It’s good they had lifejackets, bad they didn’t have paddles.
Benton County Deputies Rescue Sinking Boaters Late Sunday night
The Benton County Sheriff’s Department’s jetboat was dispatched around 11:36 PM after getting a report of a sinking vessel.
Dispatch was alerted to 3 men on a boat, who were about 1,000 feet out from the Plymouth Boat Launch on the Columbia River, in the remote southeast corner of the county.
The boaters said they had lifejackets on, but no paddles and they were taking on water. Dispatch advised them to drop anchor so they would stop drifting, and after a search, the jetboat was able to locate them, and safely and slowly tow them to shore.
Deputies Able to Locate the Source of the Leak
Authorities didn’t say how big the boat was, but probably a bit larger, since it had an inboard/outboard motor.
Officers said a cracked seal in the motor area was letting the water in, they said without help, they likely would have sunk by very early morning. It’s not known if the motor was operable to slowly push them toward shore, but not likely since they had to be towed.
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