The Fourth of July holiday weekend was not quite over for the Engvalls. The weekend was spent camping with family on Anderson Island. Since Lisa had to return to work on Monday, Lisa and I decided to motor back to Beachcrest from Oro Bay Sunday afternoon in the 12 foot aluminum boat and then I would return back across the Nisqually Reach for one more night of camping. We arrived safely at Beachcrest, walked home and then Lisa drove me back down to the water. Lisa watched me launch as I had done dozens of times in this boat and then drove home.
Headed back to Oro Bay, I encountered 3-4 foot waves due to wind against current. While the wind was with the direction of travel the current was against, this made waves that were only 20 feet apart. I throttled back so as not to stuff the boat into a wave and fill it with water. Trying now to take the waves at an angle, one hit hard enough to knock me off balance, turn the boat over and dump me into the water.
Climbing onto the bottom of the now overturned boat, I yanked the tab on the manual inflatable PFD I was wearing and then felt around my neck for my glasses which were tethered to Croakies just so I would not loose them. My hat and glasses were gone, just great! Now anything at any distance would be fuzzy. Everything else formerly in the boat floated away or sank. The oars, a cooler, gas can, a throw-able cushion: a water borne garage sale. Recalling the Cruising World Safety at Sea instructions I waved my arms, turned on the strobe light, blew the handy whistle attached to the PFD, and yelled, trying to be Bigger, Brighter, Different, all the while trying to stay on top of an overturned boat that seemed determined to buck me off.
After about 15 minutes of this I was thrown back into the water and decided now was a good time to turn the boat right side up. Accomplishing this, the orange box of safety gear appeared floating in the now upright boat. Sliding over the transom into a boat full of water, the boat seemed no more stable. Sitting up to my waist in water, I pulled out a VHF radio, a flare gun with flares and a cell phone from the box. I called Lisa, knowing she was less than two miles away. Voice mail! I left a somewhat frantic message anyway. Lisa listened to the message shortly thereafter but could not understand it because the microphone was already full of water.
I then called 911, where an operator promptly took my information, although he said I was hard to understand, as my phone had already been damaged. While still on the phone with 911, reaching for the flares floating away in the boat shifted the weight and overturned the boat again dumping me fully back in the water. The orange box floated away and I once again climbed back on top of the overturned boat. Now the VHF and cell phone were waterlogged and dead. Spying a speeding fuzzy boat in the distance I fired off two flares in that direction. They took no notice and kept going. I kept getting knocked back in the water, each time colder and slower to climb back aboard the capsized boat, all the while yelling, waving and blowing my whistle. I feared no one would see me. Finally I could hear but not see the Coast Guard helicopter looking for me, so I knew I’d eventually be rescued if I could just stay on top of this boat long enough.
Soon a fisherman, who had been out crabbing, spotted me and came to my aid. The fisherman, who had obviously never had LifeSling training, made several passes and attempts to rescue me. The helicopter noticing the activity was now hovering only 75 yards off as a precaution, ready to pull me out if necessary, just like on TV! After several more attempts a very wet, cold, tired Kris flopped aboard the fishermen’s boat, and then collapsed. While the helicopter still hovered nearby and my boat floated away. I had been in the water for about 40 minutes.
After giving some information over the VHF to the Coast Guard the helicopter left. We searched for and found the now waterlogged but still barely floating orange box. These boxes are not waterproof, just somewhat water resistant. We fished it out of the water and headed to the Beachcrest community marina where rescue services were waiting. Lacey Fire and Rescue and the Medic Unit took all my vital signs, while trying to warm me up, all the while watching for signs of hypothermia. After calling the hospital and consulting with a doctor to make sure I was lucid and responsive they released me to go home.
Stay safe on the water and put that PFD on before you need it! You never know when that will be.
Kris Engvall