Three boaters rescued near Point MacKenzie

POINT MacKENZIE -- Three boaters were rescued from Cook Inlet Wednesday night after their attempt to reach the Susitna River went awry.

Brian Arnold joined friends David and Cheryl Graves for a fishing trip, leaving the Port of Anchorage small boat harbor before high tide. However, when they began laboring against the incoming tide the three decided to land near Point MacKenzie beach and wait.

They moored the 18-foot boat but waves filled it with water when the trio went ashore to build a fire and warm themselves. The bilge pump failed and they were unable to bail out enough water to continue.

With the incoming tide trapping them against a steep cliff, one of the boaters called 911 on a cell phone. Anchorage Fire Department's dive team was dispatched with a rigid hull inflatable rescue boat along with two diver-operated jet skis.

Less than an hour later the boaters were back in Anchorage, all in good condition.

"To the boaters' credit they had personal flotation devices for each member of their party and they were wearing them correctly," said Anchorage Fire Department spokesman Tom Kempton. "They had emergency flares and signaling devices, they had a cell phone along that they used to call for assistance and they stayed calm and properly called for assistance when they realized they were unable to re-launch their boat."

Hometowns of the boaters were not available, Kempton said.