Here’s what happened in the waters off Larrabee State Park Saturday night

A crew from the United States Coast Guard Station Bellingham rescued a man who was suspected to have been intoxicated when he ran his 52-foot boat aground near Larrabee State Park Saturday evening.

The Coast Guard received a report that a boat was taking on water after running aground at approximately 9:35 p.m., Chief Warrant Officer Jason Tessier said. A 45-foot Rescue Boat Medium with a search and rescue crew was dispatched.

“When we got there, we determined it was not safe enough to take the boat off the rocks — it would have made the situation worse,” Tessier said. “We decided the safest course was to take the individual off the boat.”

Tessier said there said the driver was the only person aboard the boat, and he was uninjured, though he was cited for suspected boating under the influence.

According to statistics released by the United States Coast Guard, there were 109 boating accidents in Washington state in 2017 — 15 of which were fatal. The report also said that nationally, alcohol use is the leading known contributing factor in fatal boating accidents and was the primary cause in 19 percent of boating-related deaths.

This story was originally published July 23, 2018 at 2:04 PM with the headline "Here’s what happened in the waters off Larrabee State Park Saturday night."