LA PUSH — A Coast Guard spokesman says a 47-foot Coast Guard boat sent to rescue a fishing boat with seven people aboard off the coast of Washington’s Olympic Peninsula collided with the disabled recreational boat while taking it in tow. Two men on the fishing boat were injured in the collision.
Chief Petty Officer David Mosley said the two passengers suffered non-life-threatening injuries Thursday and the hull of the fishing vessel Nauti Cat was cracked above the waterline. A Coast Guard helicopter flew the two injured men to Neah Bay for medical care.
Mosley says a Washington state Fish and Wildlife Department boat took the remaining five boaters on board and towed the disabled Nauti Cat to La Push, Washington. The seven people aboard the Nauti Cat had been participating in a recreational halibut fishing derby when that boat’s battery went dead.
Mosley says the Coast Guard is investigating.
