retrieve the truck. He the importance of putting a branch or that vehicle at the bottom of the lake
operates mainly on the Quebec side. In the case of the Lake Heney truck, a marker, not necessarily in the hole, or in a ditch.” He recalls an abandoned
His mandate is to pull the vehicle out it was resting upside down on its roof because it could be too dangerous, but vehicle on the Ottawa River last
of the water and bring it to shore, and seventy-one feet down, so the bottom something to tell me that for example, winter, “where I was called by the
from there the towing company takes of the vehicle was free. He dragged it is 30 ft (9.1 M) feet away from the Environment Department to retrieve it.
the grappling hook along the vehicle,
charge. hole.” It had been stuck in the ice for months.”
and it made contact with the rear axel,
Sylvain Audet started the business and he started to pull it up. He pulled He specializes in situations where He says, “The Ice Test is very
in 1990 and he is in his thirty-fourth the vehicle out of the water, sliding it tow trucks can’t go. Last year, out of important, and everybody should do it.
year of operation. He had very little slowly onto the triangle while lowering the nine jobs he did, in four of these The problem is that people who don’t
when he started, learning as he went the triangle onto the surface. Then he the tow truck intervened, but they were know the lake don’t realise that a few
along by trial-and-error. He said that dragged it to shore. unable to retrieve the vehicle. Other feet away the ice might be thinner and
his equipment went through the ice, challenges he faces are very high-risk not support their weight. The best color
and he got wet a few times; he learned Each situation is unique and requires situations, for example, a river with is black ice. White ice is the worst, it
from it. specialized expertise and technique, strong current that is not completely is a mixture of snow, ice, slush is the
which is the result of years of trial and frozen, or an area where the ice is
He developed his technique, and error. worst, it has no bearing. You can have
he designed the grappling hook and not even. For these it is not the same 2ft of white ice, but 6 inches of blue ice
the steel triangle model. Before he The problem, he says, is that he technique as a moderate risk on a lake is safer. The color of the ice tells me a
designed it, he said he was using a covers a wide area. If someone goes with a nice, thick, blue ice. lot. Also, over the years, the ice pattern
wooden structure. It took him some through the ice, he would like people This year has been quieter, but he is the same on lakes. The mouth of
time to find the proper height, weight, to leave something like a branch or got a call on December 24th when the lake and exit of rivers and streams
and bearing level to pull the vehicle a marker to indicate the location of a snowmobile sank 300 ft (91,4 M) have more current and the ice always
the hole. He understands that people
safely out of the water. from shore. The ice measured 5 inches remain more fragile, they are areas to
are in a state of shock and possibly (12.5 cm,) when the person got on the be avoided. But people don’t know
Throughout the years he has learned in hypothermia, but it is important to
how to work with the ice; to identify leave something that will help him ice and only 1 inch (2.5 cm) where he and don’t inquire before venturing, and
they get caught.”
the best, safest location to install his locate the hole. Because, by the time went through.
equipment. The preparation starts he arrives on site, the hole may have The police and fire departments Watch the video of the Lake
before leaving home: he checks the closed back up, it may have snowed, provide his name to customers, Heney operation at: https://www.
structure/shape/composition of the lake and it may be very difficult to locate but he says works mostly with the facebook.com/renflouement.
and identifies the streams and rivers the precise spot where it sank. “When Environment Department. “When vehicule.3/videos/666208218613989
that go in and out of the lake, as well people tell me, “It is about there,” it an environmental issue arises from Solutionurgencedeversement @gmail.
as its depth. Once on site, he conducts may take me a week to find the exact a vehicle loaded with fuel, diesel, or com