2 kayakers die, 1 injured after rescue in rough waters
SEQUIM, Wash. — Two kayakers have died and one is in serious condition, part of a group of friends paddling near Dungeness Bay when beautiful weather turned tempestuous.
Jacob Austin, 52, of Lacey, Wash., and 39-year-old Mandi Walkley, 39, of Chehalis, Wash., died. William Kelley, 50, of of Lacey remains in serious condition Monday at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle.
Bystanders spotted the kayakers in trouble at about 2:45 p.m. PT Saturday.
"It just feels unreal, people we were friends with, that were there, and then they weren't," said Linda Caines, who was kayaking with her husband, Dennis.
Video they recorded from a waterproof camera on their boat shows calm weather as the group headed out to a lighthouse on Dungeness Spit, about 5 miles north of Sequim and 55 miles northwest of Seattle and across from Victoria, British Columbia. The seven kayakers enjoyed a break and then turned around to go back.
That's when the wind picked up, quickly scattering the group.
"Within 10 minutes I couldn't see anybody or another kayaker anywhere," Dennis Caines said.
The video shows their kayak pitching and rolling in the waves. Linda Caines' panicked voice can be heard urging them to get back to shore. The Caineses fought their way back to a beach, far from their church-affiliated group, and wondered what happened to the others.
The seven kayakers encountered 35-mph winds and 3-foot seas, U.S. Coast Guard officials said. A Coast Guard swimmer and response boat plus sailors in a helicopter from Whidbey Naval Air Station assisted in the rescue.
Some of the kayaks capsized, and four members of the group swam to shore, said spokesman Jim Borte of the Clallam County Sheriff's Office.
"The sheriff came up and said 'I have bad news,' and my heart just sank," Dennis Caines said. "We lost two good friends, and one is struggling."
All in the group were wearing life jackets, he said. The friends also had hiked together on previous trips, and Dennis Caines choked up as he looked at pictures he had taken of Walkley previously.
"She was such a beautiful person," he said.
Contributing: The Associated Press