LA CONNER, Wash. (AP) — The Coast Guard has airlifted two boaters whose 20-foot skiff ran aground in Skagit Bay southeast of La Conner, Wash.
A Skagit County sheriff’s vessel headed out to help the boaters Thursday night after they called for assistance but the sheriff’s boat unable to reach the skiff because of shallow water. Sheriff’s officers advised the two to wait for the tide to come in so they could return to shore safely.
The Coast Guard was soon told that the boaters had tried to wade to shore but quickly returned to the skiff, wet and facing the early stages of hypothermia.
A Coast Guard helicopter crew from Port Angeles was able to hoist the boaters from the site and take them to the Skagit Regional Airport where they were checked by medics.
