EDITOR’S NOTE: Video by KING5-TV — “Kayakers heartbroken over friends lost in accident,” http://www.king5.com/story/news/2015/04/12/kayaking-accident-kills-two-people/25669289/
SEQUIM — A man and woman died and a second man is hospitalized in serious condition after high winds and seas overturned their kayaks and plunged them into the cold waters of Dungeness Bay.
The three were part of a kayak trip Saturday organized by an Olympia-area church group. Four others managed to paddle safely back to shore.
Despite Coast Guard and Navy rescue efforts, Mandi Walkley, 39, of Chehalis died Saturday night after being airlifted from Olympic Medical Center in Port Angeles to PeaceHealth St. Joseph Medical Center in Bellingham.
Jacob Austin, 52, of Lacey died Saturday at OMC.
William D. Kelley, 50, also of Lacey was taken from OMC to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle where his condition was upgraded from critical to serious Sunday night, according to a Harborview spokesman.
Apparently unaware that forecasters had predicted stormy weather, the kayakers, on an excursion from Mountain View Church of the Nazarene in Tumwater, took their sea kayaks onto Dungeness Bay, north of Sequim, on Saturday morning.
The group had paddled along Dungeness Spit about a mile to the New Dungeness Lighthouse.
After having lunch on the Spit, they were paddling back when they encountered severe conditions, with 35 mph winds and swells as high as 3-feet, the Coast Guard said.
Clallam County Sheriff Sgt. Lyman Moores, who responded to an emergency call at 2:19 p.m., said the kayaks with Walkley, Austin and Kelley capsized in the wind-whipped waves.
The other four kayakers were able to reach shore uninjured.
“I spoke to two of them. They were OK, but emotionally shook-up. They didn’t think they would make it to shore alive,” Moores said.
Moores said all seven kayakers were wearing life vests, but were not wearing wet or dry suits, which could have protected them from the 44 to 49 degree water temperatures.
The cause of death for Walkley and Austin has not been released.
St. Joseph and Olympic Medical Center spokeswomen cited hospital policy in not releasing additional information about individual cases.
Rescue boat and helicopter
A lighthouse attendant spotted the struggling kayakers with binoculars and called for help.
The Port Angeles Coast Guard station launched a response boat crew and an MH-65 Dolphin helicopter to the scene.
The Dolphin helicopter crew arrived to find Kelley alone in the water, said Petty Officer Amanda Norcross.
A rescue swimmer hoisted Kelley into the helicopter and transported him to Olympic Medical Center, then he was transferred to Harborview in Seattle, Norcross said.
The response boat crew located Austin, took him on board, and transferred him to Clallam County emergency medical personnel at the John Wayne Marina for transport to Olympic Medical Center, where he later died.
The Coast Guard requested assistance from Naval Air Station Whidbey Island, which launched an HH-60 Seahawk helicopter crew, Norcross said.
The Navy crew located Walkley in the water, and transported her to OMC, she said.
She was transported by helicopter to St. Joseph, where medical personnel declared her dead.
Storm warning
Moores noted that the weather system that caused the rough conditions in Dungeness Bay and the surrounding Strait of Juan de Fuca had been predicted for Saturday up to a week earlier, and an advisory was issued Friday.
“They were not prepared for these conditions. If you are going to be out on the water, be prepared for the worst,” he said.
Spring often brings high winds in the afternoon, he said, and wearing proper clothing for the conditions is a must.
“It was just a tragic accident. I am thankful we had five survivors,” he said.
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Reporter Arwyn Rice can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5070, or at arice@peninsuladailynews.com.
