One fellow here at work told me that some friend of his had his boat nearly swamp in skagit bay recently when the weather suddenly came up. That friend who was duck hunting said that when he saw the trouble, he instantly gunned the throttle and the quick thinking kept the boat from completely swamping.
I recently was almost stranded due to tides. I learned a hard lesson and I'm much less likely (I think) to end up in the same situation but one can't prepare for every eventuality at sea. In my home state of Florida in 35 years of boating I was towed twice, I towed other boats on a few occasions, I've met boats mid-way to the bahamas being towed and I've seen plenty of other action.
In Florida, Sea-Tow is readily available. In Skagit and the counties north and south of it, I don't think that something like that would be of much use to duck hunters.
Obviously something like getting stranded by a tide should be addressed with being prepared for that eventuality, with gear sufficient to carry you through to the next tide.
But what about situations that aren't so easily answered? This washington marine estuary environment has a danger-potential that is sobering. What if your boat does swamp, or your engine quits or there's other stuff going on out there? Assuming you have an ability to communicate (such as a cell phone), who is available to respond? Are there any paid services that could be relied on?
