Ferry deckhands rescue diving trio in Edmonds

Published 9:00 pm Monday, March 22, 2004

EDMONDS — Deckhands from the ferry Walla Walla rescued three exhausted scuba divers clinging to the Edmonds ferry dock Saturday.

The three were diving at the Edmonds Underwater Park near the ferry dock, but became too tired to make it back to shore on their own, ferry system spokeswoman Susan Harris-Huether said.

"The tides and currents were really rough that day, and they’d exhausted themselves," she said.

A passenger spotted the three, and deckhands John Burgh and Scott Frieboth launched a rescue boat from the docked ferry, which was bound for Kingston.

The divers were tied to the raft and taken to the dock, where they were met by an aid car from the Edmonds Fire Department.

"One of them looked like he was in pretty bad shape," said ferry passenger Christopher Moores of Bothell. "They had them on shore within five minutes. It was pretty impressive."

None of the men required hospitalization, Edmonds police Sgt. Jeff Jones said, adding the identities of the three were unavailable.