‘It doesn’t happen that often,’ but Blaine-bound boater located after search suspended
It’s rare that a missing boater is found safe and sound after the U.S. Coast Guard suspends a search for them, Petty Officer Steve Strohmaier told The Bellingham Herald, but it’s not unheard of.
This was one of those rare instances.
The Coast Guard received notice that Mike Smith who went missing in Whatcom County waters was in Canadian custody after he and his boat had been located Thursday morning, Aug. 20, near Delta, B.C.
The news is a relief for family and friends after the Coast Guard on Tuesday announced that it had suspended its search for Smith after nearly 11 hours and covering 143 square miles of water in Whatcom and Skagit counties.
The search was necessary after the 39-year-old Smith left the La Conner area about his 18-foot teal-and-white skiff at approximately 3 p.m. on Monday, Aug. 17, and failed to show up by sunset in Blaine as expected.
A family member reported seeing Smith’s boat heading northwest along the west side of Lummi Island at approximately 4 p.m. Monday, Strohmaier told The Herald.
But watchstanders at the Coast Guard Sector Puget Sound were later notified by a family member at 1:30 a.m. by the Swinomish Tribal Police Department that Smith was overdue, according to a release on the search Monday night.
Multiple Coast Guard crews, including searchers from Coast Guard Station Bellingham, Coast Guard Air Station Port Angeles, the Coast Guard Cutter Sea Lion and the Swinomish Tribal Police Department, were launched to look for Smith, the release stated, and numerous tribal fishing vessels aided in the search, but no trace of Smith nor his boat were found until Thursday.
Smith’s skiff apparently ran out of fuel near Boundary Bay, Strohmaier told The Herald, and drifted nearly 10 miles north to Delta.
“It doesn’t happen that often (that someone is found after a search is suspended), but it’s a definite possibility when someone goes off course of where we think they should be, especially during evening hours when this happened,” Strohmaier said. “It’s fortunate that the small boat drifted toward land and not out to sea. We’re thankful for that, and we’re thankful to our Canadian partners for their help in this incident.”
