MATIA ISLAND — Six people were rescued by a Port Angeles Coast Guard helicopter crew after their boat went aground on Matia Island in the northern San Juans.
Names of the rescued boaters were unavailable, but reportedly none of them was injured by the grounding, which happened at about 5:30 a.m. Sunday.
The Port Angeles Coast Guard MH-65 Dolphin helicopter crew located the disabled Honey Bee and hoisted the four adults and two children on board other vessels at the scene.
The six were then transferred to a 33-foot Coast Guard response boat that took the boaters to Bellingham.
The Coast Guard says a commercial salvage vessel will recover the Honey Bee.
There were no reports of pollution from the grounded sport vessel, the Coast Guard said.
A video of the rescue is available at http://tinyurl.com/2co5wx7.
Matia Island is on the Strait of Georgia, about three miles north of Orcas Island in northeast San Juan County.
The island’s entire 145 acres comprise Matia Island State Park.
