PORT TOWNSEND — A Coast Guard training exercise in a choppy eastern Strait of Juan de Fuca on Monday afternoon ended with other Coast Guardsmen conducting a real-life water rescue of their own.
Two fell into the water about 5:20 p.m. during a training exercise involving the lowering and raising of Zodiac inflatable boats off the Polar Sea, a Coast Guard icebreaker that stands out because of its red hull.
The Coast Guard didn’t identify either man, who was plucked from the chilly water a quarter-hour later.
“They were lowering a small boat when something occurred,” Coast Guard spokesman Petty Officer Shawn Eggert in Seattle said of six crew members in the training exercise.
“We don’t know exactly what, but it made [the small boat] fall into the water.
“When it hit the water, two were ejected into the water while the other four hung on and were able to pull themselves back on board.”
A nearby Coast Guard cutter, the Seattle-based Midgett, launched a rescue boat and returned the two who fell overboard back to the Polar Sea.
“The Midgett used all their training to recover our fellow Coast Guardsmen,” Eggert said.
“The whole thing took about 14 minutes.”
The call for aid came in at 5:21 p.m., with ambulance crews from East Jefferson Fire-Rescue and a boat crew from Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office standing by to assist.
Eggert said injuries were minor and were being handled on the Polar Sea by Coast Guard medical staff.
“All six were put back on the icebreaker,” he said.
“There were no serious injuries — a couple of bruises, but mostly they just got wet and cold.”
Eggert said he didn’t know if any of the six men involved in the exercise were from the North Olympic Peninsula, but did say that they were all stationed in Seattle.
20-knot gusts
The Coast Guard often conducts training exercises around Port Townsend waters.
The Polar Sea crew was doing so amid choppy waters and winds gusting up to 20 knots, according to National Weather Service reports at the time.
The air temperature was reportedly in the mid-30s.
“Boat lowering is fairly common training,” Eggert said.
“They learn how to get a boat in water and get it back up again.
“They were likely going to drop down and take it out before going back up.”
Eggert said the cause of the incident was being investigated Monday night.
The 399-foot Polar Sea was commissioned in 1978.
In addition to performing the traditional missions of the Coast Guard, the cutter serves as a platform for scientific missions to Arctic and Antarctic regions.
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Reporter Erik Hidle can be reached at 360-385-2335 or at erik.hidle@peninsuladailynews.com.
