McNeil Island firefighters rescue kids from Puget Sound. Here’s how they did it
The McNeil Island Fire Department received a call from the Pierce County Sheriff’s Department about 8 p.m. May 18 informing them that two teenagers were stranded on a sailboat somewhere near Pitt Island.
Three firefighters from the nine-person department on McNeil Island responded and rescued the two boys, age 17 and 10, from their damaged sailboat in Puget Sound. The team used their FAST boat for the rescue. They typically use the FAST boat to carry residents to the mainland from the island.
This was the first time the 10-year-old brother had ever been on a sailboat.
The approximate location the firefighters were given was about a mile north from where they found the brothers, Aaron MacLean, one of the firefighters who helped with the rescue, told The Gateway Friday.
The brothers got about a quarter-mile off shore when the wind picked up while the tide was coming in. It bent the mast on the sailboat. This made them lose their sail power, which stranded them. After about an hour of trying to paddle back to shore, they gave up and waited for the rescue team.
“They were basically just spinning in circles because you’ve got the wind coming from one direction and the tide from the other,” MacLean said. “When we got there and called out to them they said they were uninjured, just cold and tired.”
The McNeil firefighters maneuvered the sailboat alongside their FAST boat and were able to get the brothers aboard where they warmed up by the heater on the ride home, MacLean said.
After they got the brothers aboard they were able to attach tow lines to the back of the FAST boat and tow the sailboat over to the Longbranch dock, the dock the brothers launched from. Their mom was waiting for them, MacLean said.
“The biggest concern we had was that their sailboat was taking on a lot of water. If we would’ve been 10 or 15 minutes later, it could’ve been a completely different story,” MacLean said.
The sailboat will need significant repairs to the mast that was badly bent.
With summer kicking off soon, MacLean said boat safety is important. He emphasized how important it is to have a life jacket on. The water in Puget Sound is about 53 degrees right now and after just six minutes someone can experience the effects of hypothermia.
It’s also important to check the weather for the duration of your trip when you’re planning to go out on the water, he sai, because the wind can pick up at anytime and change things significantly.
