Fisherman rescued after boat goes aground in Grays Harbor

Early Sunday morning, crew aboard a Coast Guard motor life boat rescued commercial fisherman Michael Carroll, 70, after his fishing vessel, the Pacific Rim, hit a submerged object just outside the Westport Marina and began taking on water.

According to the Coast Guard, a watchstander at Coast Guard station in Warrenton, Ore., received a mayday call from the Pacific Rim at 3:51 a.m., reporting the vessel was taking on water and listing hard to starboard. The watchstander immediately directed the launch of a MLB crew. Carroll was rescued at about 4:15 a.m.

Carroll was on a fishing trip up from Newport, Ore., aboard his 59-foot composite wood and fiberglass motorsailer built in 1997, timing his arrival in Westport for early Sunday morning on a favorable tide.

“As I was headed into the marina, the current was running really strong and as I made my turn to get past Buoy 7 or 9, the boat got dragged just to the east of it, pushing me onto the sand at Whitcomb Flats,” Carroll said. “I was in the process of backing off and almost made it, but a strong wave set came in and pushed the boat to the other side of the buoy pilings and it landed on something hard.”

Carroll said he then went down to the engine room to be sure things were secure and a couple of minutes later, another wave set came in and the boat started to bounce up and down on whatever it was hung up on – maybe a submerged log.

”It bounced hard about 10 times and then started taking on water and listing hard to starboard,” he said. “I just had enough time to grab my laptop as my mattress began to float and get back up on deck.”

Carroll thinks his rudder post may have been forced up through the hull, creating a hole that allowed the boat to flood, but won’t know for certain until it comes out of the water.”

At that point, Carroll’s engine and batteries were halfway underwater. Without power, he knew he was in major trouble.

“I had a handheld VHF radio with about five minutes worth of battery power in it and managed to call the Coast Guard,” he said.

With the motor lifeboat unable to get close enough to the vessel for him to be picked up directly from the deck, Carroll was ordered to jump overboard. He was immediately scooped out of the water and transported to the Westport Marina.

There he was checked by South Beach EMS and treated for onset hypothermia. He also suffered a gash on his forehead and some rough scrapes and bruises on his arms and legs, along with a wrenched neck.

Refusing a trip to the hospital to be checked out there, first responders instead transported Carroll to the home of longtime Westport Fire Department volunteer Richard Lamm. He and his wife, Gretta, have offered Carroll – who lives on his boat when fishing — refuge until he can make arrangements for another place to stay.

Lamm posted information about Carroll’s plight on the South Beach Neighborhood Watch Facebook page, along with a list of personal items that the fisherman needed. Carroll was only able to grab half a pillowcase-worth of items — not many of which proved useful — before the Coast Guard arrived. He got off the boat with just the clothes he was wearing, a laptop computer sans power cord and his cell phone, which fortuitously, still works.

According to Lamm, community response was immediate and strong, with several individuals providing clothing, bedding and personal hygiene products to help replace what was lost on Sunday, along with more items in the following days, as well.

The American Red Cross also responded, providing Carroll with a voucher for food, arranging to get him a new pair of glasses and to replace his prescription medications.

Carroll is greatly appreciative of the help.

“I am totally overwhelmed by first, the generosity of Richard and Gretta Lamm and their girls for taking me in, drying me off, and sheltering me in the midst of this unexpected situation. And then, to be helped by so many people in this community so quickly to put clothes on my back, shoes on my feet and provide other essential items for everyday living is really incredible,” he said.

The Coast Guard transmitted a broadcast to alert boaters to be on the lookout for the partially submerged vessel, which drifted south with the tide beyond Firecracker Point, where it still remains.

At the time of the overturning, Carroll says that the Pacific Rim had approximately 250 gallons of diesel fuel onboard. Pollution responders from the Coast Guard responded after daylight on Sunday to assess the situation.

Later Sunday morning, Carroll contacted salvager Dennis Crowley of US Boats and Crowley Marine in Aberdeen to arrange for removal of the fuel on Wednesday and to determine how to get the boat on the beach. He also contacted his insurance company to open a claim file.

On Monday afternoon, Carroll and Crowley went out to the boat to assess the situation. Current plans are to start placing flotation devices around the Pacific Rim on Thursday and then tow it to a Hoquiam boat yard for repairs.

The Pacific Rim was formerly home ported in San Diego and has fished out of Washington and Oregon ports for the past 15 years. After fishing aboard her for the past four years since contracting for its purchase, Carroll moved the Pacific Rim to the Westport Marina permanently a year ago.

“It just made more sense to keep it here rather than run it up from California every season to fish up here,” he said.