Nine people had to be rescued from the waters of Georgian Bay over two days to start the long weekend.
OPP from Collingwood and Huronia West say they were called to four separate incidents.
Several people were rescued on Thursday afternoon.
At approximately 1:30 pm, while on general patrol, officers observed three adult female paddleboarders waving for help about 2 km out from the shores of Wasaga Beach. Only one of them had a life jacket, and they had two paddleboards between the three of them. They were quickly blown out from shore, and found themselves in distress and unable to get back.
At 2:15 pm, officers received a call for service in the waters in the area of Beachwood Road. Two children the ages of 12 and 13 were being blown out into the bay on a foam mat toy. Neither child was wearing a lifejacket. While enroute to assist, police located one child in the water in distress attempting to swim back to shore. The other child was located on the toy mat. Both children were extremely cold and scared.
At 3:30 pm, two adult males were reported to be in distress after the inflatable toy they were on was blown into the bay from Northwinds Beach in the Town of Blue Mountains. The OPP Marine Unit along with the Canadian Coast Guard coordinated their efforts and were able to rescue the pair who were also not wearing life jackets.
On Canada Day two females had to be rescued after they were blown into the bay from Wasaga Beach on a large inflatable flamingo.
Police are reminding beach goers that inflatable toys are not a substitute for life jackets or other life saving devices.
