Coast Guard picks up fatigued kite surfer

The Coast Guard rescued a tired kite surfer near the entrance to Rich Passage near Bainbridge Island on Saturday.

The Coast Guard rescued a tired kite surfer near the entrance to Rich Passage near Bainbridge Island on Saturday.

Kitsap County emergency dispatchers called the Coast Guard at approximately 6:15 p.m. July 13 and said they had received reports of a kite surfer yelling for help at the entrance to Rich Passage.

The Coast Guard then issued an Urgent Marine Information Broadcast and diverted a 45-foot response boat crew from its station in Seattle. The response boat crew had just finished transferring 10 people, including seven children, from a 17-foot pleasure craft that had run out of gas off Vashon Island, to the 45-foot Coast Guard boat.

The 45-foot response boat crew arrived on scene and found the kite surfer, who was struggling to paddle to shore. The crew took the kite surfer aboard with the other 10 people.

The Coast Guard crew then took the kite surfer and the recreational boaters to Don Armeni Boat Ramp in Seattle. No one was reported injured.

The Coast Guard reminds boaters, paddlers and others out on the water to know the limitations of their equipment and themselves before venturing out.