Lewis County Sirens.com

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – Authorities believe the three fisherman from Lewis County in last week’s deadly boat wreck spent hours in the water before they were located by a Coast Guard helicopter on Wednesday morning.

“There’s indication they were able to get to the overturned boat and strap themselves to it,” but sometime during the night the straps broke, Pacific County Sheriff’s Office Chief Criminal Deputy Pat Matlock said.

Responders don’t know for sure though when the accident occurred, but think it could have been around 12 hours before they were found, Matlock said. It happened near the entrance to Willapa Bay.

Robert “Tony” F. Garrity, 70, and Charlie Garrity, 26, of Chehalis, and Shad Hail, 30, from Centralia, failed to return home from a Tuesday afternoon fishing trip out of Tokeland, he said. It is salmon season.

“From what we can understand, they got turned around and were coming back,” Matlock said. “They might have hit a sandbar. The people thought they felt the bottom of the motor hit something.”

“A large wave hit the bow, it tipped over and they all went out,” he said.

The wife of one of them called the sheriff’s office about 1:40 a.m. on Wednesday and sure enough, their vehicle was still parked at the boat launch, according to Matlock. The Coast Guard launched a search by boat and by air at first light, and discovered the  24-foot vessel near Leadbetter Point at 7:15 a.m.

The two younger men were on a sandbar, Robert “Tony” Garrity was on top of the boat, he said. The younger Garrity and Hail were hoisted into a helicopter and taken by ambulance to a nearby hospital.

The helicopter returned to retrieve the senior Garrity’s body.

The Pacific County Sheriff’s Office wasn’t able to gain a lot of information from the survivors because they were in pretty rough shape, Matlock said.

The coroner’s office lists Robert Garrity’s cause of death as accidental due to hypothermia. He died on Wednesday morning, Deputy Coroner Darrell Stoller knows, because the two boys watched him pass away, he said.

The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife is investigating the boat accident.

Matlock said fatal accidents on the coast are not uncommon.

“The ocean’s not a very forgiving place,” he said. “The weather can change so quickly.”

Tags: By Sharyn L. Decker, news reporter

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