Daughter of Canadiens GM Gainey presumed drowned

December 10th, 2006

Cape Cod, MA - The daughter of Montreal Canadiens general manager Bob Gainey was swept off the Nova Scotia tall ship Picton Castle on Friday.

Laura Gainey, 25, a volunteer crew member, was washed off a deck at the back of the vessel by a huge wave at 9:30 p.m. Friday near Cape Cod, Mass.

A search has been underway since then, with U.S. Coast Guard vessels, several aircraft and the Picton Castle barque participating in the attempts to find Gainey in seas 700 kilometres east-southeast of Cape Cod.

Dan Moreland, the senior captain of the Picton Castle, says Laura Gainey is an enthusiastic volunteer on the vessel and is known to be very fit, and is a good swimmer.

However, Coast Guard spokeswoman Faith Wisinski says that as of noon, Gainey has been in the water 33 hours without a life-jacket.

She says the water is warm in the area, but it's expected hypothermia would normally take a person's life after 36 hours.

Moreland described the situation as "completely devastating for everybody" on the vessel.

Gainey first joined the ship as a trainee in Cape Town in the last three months of the ship's world voyage.