Mt. Baker Snowboarder Presumed Drowned

Mt. Baker snowboarder Sean “Donkey” Mansfield and photographer Gunther Frank are both missing and presumed drowned after Frank’s 18 foot sailboat apparently capsized near Washington State’s Bellingham Bay in the early morning hours of Friday June 5, 2009 with six people on board, according to a story on the Frequency The Snowboard Journal website.

At approximately 1:40 am on Friday, June 5, Bellingham Police responded to a call from a resident, reporting a woman at her door, wet and cold, describing a capsizing. While the police were taking statements another survivor came up the street. The Port Angeles Coast Guard station dispatched a rescue helo along with a cutter from the Bellingham CG station at 2 am. As well, Whatcom County Sheriff, Bellingham Fire, Search and Rescue and US Border Patrol assisted in the search. At approximately 4 am another woman, stranded on a tidal cliff, was rescued by the Coast Guard Cutter.

The four others (two who reportedly stayed with the boat and the two women who swam to shore) survived. According to Frequency publisher Jeff Galbraith Donkey, who was sponsored by Volcom, Lib Tech and the Mt. Baker Snwoboard Shop, was “one of the most respected and creative riders to grace the slopes of Mt. Baker in the last 15 years.” Friends have posted a website (http://donkeyandgunther.blogspot.com) with more information. Our thoughts are with the family and friends of Mansfield and Frank.

[Link: Frqncy.com]