Close call on the water

Rescue crews arrived at the Blaine Harbor Marina August 29 in response to a report that a crab fisherman’s boat had gone down near Birch Point. The owner of the boat, Frank Cayoy, 39, of La Conner Washington had been alone on the boat when it began to sink and had become tangled in his crab pots, emergency crews said.

“A guy who was sport fishing happened to be in the area,” Robbie Jon, a Blaine fisherman, said. “He pulled up to me and asked if I knew the guy. He was covered in a sleeping bag.” Jon advised the sport fisherman to take Cayoy to the marina.

Cayoy had been in the water for about 15 minutes. Emergency crews diagnosed the fisherman with hypothermia.

“The water is cold now,” said captain Jim Rutherford of the Blaine emergency response crew, “death could happen in 20 to 30 minutes.” .

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