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July 12, 2004 - Subscribe - Contact Us - Rate Card - Place an Ad Valley&State Backpage O&E Sports Archives Classifieds Faith&Beliefs Obituaries Revels June 25, 2004 Ashland man OK after water scare By Steve Zimmerman Ashland Daily Tidings Marshall Cole said he wants everyone to know he is just fine. Cole, 62, is the Ashland man who was plucked from icy waters off the coast of Port Angeles, Wash., on Saturday night after his dinghy took on water, and he had to abandon it. He said that if he had thought about his situation more clearly, the rescue might not have had to take place. "What I should have done is I should have put the rope in my teeth," he said. "I was only 20 yards away from my boat when the dinghy flipped over." Cole, who has been able to poke fun at himself since the incident, said his body type prohibited him from getting on his boat without assistance. "I swam to my boat and should have taken the dingy with me," he said. "I could have stood up on the dingy and got into my boat. What happened was, the swim board was 10 inches off the water and, as I am getting fat, I couldn't get up on the swim board. So I am buying a ladder." Cole, who is in Canada and won't return to Ashland until August, keeps his 33-foot boat anchored in Port Angeles and was returning from dinner when he flipped over. He said he is a safe boater and was wearing his life jacket on his row back to his boat. "You know the Pacific Ocean is misnamed," he joked. "It is not peaceful. Pacific means peace. When you are out on your boat, you have got to wear the best equipment." Cole was rescued by the Coast Guard after spending about 30 minutes in the water. He said he was never scared and had swum in 50 degree water before. "I could see people walking onshore," he said. "I was only 40 yards from shore and could have swam back to shore. I didn't start hollering for help until I needed help. And someone heard me immediately, called 911 and the Coast Guard was there in 10 minutes." He was taken to a local hospital and treated and released for hypothermia. But Cole added that he is now on a diet. "I started losing weight right there and then," he said. "I gave my dinner back to the Coast Guard." DailyTidings.com Home Page Valley&State | Backpage | O&E | Sports | Archives | Weather | Classifieds Columnists | Faith&Beliefs | Obituaries | Revels | Subscribe | Contact Us Copyright 2004 Ashland Daily Tidings and Ottaway Newspapers All Rights Reserved Click Here Site Search: .:Advertisements:. RESOURCES - Mail Tribune News - ODOT Road Cams