PORT ANGELES — U.S. Coast Guard Group Port Angeles personnel rescued a 62-year-old Ashland, Ore., man late Saturday night who was found clinging to the hull of his boat in Port Angeles Harbor near the Coho ferry dock.
Ed Kaetzel, a volunteer with Group Port Angeles, declined to identify the man who was found at about 10:22 p.m. Saturday unable to board the Nancy Baby in 49-degree water. The Coast Guard dispatched personnel aboard its 25-foot rescue boat to save the boater.
Port Angeles police officials, who were unavailable to identify the man Sunday, received a report that someone was calling for help just off the ferry dock.
The man, who was transported to Olympic Medical Center hospital and treated for possible hypothermia, reported he was rowing a dinghy toward his boat anchored in the harbor, but the dinghy began to take on water. When it sank, he swam back to his boat, and was in the water for about 30 minutes.
The man was wearing a personal flotation device, which “definitely saved his life,”‘ said Kaetzel.
