SEATTLE — The Coast Guard and good Samaritans assisted mariners aboard a 26-foot sailing vessel after the vessel grounded near Shilshole Bay Saturday.
Good Samaritans responded to a Coast Guard issued marine assistance request broadcast and transported five of the mariners to the nearby marina while two remained aboard the sailing vessel to await contracted vessel assist. As the tide ebbed and the sailing vessel repositioned they began to feel unsafe and a Coast Guard 45-foot Response Boat – Medium crew from Coast Guard Station Seattle transported the remaining mariners to the marina.
“We deeply appreciate the efforts of good Samaritans to look after each other and help the Coast Guard here in the Pacific Northwest,” said Aaron McNeal, an operations specialist at Coast Guard Sector Puget Sound. “We are a maritime community with heavy commercial and recreational activity on our waterways.
Good Samaritans can often reach mariners in distress more quickly than our assets and in some cases their actions prevent loss of life.”
Watchstanders at Coast Guard Sector Puget Sound received a phone call from the master of the sailing vessel Leif, rented from the Seattle Sailing Club, at 8:18 p.m. reporting the vessel was grounded on the breakwater near Shilshole Bay Marina. They had reportedly been sailing into the wind when the engine cut out. There were no injuries and they were not in immediate distress. At 4:20 a.m. Sunday vessel assist was able to take the sailing vessel in tow and moor it safely at Shilshole Bay Marina.
Weather on scene at the time of the grounding was reportedly 10 mph winds and 1-foot seas.