SEQUIM — A wooden yacht that sank off Dungeness Spit on Friday was raised by salvagers from the ocean’s depths and was being towed to John Wayne Marina on Saturday, a Coast Guard official said.
Two people were rescued Friday morning when the 67-foot Lady A sank in about 180 feet of water northeast of the Spit.
“The Vessel Assist does have the Lady A in tow right now,” said Petty Officer 3rd Class Katelyn Shearer, a spokeswoman for Coast Guard District 13 in Seattle, at about noon Saturday.
“Instead of towing it to anchor as originally planned, they’re actually going to tow it to John Wayne Marina [Saturday].”
The Vessel Assist contractor, working in conjunction with pollution responders, planned to plug the vessel’s fuel vents near the marina, then devise a plan to tow the yacht to Port Angeles, Shearer said.
No fuel sheen was detected Friday or Saturday, she added.
Coast Guard officials have said the yacht sank with about 700 gallons of diesel fuel on board.
The specifics on how the vessel was salvaged were not immediately available.
A tug was making slow progress at about 1:30 p.m. Saturday.
“The yacht itself is barely above water,” PDN photographer Keith Thorpe reported from the 3 Crabs area.
Shearer said she did not know the names of the two people rescued from the Lady A.
The vessel is owned by Judson “Jud” Linnabary, owner and president of Platypus Marine Inc. of Port Angeles, according to PDN maritime columnist David G. Sellars.
Port Angeles Boat Haven Harbormaster Chuck Faires also confirmed that Linnabary is the owner of the vessel.
Linnabary could not be reached for comment at Platypus Marine.
A passing container ship’s crew and the Coast Guard both sent boats to help the pair, who radioed that they were abandoning the sinking yacht.
Neither was injured, the Coast Guard reported.
The mariners reported that the Lady A was taking on water in a distress call at 7:31 a.m.
A response boat and helicopter were launched from the Port Angeles station on Ediz Hook and brought the pair to Port Angeles in the response boat.
“Their hull was breached at the bottom line, but I’m not sure of the actual event that led to that,” Shearer said Friday.
The crew of Tokyo Express, a 664-foot container ship transiting the area, also launched a small boat crew to assist.
The mariners were rescued at about 8:10 a.m., and the yacht sank about 10 to 15 minutes later, Shearer said.
The Tokyo Express’ boat crew returned to the container ship, which resumed its course to Tacoma at about 8:35 a.m. The ship arrived in Tacoma early Friday afternoon.
The yacht was not considered a hazard to navigation before Saturday’s towing operation began, the Coast Guard said.
Pollution responders from Coast Guard Sector Puget Sound’s incident management division worked with the owner of the vessel and the state Department of Ecology on Friday to determine if the Lady A could be salvaged, the Coast Guard said.
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Reporter Rob Ollikainen can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5072, or at rollikainen@peninsuladailynews.com.
