EVERETT — A 67-foot, wooden pleasure boat ran aground near the Everett Marina after its operator miscalculated its position, the Coast Guard said Saturday.
The Cape Caution, built in 1939, ran aground in shallow water about 500 feet offshore Friday night. The operator of the vessel managed to get safely to land in a dinghy, but the boat began to list and then was declared to have sunk as the tide came in at about 4 a.m. Saturday.
The Coast Guard responded to help ensure any pollution from the incident was contained, and state Department of Ecology officials were also monitoring the response. An estimated 100 gallons of diesel was on board, but no spill was immediately reported and Global Diving and Salvage of Seattle surrounded the vessel with boom.
The operator reported that he miscalculated the boat’s position while entering the Snohomish River.
Global Diving and Salvage workers managed to seal the vents on the vessel to make sure no fuel leaked and were considering whether to try to re-float the vessel, Ecology spokesman Dieter Bohrmann said. A photo posted on the department’s Twitter feed showed it continuing to list Saturday, but not fully submerged.
“The fuel tank appears to be intact,” he said. “That’s the good news.”
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