Herald staff
A 44-foot pleasure boat caught fire and sank Thursday in the waters off Edmonds, but not before two people were rescued by a passenger ferry.
The boat, the Hale Kai from Seattle, was halfway between Edmonds and Possession Point on Whidbey Island when it caught fire shortly before 10 a.m., U.S. Coast Guard Petty Officer Aida Cabrera said. A 41-foot Coast Guard cutter and a rescue helicopter from Port Angeles responded to the scene.
The Catalina Jet, a catamaran-passenger ferry under contract to transport sailors from Naval Station Everett to the USS Abraham Lincoln in Bremerton, initiated firefighting efforts, Petty Officer Robert Lanier said. The fire was extinguished two hours later, but the boat, owned by John Taylor of Bellevue, sank.
The Coast Guard planned to check again today for any fuel or oil spills or debris.
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