LAPUSH — A Coast Guard helicopter crew from Port Angeles transferred two men to Neah Bay on Thursday after they were injured in an apparent collision between their disabled boat and a Coast Guard vessel 30 miles west of LaPush.
The Coast Guard had received a radio distress call from the recreational craft Nauti Cat saying the boat was disabled by a dead battery and asking for assistance for the seven-person crew.
The Nauti Cat was participating in a halibut derby.
The Coast Guard dispatched a 47-foot motor life boat crew from Coast Guard Station Quillayute River.
While taking the vessel in tow, a collision between the response boat and the Nauti Cat injured the two men and cracked the Nauti Cat’s hull above the waterline, the Coast Guard said.
An MH-65 Dolphin helicopter crew from Air Station/Sector Field Office Port Angeles transported the pair to emergency medical personnel in Neah Bay.
They then were taken to Olympic Medical Center in Port Angeles with what the Coast Guard called non-life-threatening injuries.
A state Fish and Wildlife boat crew took the remaining five boaters aboard and towed the disabled recreational vessel to LaPush.
No names of the people were released.
The Coast Guard is investigating the incident, according to Chief Petty Officer David Mosley, Coast Guard spokesman.
There were no reports of damage to the Coast Guard life boat, Mosley said.
Mosley said he did not know how many Coast Guard members were on the life boat when it collided with the Nauti Cat.
