Names of two missing sailors released
Jun 5 2009 in Currents by Deborah Bach
Updated: 6:43 p.m Sunday, June 7
The two sailors missing after their boat overturned early on Friday have been identified as Sean Mansfield of Maple Falls and Gunther Frank of Bellingham.
Authorities called off the search for the two men Friday afternoon after scouring a 50-square mile area with a helicopter, numerous boats and a ground party. Mansfield and Frank are presumed drowned.
According to The Bellingham Herald, volunteers in kayaks and small boats continued the search Saturday in the waters around Chuckanut Bay near Bellingham, where the boat overturned. Friends gathered where the sailboat washed ashore, the Herald reported.
The search was launched after the 18-foot sailboat carrying Mansfield, Frank and four other people overturned about 2 a.m. Friday in seas of one to two feet. Three women and a man managed to swim ashore in the 49-degree water. The boat had headed out about 8:30 Thursday night from Bellingham Bay, a short distance from Chuckanut Bay. No one on the sailboat was wearing a life jacket, authorities said.
In a separate incident, police believe a body found in Lake Washington Friday is a boater who went missing Thursday night after the boat he was in ran out of gas in choppy waters. Police were called to the 9700 block of NE Juanita Dr. in Kirkland just after noon Friday by a passersby who saw what appeared to be a body about 20 feet offshore. Police retrieved the body, presumed to be the man authorities were searching for in Lake Washington Thursday night.
The search began after two men left Ivar’s Salmon House restaurant on Lake Union in a 16-foot runabout around 10:30 p.m. The boat was headed for a marina in Kirkland when it ran out of gas. The boat’s passenger, believed to be in his 50s, either fell or jumped in the water. The strong winds that battered the region Thursday night pushed the boat away from the man and he couldn’t swim fast enough to make it back to the boat.
The boat’s skipper, 49, took a floating seat cushion from the boat and jumped in, hoping to save his friend. But the boat quickly drifted away again. The skipper was in the water for about 90 minutes but was able to swim to shore and call for help. He was treated for mild hypothermia.
The boat was found just before 1:30 a.m. north of Juanita Park in Kirkland, near where the body was found. Investigators believe alcohol may have been a factor, and neither man was wearing a life jacket.
Mike Oswald said on June 5, 2009
It’s sad to loose someone when it doesn’t have to happen. Last night on Lake Washington another boater also drowned when the wind came up and he went over the side. His buddy dove after him but the boat drifted off and the would be rescuer ended up swimming ashore holding on to a seat cushion.
Common threads that tie in both accidents is that operation at night, possibly unsettled weather and no one-NO ONE-was wearing a life jacket (PFD). Yes, alcohol could be involved, too, but the last line of personal defense was breached when they operated on the water without a PFD.