Daring rescue saves 2 men

By Jeremy Pawloski | The Olympian • Published May 08, 2008

Scott Ferris was on his back deck with his wife and 8-year-old son, enjoying the sunshine Wednesday afternoon, when he thought he heard faint voices yelling out for help out on Totten Inlet.

"I just heard some shouts, saw a lot of junk out on the water and two heads," said Ferris, who lives on Steamboat Island Point.

A 10-foot skiff carrying two men who were out harvesting geoducks had just sunk about 5:20 p.m., said Griffin Fire District 13 Deputy Chief Chuck Hennigan. Both suffered hypothermia after spending 40 minutes in the cold water wearing flotation devices, Hennigan said, but were saved by the quick actions of Ferris — who sprang into action on his kayak — and two commercial fishermen on a boat belonging to Taylor Shellfish.

Ferris rescued one of the men; the commercial fishermen rescued the other, Hennigan said. Both men were taken to Providence St. Peter Hospital, he said.

Taylor Shellfish's Totten Farm manager, Russ Walker, identified the two commercial fishermen who saved the second man as Lief Cofield and Jose Torres.

Story of a rescue

Ferris said that after hearing the yells for help, he looked out with his binoculars, saw two heads bobbing above the choppy waters and called 9-1-1. But he didn't wait for Griffin Fire to arrive; he grabbed his kayak and went out to try to make a rescue himself.

"I figured I had a chance to get out there faster than anybody else," he said.

Ferris' wife, Gayle, said her husband "didn't hesitate at all" when he grabbed his kayak, wheeled it out to Totten Inlet and set out on the water. Ferris said the man he saved was about a quarter-mile from the shore.

He said the man held to the back of his kayak as he paddled back toward shore. Ferris said his only fear was that the man's weight might capsize him.

The man was turning "a little blue," and his speech was slurred, but "he kept saying 'help,' " Ferris said. The man also expressed concern for his buddy, Ferris added.

"He was having a hard time hanging on by the time I got to the beach," he said.