On Saturday was fishing at Barrier Dam on the Cowlitz and saw a boat go down!
Talk about feeling HELPLESS!!! 4 guys in a drift boat, just below the Barrier boat launch, they had been anchored maybe 200 yards below boat launch. They pulled anchor, drifted a little further down and dropped anchor again and withing 30 seconds the boat was gone, 2 guys scrambling to swim to the bank (flow was 10100) and 2 guys clinging for life to a small cooler heading downstream quickly.
A jet boat operator was screaming at them not to try and anchor there, they could not hear him, so by the time they went down the jet boat was already up on the main outboard and racing down to them, he went below the 2 guys clinging to the cooler and rescued...yes rescued them and then raced up to assist one of the two struggling to make the bank.
He then retrived the 2 from the bank and brought them all up to the boat ramp, dropped them off then went down river to try and retrieve whatever he could from the flotsum.....they got an oar back.
We spoke with the jet boat operator later that day and he was still shaken up from what he had witnessed and the rescue he performed.
I will tell you as a relatively inexperienced drift boat owner, I was mortified at how quick it all went down.
All's I can say is I am glad the jet boat was there or I might have witnessed 2 guys drown, that would have been a vision that would never left my mind.
Thank You to the Jet Boat for your quick action and recovery of the guys!!!!