A Terrifying Night Adrift on Puget Sound
Four men cling to the hull of an overturned boat for three hours in the frigid waters of the Sound before a daring rescue saves them from certain death.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
The open sail boat, Lota, belonging to James Simpson, left town at 1 o'clock yesterday morning for Whidbey Island. Mr. Simpson sailed her, accompanied by his brother John, his nephew Joseph, and another man named K. Ivey. It was rough and squally, but they got along well enough until near the north end of the island. There, about 10 o'clock, the boat turned over. The four occupants, after floating in the water for a while, got upon the bottom of the boat, and there they awaited nearly three hours. The day was cold; they were as wet as they could be, and by the constant breaking of the water they were kept wet and cold. The schooner came in sight when they were well nigh exhausted, the men faint, and Capt. Parker put his boat alongside of them as quickly as possible. The unfortunate men were taken on board and cared for, one of them afterward being put ashore to assist to save the boat. The lives of these four persons would have been lost had not the mast and sail been to windward, and broken the force of the sea, which otherwise, in their benumbed condition, would have washed them over. Several personal effects, valued at about $50, were lost by the overturning of the boat.
“The lives of these four persons would have been lost had not the mast and sail been to windward, and broken the force of the sea, which otherwise, in their benumbed condition, would have washed them over.”
Boating accidents in the unpredictable waters of the Puget Sound remain a constant risk today, much as they were in 1885. This story captures the precarious nature of maritime life for the early settlers, where a simple trip to Whidbey Island could quickly turn into a fight for survival against the cold and currents.
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