Boat Joy Ride Ends With Teen Stuck On An Island

Two Oakville area teens stole a boat and a 14-year-old decided to take it for a joy ride down the Chehalis River in East County, according to the Grays Harbor County Sheriff’s Office. Except the 12-foot row boat didn’t have any oars and the boy ended up being carried away downriver by the current at around 4:30 p.m., according to Lt. Matt Stowers, with the Sheriff’s Office. While a 17-year-old boy raced along the shore, the 14-year-old tried to grab hold of branches extending over the river. Eventually, the boat made it to a small island in the middle of the Chehalis. “He was stuck there,” Stowers said.The lieutenant and another deputy grabbed a boat from the Sheriff’s Office and made their way out to the island. Meantime, emergency personnel from an Oakville-area fire district helped locate the specific spot on the island where the boy was stuck. “It was dark, the water was high and it was hard to get to him, but we eventually plucked him off the island and gave him a ride to shore,” Stowers said. Once on shore, he was checked out by a medical team and eventually released to his parents. Stowers said he isn’t sure where the boat was taken from. “Probably a local fisherman.”