My thoughts and condolences go out to the Swan family and firends.  What a tragic event. 

The 24-year-old Richmond man who died after his boat tipped on the weekend was at the Outaouais lake for an annual fishing trip with family and friends.

Quebec provincial police pulled Mike Swan’s body from Lac Forant on Tuesday around 3:10 p.m. after searching the remote area for two days. Lac Forant is north of Campbell’s Bay.

Swan was in an aluminum boat late Saturday afternoon with two friends when the boat capsized and they fell into the frigid water. His two friends managed to get to shore — one swam and the other grabbed something floating in the water. Swan didn’t make it out of the lake.

Swan’s uncle, Peter Vanesse, found the boat and they used a satellite phone to call for help. The two friends who made it to shore were injured and suffering from hypothermia. They warmed up in their cabin before help arrived.

“You have no idea how cold the water is,” Vanesse said Wednesday.

Vanesse said it took several hours for emergency crews to arrive and the fishing party had difficulty communicating with first responders because of a language barrier.

Police said it was challenging responding to the area because it was so remote. The Surete du Quebec sent a dive team to search for Swan.

Vanesse said Swan was recently working as a shingler in Richmond. Fishing was one of Swan’s favourite hobbies.

“He was a great kid,” Vanesse said. “He’d give you everything he had.”

Vanesse said the three men weren’t wearing lifejackets. Although police were investigating the role alcohol might have played in the tragedy, Vanesse chalked it up to “pure inexperience.”