PORT ANGELES — A U.S. Coast Guard helicopter crew from Port Angeles rescued two stranded kayakers, while other Coast Guard crews in other parts of the Northwest rescued four people from other dangerous situations.
At 5 p.m. Saturday, the Coast Guard was notified that two kayakers had capsized and needed assistance on the northeast side of Whidbey Island, near Hope Island.
An MH-65 Dolphin helicopter from Air Station/Sector Field Office Port Angeles, rescue boats from Coast Guard Station Bellingham and a local marine fire unit responded to assist the stricken kayakers.
The Port Angeles air crew arrived on scene and located the kayakers on Hope Island.
The kayakers later told the Coast Guard they had been in the water for more than an hour before making their way to shore.
The Coast Guard did not identify the kayakers.
The water and air temperatures were both in the mid-40s with winds up to 30 knots, the Coast Guard reported.
Additional rescues
Saturday was a busy day for the Coast Guard on the Pacific Northwest.
In Ilwaco, a 58-year-old man was retrieved from the water after falling from a dock.
At 6:17 p.m., Coast Guard Station Cape Disappointment was called to a report of a man in the water near D dock at the Port of Ilwaco.
The report stated that the man had been in the water for approximately 20 minutes and was hanging onto a life raft, but was unable to get in.
A Coast Guard crew launched a 29-foot response boat and was on scene within five minutes.
The boat crew located the man, who was unconscious and wedged between a dock and the life raft in 41-degree water.
The rescue crew pulled the man from the water and successfully revived him within a few minutes.
The man was transferred to a waiting ambulance and taken to a nearby hospital.
His name and condition were not available Sunday.
Also Saturday, the Coast Guard rescued three people near Coos Bay, Ore., after their boat overturned.
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Reporter Arwyn Rice can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 56250, or at arice@peninsuladailynews.com.
