From San Juan County Sheriff Rob Nou
On Saturday, Sept. 8, 2012, at about 1:45 a.m., the San Juan County Sheriff’s Boat Guardian ran aground on a submerged reef near Sinclair Island, in Whatcom County. The vessel was on an EMS call on Decatur Island and was transporting three patients to St. Joseph’s Hospital in Bellingham when the grounding occurred.
Guardian had responded to Decatur Island about 11 p.m. on an injury rollover crash call, transporting EMS personnel from San Juan Island EMS. Guardian, a marine ambulance, is regularly used to transport medical patients to the mainland from throughout the San Juan Islands.
In the grounding incident, no one aboard Guardian was injured. A U.S. Coast Guard cutter responded from Bellingham and personnel and patients were transferred aboard the cutter for transport to the hospital.
Guardian was refloated by the tide later that morning, and traveled under its own power to Bellingham for assessment of damage to the craft. A San Juan County Deputy Sheriff, licensed by the Coast Guard as a Captain was at the helm of Guardian.
The grounding incident is under investigation by the U.S. Coast Guard.
