On Saturday, March 22, a Coast Guard rescue boat crew pulled three survivors from the water after their vessel sank five miles off the coast of La Push, Washington.

At about 14:40 hours, watchstanders at the Coast Guard’s Puget Sound command center received a distress call on Channel 16 from a man who reported that his 50-foot boat was taking on water and starting to sink.

A Station Quillayute River Motor Lifeboat (MLB) crew was dispatched ten minutes later. In eight to 10-foot seas and winds of 30 miles an hour, the rescue crew began a search. At 1510 hours, they spotted three people in a floating debris field. None of the survivors were wearing lifejackets.

The boatcrew came alongside two of the men and were able to pull them safely aboard the response boat. The third survivor was struggling to stay afloat, and in order to get him on board, one of the Coast Guard crewmembers went into the water to help him up. All three of the survivors were showing symptoms of hypothermia.

By 15:35, the rescue crew arrived back at La Push and transferred the three men to emergency medical services team out of Forks.