COAST GUARD RESCUES SIX FROM WATERS NEAR VASHON ISLAND
SEATTLE - The Coast Guard rescued a total of six people after a group a
Good Samaritans were unable to return to shore attempting to rescue two
16-year-old girls from the waters at Heyr Pt. near Vashon Island today
at around 4:30 p.m.

Coast Guard Sector Seattle responded to a 911 call that three people
were in the water near Vashon Island by sending a 25-foot Small
Response Boat to the scene. There the Coast Guard found a man and one
of the girls clinging to a windsurfing board and a small raft with
three boys and the other girl aboard it struggling to keep from being
swept away by the tide.

The two girls had boarded a rubber raft and had paddled out onto the
water when the raft deflated stranding them in the water. Neither of
the girls was wearing a lifejacket.

A 55-year-old man who was on the beach at the time tried to swim out to
the girls but was unable to reach them and turned back. By this time,
members of Vashon Island Fire Battalion 55 had reached the beach and
asked a windsurfer if he would attempt to surf out to one of the girls
while a raft paddled by three boys aged 14-18 made an attempt to rescue
the other girl. The girls were picked up by the windsurfer and the
raft but both groups were then caught up in the currents and unable to
return to shore. Of the six people in the water, only the windsurfer
was wearing a lifejacket that he gave to the girl he pulled from the
water.

The Coast Guard response boat that had been diverted from a ferry
escort reached the scene and was able to recover all six from the
water. The group was then taken to shore to be evaluated. None of the
group had been injured.

The Coast Guard received reports for 5,438 boating incidents in 2003.
Nearly 70% of boating fatalities were caused by drowning and 86% of the
drowning victims were not wearing a lifejacket or other personal
flotation device. The Coast Guard recommends that all boaters not only
wear a lifejacket but take a boating safety class to be better prepared
for the event of any emergency on the water.

Information on Boating Safety Classes and Free Vessel Safety Checks can
be found at the Coast Guard Auxiliary webpage at
http://www.uscgboating.org/safety/courses.htm or by calling
1-800-368-5647.

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