Three survive when boat capsizes on Fish Lake

LAKE WENATCHEE – Three people survived when a small boat they’d taken for a midnight row on Fish Lake capsized in stiff winds about a half-mile from shore.

One swam to safety, and the other two were rescued by Chelan County Sheriff’s deputies.

Sgt. Andy Zimmerman with the Chelan County Sheriff’s Office said two men and one woman, all age 20, took the boat late Saturday night without permission from the marina at the Cove Resort on Fish Lake. They rowed out onto the lake just before midnight, when winds in the Lake Wenatchee area increased to 15 to 20 mph.

“Waves on the lake increased,” said Zimmerman, “and capsized the boat.”

One male swam to shore and banged on the door of the resort office to seek help, said Zimmerman. But the other two 20-year-olds remained in the water with the boat.

Sheriff’s deputies David Flick and Lucas McComas arrived to commandeer two of the resort’s pontoon craft to search for the pair and the capsized boat. Flick found the two people clinging to the boat, said Zimmerman. Both were lethargic, possibly from hypothermia, and needed assistance in getting into the deputy’s craft.

Deputies figured the pair had been in the water around 45 minutes before being rescued, Zimmerman said.

The two men, both from Snohomish, and the woman, a Yakima-area resident, were taken to Cascade Medical Center in Leavenworth and treated and released.

No arrests were made, said Zimmerman, pending investigation of the trio’s use of the boat with the resort’s permission.