Imagery Release: Coast Guard responds to unmanned adrift, rescues stranded kayakers on Blake Island, Wash.

U.S. Coast Guard sent this bulletin at 03/31/2019 06:53 PM EDT

united states coast guard 

News Release  

March 31, 2019
U.S. Coast Guard 13th District Pacific Northwest
Office: (206) 220-7237
After Hours: (206) 605-4817
13th District online newsroom

A member from Coast Guard Station Seattle looks through gear from an kayak found unmanned adrift in an attempt to find any identifying information while in the vicinity of Faunteroy and Vashon Island, Wash., March 31, 2019. The kayak was one of five kayaks that belonged to a group of campers that found themselves stranded on Blake Island after their kayaks were washing away in the night. U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 2nd Class Daniel Caraballo. A screen capture of the search pattern conducted by a 45-foot Motor Lifeboat crew from Coast Guard Station Seattle in the vicinity of Faunteroy and Vashon Island, Wash., March 31, 2019. The boat crew was searching for and found a red kayak that had been reported unmanned an adrift. U.S. Coast Guard photo courtesy Station Seattle. Members from Coast Guard Station Seattle look through gear from a red unmanned adrift kayak they located in an attempt to find any identifying information while in the vicinity of Faunteroy and Vashon Island, Wash., March 31, 2019. Around the same time the group that lost the kayak called the Coast Guard to report them missing and their description matched the found craft. U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 2nd Class Daniel Caraballo.
Members from Coast Guard Station Seattle grab ahold of a red kayak that had been found unmanned and adrift in the vicinity of Faunteroy and Vashon Island, Wash., March 31, 2019. The kayak belonged to a group of people who had been camping on Blake Island and woke up Sunday morning to their five kayaks missing. U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 2nd Class Daniel Caraballo. A unmanned and adrift red kayak located on the water in the vicinity of Faunteroy and Vashon Island, Wash., March 31, 2019. The kayak was first spotted by the crew of the Washington State Ferry Chelan and later located by a Coast Guard Station Seattle boat crew. U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 2nd Class Daniel Caraballo.


Coast Guard responds to unmanned adrift, rescues stranded kayakers on Blake Island, Wash.

SEATTLE — A Coast Guard boat crew responded to a report of an unmanned adrift kayak and found that it belonged to a group of six kayakers stranded on Blake Island, Wash., Sunday.

A 45-foot Response Boat-Medium crew from Coast Guard Station Seattle safely transported all six people and their dog from Blake Island back to a pier in Manchester, as well as recovered two of their five missing kayaks.

At 8:07 a.m., Coast Guard Sector Puget Sound watchstanders received a report from the crew of the Washington State Ferry Chelan of an unmanned and adrift kayak. The ferry crew spotted the red kayak while pulling in to the Fauntleroy terminal.

The Station Seattle boat crew launched in response, conducted a search for the reported kayak and located it in the vicinity of Faunteroy and Vashon Island.

Around the same time, one of the kayak owners had contacted the watchstanders at Coast Guard 13th District Command Center. They reported that they had been camping on Blake Island and when they woke up all five of their kayaks were gone. District personnel connected them to the Sector Puget Sound staff and their red kayak matched the description of one of their missing craft.

Station Seattle grabbed the kayak, headed toward the campers and found a second one of their kayaks while en route.

A tug crew in the area found two more of the kayaks, but one kayak remains missing. The missing kayak is reported as 12-foot fiberglass white kayak with black trim and a dolphin on the side. If anyone sees a kayak matching this description, please contact Sector Puget Sound personnel at 206-217-6001.

This response also highlights the importance that mariners properly secure and label their vessels, as well as file a float plan. Had the owner been unable to call, the search would have continued and they could still be stranded.

-USCG-