PORT TOWNSEND — A man was sent to Jefferson Healthcare hospital to be treated for hypothermia after falling from the dinghy he was rowing Monday afternoon, according to East Jefferson Fire-Rescue (EJFR).
According to witnesses, the man fell overboard en route to a sailboat anchored several hundred feet south of the southern corner of the city’s Boat Haven breakwater, EJFR said in a press release.
The unmanned hard dinghy then drifted away from the man, who was not identified by EJFR.
Bystanders on shore reported hearing the stranded boater yelling for help and called 9-1-1.
While EJFR’s Marine 1-6 Guardian was en route, two divers from Portland, Ore., and Port Angeles attempted to swim to the man, and a nearby manned hard dinghy headed to the scene.
Witnesses reported the man had begun to repeatedly sink below the surface and bob back into view, EJFR said.
The hard dinghy rower first reached the man and towed him to shore once the man had secured a grip of the boat’s gunwale, EJFR spokesman Bill Beezley said in an interview.
When ashore, fire-rescue medical personnel evaluated the man, who was then transported to the hospital for further treatment and evaluation.
