By David Rosen and Patrick Robinson

*Update Sat Feb 16 5:20 pm

The salvage crew just finished taking down the mast of the trimaran making it safer to the residents who live at Harbor West Condominiums. The crew was hired by the Home Owners Association of the condos to complete the job. The Department of Resources is now in charge of dealing with the rest of the debris and boats that remain but they won't be available until Tuesday of next week.

*Update Sat Feb 16 12:50 pm

The Department of Ecology is on scene and is draining the boat of its oil and fuel to prevent any liquid from spilling into the water. The tide is on its way out but the waves earlier made the trimaran's right side hull break off and is now suspended in the water by the boats cables. The Department of Resources are closed on the weekend and won't be able to respond to the site until sometime Tuesday. A local salvage company from Seattle is headed down to clean up the debris.

*Update Sat Feb 16 10:00 am

The two boats that were resting on the beach have now gone underwater near the Harbor West Condominiums on Beach Drive. The owner of the boat tried to save the smaller boat this morning but the wind and waves were too much for him and he had to be rescued by Seattle Police.

The owner of the boats spoke with the Herald. He Said, " I tried to save the boats from sinking and that is why I went out there to try and turn the small boat around to face the waves but the weather made it too difficult and the waves began pouring over the side and into the open compartments and pushed the patches off from the inside which made it sink. I don't know what my plans are now as I kept getting two different stories from the Coast Guard. Someone from natural resources plans to come out but who knows when that will be."

The Department of Ecology has been notified and is suppose to come out later today.

Original Post

A boat that was under tow in the early morning hours of Feb. 14 took on water and began to sink near the Harbor West Condominiums on Beach Drive. It was under tow by a smaller power boat and both boats ended up on the beach

Beach Drive resident Bill Bourgault described what happened.

"At 4:30 in the morning I woke up looked out and saw this big sailboat/catamaran out there and I said oh my god. then I saw another motor boat in front of it and didn't see anybody walking around so i decided to call 911 and I said hey I live on Beach Drive and I have situation out here and it looks like a trimaran broke away. She said, 'The Coast Guard is aware of it and it's all taken care of.' But about a half an hour later no Coast Guard so i called again to a different person. They said, 'yes we know there are two boats in front of condos' and I said 'I haven't seen the Coast Guard and it's getting closer to the condos. Pretty soon it's going to start hitting the bulkhead.' She said,' We're aware of it.' "

Then the boat started drifting toward the condos on the incoming tide and the first boat hit the pilings, "And it must have woken him up, he must have been asleep and he got up and re-did the anchors and beached the outboard on the beach. Then tied everything down and at 5:00 in the morning and I asked him if he needed any help and should I call the Coast Guard and he said he'd already done that.

When Bourgault talked to the 911 dispatcher they said that the owner had been towing the boat and that it had been taking on water. "When i talked to the Coast Guard this morning they told me they didn't get the call until 7:30 this morning."

The boat owner went back out to check on the boat in a small dinghy and went behind the sail boat and apparently the current swept him into the pilings and he fell in the water. He made it back to shore and was taken in by another Beach Drive neighbor who gave him a hot shower and a place to rest.