Editors Note: News year's day was pretty frantic at Burien's Three Tree Point this year. As we headed for the annual Polar bear New Year's day plunge we noted a lot of commotion on the beach where we discovered a beached 25 foot sail boat laying on its side in the surf and up against a neighbor's bulkhead.

Three Tree Point resident Ken Smith appeared and explained the foundered boat next to his house. His narrative follows:

Thursday night Dec 27, the weather on Three Tree Point was typically wet, cold and blustery. Some time during the evening we received a call from our new neighbors the Kirshner's (sp) asking if we had seen the sailboat apparently anchored just off the beach in front of our bulkhead. The previous evening we had a conversation with them about how "interesting" it could be living on the Point. They have recently moved in and this was about to be a new experience.

Boats on the beach occur more than one might think and a 20-25 ft sailboat semi anchored close in was not an unusual occurrence. Throughout the evening we occasionally looked out to see if it had gone but it remained. At one point I went out in the wind and cold rain and hailed the boat to ask if they needed help with no answer.

When we retired for the night we looked for the boat wondering if it had gone. The tide was now down and the sailboat aground, heeled over, its mast pointing towards Redondo. We assumed that whoever was aboard left the boat for the night and planned to return the next morning. Again, boats have been on the beach before.

Early (5:30) the following morning the wind was increasing from the SW, the temperature in the high 30's, with the Sound covered in whitecaps. The sailboat was swamped, cold water covering the gunwales. It was also being driven by the wind into the corner of our bulkhead, its mast gyrating wildly as the waves crashed against it.

Not seeing any activity I called the Coast Guard and informed them of the problem. In the wind and rain there was nothing that I would be able to do to stop the damage. Periodically I looked out to see the boat continuing to be thrust upon the bulkhead with no owner in sight. With the coming dawn and the rising tide the wind increased in intensity battering the boat further. Shortly after 7:00 am we heard voices in our front yard and looked out to see 2 sheriff deputies and our neighbor Rick Kerschner. Rick's wife Karen had heard cries for help and called 9-11. They had commandeered my 20 foot extension ladder and had it extended out to the gyrating boat.

The tide had risen even further, the waves crashing into both the boat and the bulkhead, throwing spray into the air soaking all in its path. We were astonished to see them half lift half drag a man from the boat. He was cold, wet and bedraggled. They wrapped him in several blankets that the Kirshner's had available and got him out of the wind. I dressed quickly to see if I might be able to assist in some way. Talking with the assembled group revealed that the man had spent the night on the boat accompanied by his dog who now refused to come out of the swamped boat. It was too rough and dangerous to attempt to remove it at that point. One deputy noted at the time that there appeared to be several alcohol related containers floating in the debris that now littered the swamped cabin.

An Aid car arrived and the EMT's began to treat the man placing him in the waiting truck.

Subsequently it was learned the man had recently purchased the boat and had been evicted from the Des Moines Marina for his inability to pay moorage fees. He was a new boat owner having little or no experience. Not a good combination for a cold windswept Puget Sound night.

As the tide continued to rise, driven by the wind, the wildly gyrating boat continued its march to the beach. At one point the swaying mast struck our home tearing loose a portion of the gutter. This continued for several hours until high tide with the boat alternately striking the surrounding bulkheads and the beach. It finally settled into the Kirshner's (sp) bulkhead where it remains.

The owner, David Lachnit, apparently has no address or phone. The police believe that he may reside in a tent city in Federal Way. He has returned several times to survey the damage and remove some items from the boat but no attempt has been made to remove it from its resting place.