CAMANO ISLAND — The first day of boating season ended in tragedy Saturday after a boat capsized, sending five people who were shrimp fishing into the cold waters off the southern tip of Camano Island.
One man who was pulled from the water later died at the Tulalip Marina. A 13-year-old boy who was trapped under the overturned boat was taken by helicopter to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle. He had been in the water for quite some time before a rescuer swimmer with the U.S. Coast Guard was able to reach him, Everett police Sgt. Robert Goetz said.
The boy’s condition was not made available Saturday.
Early reports indicate that there were life jackets on board the boat but no one was wearing them at the time the vessel capsized, Island County sheriff’s detective Ed Wallace said.
His department is investigating the accident. Detectives didn’t expect to release any details about their investigation until Monday, Wallace said Saturday.
Rescue crews received word about 7:15 a.m. that two waves swamped an 18-foot boat, throwing all five people aboard into the water. The U.S. Coast Guard sent a helicopter crew from Port Angeles and a boat from Seattle. Rescue crews from Tulalip Bay Fire Department, the Everett Police Department and the state Department Fish and Wildlife also sped to the scene.
Good Samaritans pulled four adults from the water before rescue crews arrived. They began life-saving efforts on one man and began treating the others for hypothermia. Once at the Tulalip Marina, emergency crews performed cardiopulmonary resuscitation on the man for 45 minutes, Tulalip Bay Fire Deputy Chief Rob Johnson said. Crews were unable to revive him and he was declared dead at the scene.
The boy, meanwhile, remained missing.
A Coast Guard rescue swimmer was deployed into the water once the helicopter crew arrived. The swimmer found the boy beneath the overturned hull. The boy was brought aboard the Coast Guard boat, where crew members began CPR. The boy was hoisted into the helicopter and rushed to Harborview.
Weather conditions were calm but cold at the time of the accident. The water temperature was 46 degrees, according to a press release from the U.S. Coast Guard.
“We don’t have any other information about water conditions other than we were told that a couple of large waves came in,” U.S. Coast Guard Petty Officer Eric Chandler said.
Even when the weather is warm, the water in the Puget Sound is cold enough to cause a person to go into shock, Chandler said. A person may be unable to swim to safety or have the strength to pull themselves out of the water.
Saturday’s tragedy is a grim reminder of how important it is to wear a life jacket while on the water, officials said.
“Things happen in an instant,” Wallace said. “We want people to have their life jackets on. The water is so cold and if your life jacket is still in the boat, it’s going to be hard to get back there and put it on.”
Diana Hefley: 425-339-3463; hefley@heraldnet.com.
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